Hi Benjamin, and welcome to the forum! Hope you can post some pictures of your Wasp. Definitely drive it and have fun! Not sure what your car needs or if it is pretty much a runner right now. Can you be more specific?

You've come to the right place for info on Hudsons. Just fire away with your questions and you'll get answers.

If you mean to hold onto this car for some time, you may want to consider joining the Hudson club (H-E-T). The Club website is at http://hetclub.org/ . Members get full use of the website with all the bells and whistles, but you can sign up for "limited membership" right away, which does give you use of several helpful features of the website.

As to maintenance, you didn't mention if your car was automatic or stick shift. If stick shift, you'll need to change the Hudsonite clutch fluid from time to time, but I won't go into that right now...until I know you have a "stick"!

Hi Tim, Thanks very much for the reply. I'll get photos up as soon as she arrives. I bought her, put her on a truck, and now begins the long trek from WI to AK.

What I'm looking for here are the normal niggles that every old car model has. Things like the 3spd/od trans has 2 fill points (one for the main trans and the other for the planetary gears) or the timing chains need to be watched carefully or the points need to be cleaned all the time or something. Every car model has these kinds of things to keep an eye on, so I'm curious what Hudson owners always keep an eye on...

If it's any help, it's a good running car (I hope) with a non-original 308 and 3spd manual with OD. Everything else seems remarkably stock (still 6v, and I sure hope the interior is stock; I'd be depressed if someone paid for it...). I've got the numbers matching original motor/trans as well, but can't see making a swap to a smaller motor and non od trans...

I guess I'm not that much of a purist...

Thanks again, and I look forward to being part of the community!

-Benjamin

Is Hudsonite clutch fluid different from regular trans fluid? Of course it is... It's an old car 🙂

Yup, I've got a "stick".

And I thought this was the HET club website???

-Benjamin

Benjamin, this is the HET website. You need to be an HET member to get full access to the website is what Jon was referring to I think.

Jon can help find the posting, but the procedure for changing the Hudsonite has been posted before. Find out from the previous owner when that was last done. If they don't know, make that one of your investigations as soon as reasonable. Hudsonite is not the same at ATF, although I think a major component might be ATF. You can order this from Wildrick Restoration Parts in pint size bottles. The correct refill amount is a full pint after draining the old Hudsonite.

A 3spd with OD is a great combination. Once you get your car and have a chance to get familiar with it, you can then give more specific questions or concerns you may have and people on this site will be very happy to help.

Hang on to the original drivetrain. If there's a reason in the future, it could go right back in and possible keep you running. The 308s are fine engines, but the stock 262 engine that came in this car is probably design-wise the best. The 308 Hornet engine was pushed to the limits of design for performance. Mostly it depends on proper maintenance, but those engines tend to have a little more problem with blowing a head gasket compared to the 262, but don't worry about that. Take good care of what you have and it will work fine. These engines are really solid.

More on clutch fluid---
http://www.classiccar.com/forum/discussion/comment/8983
seems like ATF is the ticket - easy to get in a pinch, works great- what more do you need?
Tried and proven by the "down under" Hudson owners and others.

Benjamin,
And....we need to mention that immediately after joining the National HET Club, you will want to also join the Northwest Chapter HET as its area includes Alaska.
For a discreet method of communication to get an address to me, you may contact the treasurer through my website, www.vintagefullflow.com We'll send you the latest newsletter and the info/form you'll need for easy sign-up.
Frank

An owners manual would be a good first step. It lists all the items to maintain.

Sorry -- you actually ARE at the H-E-T website. (I jog back and forth between this forum and the Classiccar one, and momentarily thought your message had been posted at the Classiccar one.)

As to whether you're working under "full" or "limited" membership at this forum, I can't tell. But you could try clicking on the Library / Manuals (Old Site) drop-down to see if you're able to open up a long list of owners and technical manuals available on line. These would be quite helpful. You can also buy paper versions of many of these from the Club Store (if you're a Club member) as well as from commercial old-car literature dealers.

[b]To drain and refill clutch fluid:[/b]

1. Car in neutral, brakes on, ignition off. However, if you have a battery kill switch, this must to turned to ON. You need power to the starter.

2. Open hood and find inspection window on the driver's side of the engine (unless you're in England, then it's passenger side!).

3. Remove solenoid rear cap, tap button lightly so flywheel revolves until one of the two hex plugs appears in the inspection window next to the starter. (If you have a solenoid with no remote button in the back, you could possibly remove the spark plugs and turn the motor by hand.)

4. Place a small oil pan on garage floor directly under the inspection window, to catch the old Hudsonite you'll drain.

5. Unscrew & remove plug in flywheel, trying NOT to drop the plug down into flywheel cover below. One method is to stuff rags around the plug so that, if dropped, it will fall into the rags. Remember to remove the rags after this operation, however!)

6. Tap solenoid button again, or hand-rotate flywheel, until the stamped "star" appears in the inspection hole. This indicates that the open hole (from which you just removed the plug) is at the 6 o'clock position, and the Hudsonite is draining out into the pan. Or onto the garage floor, if you forgot to place the pan under the car.

7. After a minute or two, tap solenoid button again until the open hole again appears in the inspection window. Old oil is now drained. (You can measure what drains out into the pan to calculate how much has leaked since the last refill.)

8. Insert 6 oz. of Hudsonite or other clutch fluid into the hole. If rags are to be inserted (to catch plug), insert them now. Replace plug in flywheel and tighten. Remove rags.

9. Job done. Replace solenoid cap on starter.

NOTES
1. If the hex plug drops, it's not the end of the world. Two bolts hold the flywheel cover on, and it will come off in a jiffy. It just slows things down a bit if you drop the plug.

2. Any auto parts store will have some sort of funnel or device for inserting the Hudsonite. Take a look next time you're out. I use a little plastic funnel to which a short length of plastic hose has been attached. The hose, of course, must be of small enough diameter to fit into the hole once you've removed the plug.

3. Hudsonite is available from Doug Wildrick. Optionally, you can use Dexron III automatic transmission fluid, but I think Doug's is better 'cause it's brewed up for Hudsons and he'd put some stuff in it that seemed to help my clutch chatter.

Draining clutch fluid sure sounds fun...

Thank you everyone for your initial help. I've got some specific questions, for which I'll make separate (more easily searched) threads in a moment.

Thanks all!

It's really pretty easy. Save yourself some grief and make up a decent funnel apparatus with a tube bent around 90 to deliver the fluid into the clutch. You need to get the entire pint in there, not just some of it!

First, check to see if the clutch has NOT been changed to a dry clutch. Some people liked the low maintenance and better grip.

Congrats on the Wasp! I have the original 232 and Hydra-Matic in mine,(both rebuilt) and it is a great road car-I love driving it! Do you have a shop manual, if not it is worth every penny. The vendors listed in the HET magazine have most things you'll need.