Welcome on board, Bob! Just curious: what part of the country (assuming you're in the U.S., of course!) are you in? I ask this because there are Hudson truck owners all over the place, and if one of them lives near you he might volunteer to offer some advice and let you inspect his truck.

Rick Clark is one of the moderators on this particular forum, so I expect he'll jump in here with some ideas. With any luck, the regular six cylinder truck radiator would cool the 262 but if not, someone will have a suggestion. Folks have put all sorts of engines into these trucks.

I live outside of Baldwin City, Kansas. We are in the process of rebuilding the 262. I'm sure there will be more questions about everything Hudson Truck before its over.
Thanks

Bob,

Welcome to the HET club! Glad that you are getting the PU truck on the road again. The 262 is an excellent engine, and for the 46-47 trucks, will fit without problem. I'm not sure if the radiator for the 8 is sufficient, it might be. Of course you might want to consider having it rebuilt to 4-row for more efficient cooling.

All the 46-47 trucks were the longer wheelbase Big Boy pickups. I have a 41 that is the SWB, and you cannot put an eight or a stepdown engine in those without major alterations. Mine was built on the Hudson Six platform, in other words.

I was interested about the gas tank. These trucks already have minimal cab room, certainly by today's standards. Many folks put a different seat in their trucks or alter the seat to give a little more room. I can't imagine how it would work with a gas tank behind the seat. The gas tanks were all placed underneath the beds and used standard straps used for the passenger cars (tanks the same also). Essentially they were bolted on using the appropriate bed bolts for placement. There should be a hole on the drivers rear fender for the filler neck. There should be several sources to get some of the straps. If your truck had the spare tire and holder, that bolts underneath part of the tank (tank to driver's side, spare in center), and I believe there is a block of wood that serves as a shim and anti-rattle between the tire and tank. Those tend to rot away and be disposed of.

Tim

Make sure that you prefit the engine into the truck. You will find out that you need to grind down the left side of the block where the steering control arm hangs over. Also you will need to take a hammer and pound in the cab a little on the right rear where the exhaust manifold is. You may also have the bend the front plate back just a little so the mounts will fit. I am doing the same thing - 262 into a 47 pickup.

I am deciding on the radiator as well. The main issues is that the 46-47 8 radiator has the hose in the middle where as the 262 is on the left. I am looking to have a radiator made that has the capacity I need. I would be interested in what you come up with.

Aaron

Has anybody come up with a radiation connection/thermostat housing on the head for the stepdown engines that can be used with the earlier radiators? I keep seeing this come up and had forgotten about it.

Aaron is right about the other issues of fitting the stepdown engine. Have you considered using an original type engine in the car? There's a plus and minus column for all of these iterations. You have to find the one that works best for your situation. The 262 is a great engine; there's really nothing wrong with an original 212 engine either. I have really come to appreciate the earlier "splasher" type engines as they run fine, idle quietly, were built to fit those years, and have good fuel economy. One problem is that if you have to rebuild them, you need to find someone skilled in doing Babbitt bearings; otherwise they are pretty straightforward.

There were 2 reasons why I went with the 262. I had read that it was a good motor and fit and I had one to put in. I did not have the opportunity to use the original motor as it was gone by the time I got the truck. We did stick the 262 in before we started the rebuild.

Bob

One story from way, way back is that some stock car drivers towed their Hudsons to the track with '46 or '47 pickups that were fitted with 308 engines. If they blew the race car engine, so the story goes, they would swap out the truck engine so they could keep on racing.

Having grown up around that era it sounds logical to me.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Here's my 262 in my '46 pick up just this weekend. If you get a little creative you don't have to grind the block to clear the steering. I made my own motor mounts out of tube spring used in the manufacturing of die sets. Made a washer from 1/4" steel with a small step turned on it to fit the hole in the frame. The stack up from the bottom to the top goes 1/2" flatwasher, 7/16" tube spring, frame, 1/4" fabbed washer, tube spring, engine, flatwasher, steel lock nut. I've put a dab of paint on the nut to watch it to see if it loosens. If it does I'll use a castle nut and pin it. Made a transmission mount from 1/2" steel plate and 3/8" thick 90 durometer silicone pad. As you can see from the pic the steering is tight but the block is intact. The only mod I had to do to the firewall was do to the linkage bracket that bolts to the top of the head in the left rear corner. Minor tweak of the firewall, no denting. I did use 1/2" bolt so had to drill the holes in the engine out. I figured if 7/16 was good, 1/2" was better. Sorry if you are a purist and are going Red engine??????? I think all flatheads should be red. Although a gold 308 with twin h is awful purdy.

That's neat Wes. Almost lookls like it came that way from the factory.

Great job

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN