Bud Tierney Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 How many Hudsons used the two piece (clevis and bolt together) brake pedals??? Had a 36 6cyl 4dr (jalopy days) on which the bolt worked loose, fell out---stepped on brake, top half slipped thru clevis to floorboard without enough friction to engage brakes and contacted/shorted out starter solenoid with lots of sparks and elec smoke... No crash or fire, but disconcerting, to say the least...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon37 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I've never heard of a two-piece brake pedal (for Hudson, or any other make). Sounds like a previous owner had rigged something up. So, you're saying that the brake pedal had an upper and a lower half, each of which had its own linkage through the floorboard? If you stepped on either part of the pedal, it would (on a good day) stop the car? What could have been the purpose for such a pedal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 Not surprised at your questioning reply; I'll try to be a little clearer, but bear with me as we're talking 65+ years ago... Top "section" included forged actual pedal surface with curved round rod (3/8-1/2 inch??) that extended down into and just under floorboards, altho may technically been part of firewall, don't remember floor design that clearly. At lower end of rod, on top of rod, was machined out half moon area, probably 1/2to 3/4 inch from lower end of rod, probably into about a third of the rods diameter.. This forging was only connected to the "lower " section of pedal assembly (lower section completely under floorboards/firewall). This lower section was connected to the master cyl.... I don't recall actual location and linkage to master cyl, but lower section had a rod that extended up to meet the lower end of upper section that was protruding thru flbds/frwall. This rod was topped by a clevis taking a round bolt When the lower end of the pedal section was fitted into the clevis, the machined out half moon fit the clevis holes exactly, so that when the right size bolt slipped thru the clevis it filled the half moon space perfectly, As I recall, it didn't have the look of something gobbered together, and we were all too familiar with gobbering things together in those days... Hopefully 30s Hudson/Terraoieces (my apologies, couldn't resist) owners will be running out to look at their brake pedals and will advise.. Also later had 34 Terriblepain (oops) and a 35 Hudson coupe (jalopies), but never thought to check pedals.... Would've sent a sketch but, since a meltdown, only transmits in GB instead of KB... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon37 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I"m totally unfamiliar with this setup (I have a '37 Terraplane so if "factory", that setup should have been on mine as well). Sounds like it was cobbled by a previous owner, or was some sort of Pep Boys aftermarket item. What purpose did it accomplish? In your memory, what did the two-piece brake pedal do that wasn't done by other cars you'd owned at the time? Of course, Hudsons had a safety brake at the time; if the hydraulics failed the linkage would engage the emergency brake cable when the pedal neared the floor. But that device was all located under the floor and from inside the car the pedals (brake and clutch) looked just like in any other car of the era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 (edited) JON: I'm as mystified as you...I can see NO advantage to a two piece setup. On the contrary, I only see the danger of disconnection, as happened to me...and as best as I recall, the joint fitted so beautifully it seemed factory... I assume the lower end of the under the floorboards piece was on a rotating joint with a link to the master cylinder, which must've been along the frame... Dying of curiosity now; hopefully an owner of a 36 6cyl will advise us of what he/she finds... Talking about this jogged my memory on another poor design feature on a generally very nice if plain car (mine was probably the lowest price model)... The front axle had two torque arms that ran from the axle, parallel to the frame back to each side of the frame, approx under the driver area, used 35-39 per my Motor (nice illus in my 35-46 issue).. These arms had holes the tie rod ran thru... In winter, is slushy times, holes would pack with snow/slush. If it refroze overnight, steering was frozen next morning... I was less intelligent then; never thought about greasing tie rod or something like that. The 34 had axleflex, which seemed to work well; don't recall what the 35 had....... OOPS forgot to mention brake pedal perfectly matched clutch pedal, so if cobbled either used factory pedal or changed both to match??? Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice used to say... Edited December 5, 2017 by Bud Tierney Addition (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) JON: Just found your post re' the HET Club site; didn't know you get get on their forum without joining... My own curiosity piqued now, will try to get both questions onto HET forum .Many thxx!!! Bud (Sigh) Looks like no luck; the street sign pix were so dark on my set sign might've said "Bridge Out" and I wouldn't've seen it---the other kept me going in circles over choosing payment type for only limited online access... I either need a new set or an eye transplant, or both... Edited December 6, 2017 by Bud Tierney Addition (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 JON: Progress (lack of) report---so near, and yet so far... Jake Jacobs posted the whole 117 page 36 Hudson/Terraplane parts book under my two piece brake pedal post on smokstak... Brake pedal assembly and various parts thereof are listed and illus on illus BZ...but there wasn't any BZ with the parts book... However, as a teaser, there is the whole hyd system illus on illus "C", page 12, which includes a line sketch of the brake pedal; that sketch shows what COULD be a "joint" in top and bottom parts, or could just be a representation of a forged area of a one piece pedal... Sorry, never learned to link, but if you'd care to look at the illus and list of brake pedal assembly parts (pgs 16, 17)would appreciate your opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon37 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Hi, took a brief look at a copy of the '36 manual, and this set-up is common to mid- to late-1930's Hudsons. No "split" brake pedal, I can assure you! It does show the safety brake system (used on all Hudson products) but that is under the floorboard, not above. Incidentally, if you want to ask Hudson questions you needn't sign up for the forum at the H-E-T Club's website, merely to the "Open Forum" at https://forum.hetclub.org/ , invent a username and password, and you're in. This is also run by the Club and is more for the general public, but plenty of Hudson enthusiasts come there, and could answer most questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 9, 2017 Author Share Posted December 9, 2017 Yes, Virginia (as the old editor once said) there really was a two piece brake pedal (Well, the editor was talking about Santa Claus, but this was beginn9ing to sound like a myth, too)... Always nice to be reassured aging isn't taking one completely round the bend... Got this question on the HET non-member forum, more by accident than design, and Geoff Clark was kind enough to post verification there; sorry, never learned to link... Confusion was partly my own fault for using inappropriate technical terms for parts involved...reminds me of Churchill: "We're two nations...separated by a common language..."... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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