Randy Ayers Nascar Modeling Forums

[jh63fan]

Just bought my first Hudson Nascar kit. Heard good things and thought I would try something from a different era.
What do I need to look out for when building, do I need to modify/substitute anything?
The interior looks stone stock. Do I leave out the back seat and cut the back off the passenger seat? Any input is appreciated, I know zero about these cars. Thanks!

[DaveVan]

For the 53 it is pretty much correct as it comes. I've built 3 w/o any issues. The fit of the windows is EXACT so watch your paint and foil.....you may need to enlarge a tiny bit.

[Racer14]

These Hudson's are great models for racing. I have built the 52 (Bub King) and a 54 (Herb Thomas). Yes remove the rear seat and upper half of the front passenger seat. They did use seat belts then (old aircraft style). Body is basically stock except remove the rear fender skirts and put covers over the headlight holes. I also added a simple rear roll bar hoop with one horizontal bar and two down bars. Some of the cars had extra gauge set under the dash and a tach on top. Keep the wipers too. The chassis and engine are built stock but you could add wires and fuel line. They used a bungie cord attached to the front bumper to hold the hood down using the hood ornament.

[Tom M.]

I concur about rear seat removal. Based on reference photos from the Hudson racing book the flat towed cars had the back seat removed to stow more spare tires inside and the driven to the track cars had them removed before the race started for less weight and to keep the cushions from flying around in a crash. The seat back is less cut and dried. I ended up leaving mine in place.

[jh63fan]

Thanks guys for the responses.
I really like this kit, very well made, very faint mold lines and ejector marks.
Have one more question. Would they have removed the carpeting in those cars? Getting ready to start painting and need to know what to do with the interior floor.

[Racer14]

They would have removed the carpet in the real car. But I didn't do anything in my builds as you do not see much of the floor anyways.

[jh63fan]

Thanks for the response. I'm not going to do much, just paint the floor a primer color instead on a carpet color. I removed the back seat and the top of the passenger side like you said.