Classic Hifi Care

Grandpa had a buddy named Russ who drove a 1938 or so Hudson Straight 8 well into the 1950's. It was souped up with aluminum head and four carburetors, dual exhaust, stuff like that. He ran with grandpa's seriously souped up '37 Century with it's 1941 320 straight 8 bored and stroked to 366 cid, and would produce an "honest" 300 horses, pretty good for an old straight 8. With its 6" stroke, the old Buick straight 8 was pretty much done by 3500 rpm. The Hudson straight 8 had an over 5" stroke, but was much more prone to rev high, close to 5000 rpm. The Buick outpaced the Hudson engine by nearly 100 cubic inches, but high revs let the Hudson engine run with the Buick. Both cars could hold 40 gallons of Uncle Fort's "family recipe" under the back seat. Hudson engines ran a high-nickel engine block. IF you bought a Hudson and didn't drive it like you stole it for the first 1000 miles, the engine would drink oil. The block was so hard, the chrome rings wouldn't seat unless you ran the engine hard. The cure was removing the air cleaner, then revving the engine up to about 3000 rpm then shaking a can of Bon-Ami down the carburetor throat. The grit in the Bon-Ami would seat the rings. Worked like a charm. Russ bought a new '53 Hudson Hornet with Twin H-Power and HydraMatic drive. Subsequent new Buicks from grandpa failed to put that Hudson "in its place" which was BEHIND a Buick. Grandpa;s new '56 Century finally did that. Convincingly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYAmU6lTLOo