On to more important topics: Any idea what happened to this pedal? I am sure the car has never been on fire, but it sure looks melted to me. It also looks bent. Is it supposed to be that way, or do I need to flatten it out?
Currently soaking it in turpentine because the bottom hinge is stuck.
There is a hole in the floor where I assume this thing was attached. There is also a switch sticking up from there (OD kickdown?) that doesn't move. Anyone know a part number for that?
It should be flat. The switch is the overdrive kickdown, as you said. Not sure where to get a new one, but I bet Lance Walker has used ones. Wildrick sells new rubber covers for the pedals.
My advice would be to look around for a good-used or NOS replacement pedal, rather than fooling around with this one.
(I'd have guessed that the pedal was stored in a hot attic or something...but did it come off your Hudson?)
There were several variations of this basic "church window" pedal, which were made over the years for different years of Hudson. If you can't find the complete pedal, just grind the rubber off and glue a new rubber facing to the metal, like this one from Wildrick Rubber (click to view):
When it comes to finding parts, don't seek each item with a separate search. Instead, take an inventory of everything you need for this car, then send out a "wanted" e-mail to all the Hudson vendors who advertise in the WTN, with sketches, photos or descriptions of each part you need to replace. Kind of like a catalog. Much more efficient than doing search after search. (You need to include photos or sketches because Hudson parts vendors will have have tons of miscellaneous Hudson parts, and won't know which Hudsons they fit from only a short description or a part number.)
And of course, you should attend any regional or national meets you can, because you may find just what you need in the flea market.
As to the kickdown switch, I don't know exactly what the original one looked like, but new kickdown switches are still available. For example, here is one made for a Jeepster. I used a similar one on my '37 when I retro-fitted an overdrive 40 years ago. The threads allow up & down adjustment.
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Here's a pedal currently on Ebay.
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It looks slightly different from yours on the underside. But it does illustrate that 1) these pedals are still out there!, and 2) over the years Hudson used the same basic pedal shape but with different variations, like hinges, linkage points, and other doo-dads. So be sure you get the pedal that fits your particular year and model exactly.
Thanks for the advice, Jon. Yes, this pedal was in the car when I got it. I have been soaking it and got the hinge to move, but will end up taking it apart to mount on the new floor pan. It looks like it was frozen in place and someone tried to pry it up off the floor, bending it and then yanking the whole works out of the floor pan. I'm pretty sure I can clean it up and make it work.
I would like to have been able to disassemble the car and catalog all the replacement parts, but just don't have room to have everything scattered out.
So far, I have at least gotten it running and now have working brakes, so this weekend I plan on reinstalling the seat and see how far around the block I can get. I was also informed by the State of Arkansas that they will be happy to reissue a title...just as soon as I post a $10,000 bond. Stay tuned...
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