Drained the clutch fluid Sat. Was glad to have drained about 6 oz. It was pretty dark. Added about 6 oz. ATF+acetone, blocked the clutch pedal to the floor and have been cranking the engine periodically.
My question is: How often should I go out and crank it, and how long should I keep this up?
Thanks much.
Hi Darren,
It has been great to watch your progress! Here is something you can try, as soon as you have gotten the brakes working:
1) Put the rear of the car on stands, and block the front wheels.
2) Leave the clutch pedal depressed, as you have it already.
3) Put the car in 3rd gear. Be sure the overdrive lever is pulled out, so the car is in direct drive.
4) See if you can start the car. If it starts, the rear wheels will be turning.
5) Assuming you have reach this situation, speed the engine up a bit.
6) Let go of the gas pedal, and immediately depress the brakes hard. This may serve to free the clutch.
Also, you could put in considerably more ATF + acetone, until the clutch frees up. The six ounces, at rest, does not get up close to the center of the disk.
I've done this successfully with several cars that were stored a long time, including Hudson, VW Beetle, and Citroen.
Per
Thanks for the encouragement, Per. I got the clutch freed up, then went and split one of the brake hard lines. The whole brale system is getting replaced as soon as the parts show up.
Some tinkering to do yet with wires and cables, but the plan is to actually drive it this weekend.
It's almost a pleasure doing this project with the HET club resources and brain trust available.
Also: got the trim rings, as suggested. What a big improvement. 
.
Hi Darren,
It has been some time since we exchanged messages. You might find it interesting to see pictures of the '49 Commodore sedan that I fixed up together with Dan McNichol so he and I could drive across the country, with him giving speeches about the need to maintain and improve America's infrastructure while I made sure the car kept running. We replaced virtually every hard brake line, as well as all the wheel cylinders and the master cylinders. Google "Dan McNichol Hudson" to see many pictures. We did not improve the exterior of the car, which impressed people more and more the further we were from Massachusetts - "The car is running today, will it be running tomorrow?" This trip was October 2013 to February 2014. The next year the car crossed the country again. We started with about 31,800 miles on the odometer. It now has about 51,000, almost all long distance driving.
Per
Yes I would like to the your pics.
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