Midsouthern Restorations

1936 Hudson Two Door Sedan

This is car number one of two that was rescued from a so called restorer from Knoxville, Tennessee. This is a 36 Hudson two door sedan. It has suicide doors. The owner for this Hudson is from Memphis Tennessee and also owns the 37 Coupe on this web site. It is unbelievable the damage that can be caused to a classic vehicle when someone who thinks they are a pro takes people money and butchers the car up. This person was trusted and was said to be an expert at building cars. This is why it pays to search out the true professionals and do your due diligence yourself.

The plan was to make this car a street driven classic car upgraded to more of today’s standards. Once the owner was away back home this was about a 5-6 year endeavor for the “Car Butcher.” The chassis was modified by what looks like to be a high school novice that did it in his driveway. Junk yard parts were truly used through out the mechanicals and the virgin frame was defiled. The pictures tell the story. Check out the rear springs. The power steering belt was fitting the frame so it was beat with a hammer. It still rubbed so it was just left it. The front end had some Mustang II front end scabbed on. The X member was cut and bent and welded to fit the junk yard 5.7 liter Chevy motor and used transmission in place. The body and paint were just has shoddy and some dirty seats out of a junk yard 80’s Buick were set in place. The whole project was a total waste of money and parts and money were ripped off for the unsuspecting customer. She worked for over a year to retrieve her cars. Once we heard the story it took one call from us to the “Butcher” and in a couple of weeks the cars were picked up and delivered to our new 12,000 square foot facilities.

The 36 Hudson is taking shape. The chassis has been upgraded with a coil over nine inch Ford unit and the front suspension was reworked using a new Mustang II style rack and pinion front. The frame was box for rigidity where needed. Awhile back Hot Rod magazine was promoting the Dare to Be Different in the cool old car world. The owner wanted an old Ford motor to power her car. She said they had a distinct sound. We remembered one such motor and that was the famous Y-Block series. Ford Started these back in 1955 and were made familiar by the Little T-Birds. These motors powered every type of vehicle imaginable back then. The 312 Y-blocks were the most popular and that was chosen. But this motor is a 312 Marine Interceptor out of a 1960 boat. The intake and side draft carbs are very unique and rare. A C-4 transmission was selected and adaptor bell housing was found. After three attempts with after market headers it was realized we had to fabricate our own fender well style. This is a true street rod that no one else in the world will have.

It was decided to upgrade the motor to old school 312 Ford high performance. An Old 6-pack was found and new aluminum heads were bought. A strong cam was purchase and the old “boat” motor was rebuilt. When the machine work was complete it then was assembled, painted dressed up and a special lift tool was built to install on test run stand and for the chassis. The 312 ran good on the test stand and the headers were music to the ears. Once in the chassis the body was again dropped back down and a tight custom exhaust was built and then removed to be Jet hot coated. Wiring was next and the A/C and all other accessories were hooked up. The car runs a drives now with a short ways to finish. The Black paint it so shiny and mirror like it is hard to photograph with out picking everything up in the back ground.

The 36 Hudson is all complete now. This was a long project that turn into a knock out. She looks like a "Gansta" car and would haul the "Shine" with the drive train built like this.