Kevin and Daphne HicklingThe story of 24674 H, 1949 Super 8 Coupe
Full pictorial at the bottom of this page...Back in the early 70’s, the Hudson Coupe was spotted in a car yard on the Gold Coast by one of our Queensland members. It had, to our knowledge, just arrived with other American cars at the time. It was sold It so happened that the car belonged to an old racing friend of mine, Jim Broadly of Diablo Motors at Lakemba in New South Wales. After talking to Jim, he filled me in on the missing years. The Coupe had been sold to a speed shop owner in Queensland who had got into debt to Diablo Motors for equipment they could not pay for. So Jim took the car as payment and he told me he favoured the car as his parents had owned a Hudson 1949 four Back home in Sydney, lengthy discussions then took place with Jim regarding the purchase. In the After getting the Coupe home it was time to go over it mechanically. So an engine check was done first with a compression test. All cylinders came up only 7lbs variance so I did a leak down test and found all was good. Jim had told me, as far as he was aware, the mileage on the Hudson was correct, which was 72,690 and the engine condition relates to that mileage so an engine flush and new oil (SAE50) was carried out. The one thing had to be done was to overhaul the It was time, while the Hudson was up on stands, to check all under the car so all tie rods, king pins, steering arms, drag link and sway bar were checked and found to be still serviceable and in really good condition. I then drained the oil from the clutch which proved to be very dark so a flush of kerosene was carried out three times before I was happy with the colour. Then the correct amount of Dexron 3 automotive fluid was installed and then later changed after 100 miles (for just a colour check). The oil was then removed from the gearbox and at the same time the oil level was checked and found to be at the right height so the gearbox was refilled with EP90 and an additive of Nulon for gear protection. All universal checked out good. Centre bearing also good. The diff got the same attention as the gearbox with same oils and additive. All rear wheel bearings were left in, as I could not hear any bearing noises. Everything under the Coupe looked good for a car that was 60 years young. A good grease was done then back down on four new 225X70R whitewall radials. It was then time for a good test drive. After getting a lend of trade plates I gave the Hudson a good test workout and could not find any faults at all. Temperature good, steering good,
After discussion with a friend of mine, who is in the panel and paint business and also in our local car club, he was happy to allow me to take the Hudson to his workshop and to start removing and stripping the Coupe panels. Because I was happy with the running of the Hudson mechanically all was left in place with all panels removed. They were stripped back to bare metal and repairs were then carried out (virtually none) and panels then etched and primed in two pack. All panels, front guard, door, While the Coupe was at the panel shop, the front and back seats were removed and sent to the trimmers. The original mohair cloth was replaced. With all the body panels now painted in two-pack colour; top colour being Ford Sierra European Red,
A thing of beauty… maybe the prettiest Hudson produced?
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