First off i have a 1954 Hudson Wasp with the 262 in it. Its a 3 speed without overdrive. I am having an issue with the clutch. The car has been sitting for at least the last seven years. The clutch does not work at all. I have tried to adjust it to provide the needed 1.5" clearance but nothing i do gets the pedal off of the floor. The gears just grind when i try to shift it. I have tried starting the car in gear to try to pop the clutch loose, and also have soaked in kerosene for a day and then put in the Hudsonite fluid but can not get the clutch to work. Does anyone have anything i can try? I'm concerned that i can not adjust it properly. Is there mechanical pieces i may be missing? I bought the vehicle at auction so i do not have the luxury of talking with the previous owner to see if he removed anything. Thanks
If the pedal is stuck to the floor the fingers are probably stuck or bent. If it sat for a while the cork clutch can stick to the flywheel and something could have got bent when someone tried to depress the pedal or broke the fingers off. Its probably time to pull the transmission and rebuild the entire clutch
Sorry, maybe my original post wasnt clear. The pedal isnt stuck to the floor, but when pressed down goes all the way to the floor.
That makes more sense. More than likely then the cork clutch is sticking the the flywheel. I had this exact thing on my 53 wasp after sitting for a few years. So my initial guess is the clutch disc needs re-corked,reaplaced.
To flush the clutch put in a flushing fluid. Leave the flush 1 day, move the flywheel 1/3 and leave another day finally the last 1/3 . Each time the flywheel position is turned sit I the seat and pump the clutch pedal (100 x). Most Hudson clutches are stuck when left for months - years without use or engine starting. The following formula for flush is recommended for Hudson Clutches.
Flushing cork clutches:
make solution 4 parts tri-chloral-ethane and one part acetone, available at drug stores. To flush-drain clutch, refill with flushing solution, start engine, with transmission in neutral, depress and release clutch about 100 times at various engine speeds, drain and refill with clutch fluid.
Thank you for the reply. The clutch is now unstuck!! I am going to try and drive it this weekend. Just to put my method out there this is how i got it unstuck.
1. Put the car on jack stands and take off rear wheels. ( I tried adjusting the clutch pedal to get the 1.5" clearance but was not successful)
2. Drain clutch fluid
3. Fill clutch with kerosene
4. Push the clutch in and out a lot. I started the car in and out of gear (working the clutch in and out while the car was running) five or six different times throughout the day.
5. Wait, wait, wait. I let the clutch soak in kerosene for a little over a day.
6. Drain kerosene completely
7. Fill the clutch with the bottle of Hudsonite fluid.
8. Start the car in gear daily, working the clutch around 60 times.
9. I did step 8 for three more days, and on the fourth day it came loose and is operating properly.
I just want to note that i do plan to replace the clutch at some point, because i am unsure of the condition of the clutch after performing the above steps, but wanted to get it unstuck and driving just to see if there was anything else major that i needed to fix, it would be nice to know before i take the transmission out.
Thanks
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