KustomKreeps

Just thought I would post a follow up. Hate those threads that ask advice or a question and never get back with the outcome. All new components custom made and balanced. Quotes mostly all came in around $2000 give or take $50. Thats from about six or so different driveshaft outfits around NZ. Parts alone ran around the $1300 mark. Some companies didnt give it much thought and put a quote together that would suit a BB Ford or Chev. A few took the time to read over the build thread and come back with something that would suit a Buick Nailhead that is not a high reving engine. CircleTrack in Christchurch sorted me out in the end. Fraser was a top bloke to deal with and made up a good looking product. Should easily handle the kind of HP, Torque and revs my engine will be putting out.

thanks man

you can get Lizard Skin from Rods by Reid in NZ http://www.rodsbyreid.co.nz/ But I got it from Summit in the states as it worked out cheaper at the time. Hard to tell as yet how much it will deaden the sound as its just coated on the outside. In the end I will have it every where inside (floor, roof, in & ondoors, boot, firewall and anywhere else I can get it) But saying this. I did a tap test. - had meant to record it but forgot. before spraying the floor "rang" when tapped. after with the underside sprayed its a solid thunk. Cant find the youtube clips that kinda sold me on it. first was a hand bell before and after and the other was for high end stereo with dyno mat vs LS. But the time to apply, places able to coat and area of coverage vs traditional sound deadening mats kinda balanced out the price for me. few youtube clips:

currently trying to figure out what I could use. Think HiAces and some 4WDs have split driveshafts with a sliding section but its bit of a pain searching out info on the net and no pick a part around here just to go looking. Whats the DS you used from? and what kinda HP are you putting out?

yip had a yarn to the lads at Humphris. Waiting to hear back from them. Also flicked emails off to about six other outfits around the country. Cheers Alex

Looking like I will be needing a custom driveshaft made up for my current project. Its one of those things I never really have given much thought to. Kinda take it for granted right. So im after info and feedback from any and all about getting a driveshaft made up. Prices to expect. Dont really mind where in NZ but im South Island based. Basic idea is a two piece setup. Front being fixed. Then the back being sliding as the diff will have 6 inch or so travel due to the airbags. So ya ideas & suggestions please guys. We are not dealing with huge HP. Max I guess is 400HP. Had thought a 4WD setup maybe. But everything else in the car is new so now kinda leaning toward a custom setup. Never had one made up and have no clue at what it may cost or who are a good crowd to deal with. Cheers Alex

Im a creature of comfort I have came to realize as I grow older and my waste band wider. So it goes without saying that I want a ride that is quiet enough to think and warm enough to have my gal showing off her legs in a short skirt next to me on the bench seat. Well quiet when I want it to be/side pipes are capped. To help achieve this level of sloth I chose “Lizard Skin” for my heat and sound deadening. Inside and out. Part of the attraction admittedly is the fact its so bloody easy to apply, cleanup and will go anywhere you can spray it even under the dash with its 90′ nozzle. Write ups of the stuff all sounded promising. The ceramic heat one has a video of a hot plate. Half coated in LS and the other untreated. ice on either side with the treated side not melting at all. Anyway to cut to the point we sprayed the under side first with the sound deadening Lizard Skin. Has a special gun with a large nozzel and sprays about a softball sized pattern. Layed a few coats of this down the first day with cleanup being simple as a wash n wipe down with water. Next day went in with the ceramic heat coating and again it splatted on nice and easy. You can find out more about the stuff if you are interested here. Went in and hooked up the diff and chucked in the bags front and back. With that done we threw on the Fuel, Brake and Air Lines. Bolted down with Rubber insulated P clamps every 300mm. Currently trying to figure out what to do for drive shaft.Thinking two piece. front section fixed. Then D shaped bearing and the second piece sliding to allow for the diff travel as it raises and lowers from the bags. Also working out where we will run the exhaust. Looking at 2.25″ pipe. more on that latter though unless anyone has some insight.`

Alex a top guy from one of the schools I look after got me sorted on the blast cabinet and over the Easter period we went to town cleaning up some small parts and other bits with odd angles etc that would make wire wheeling a pain in the butt. Just has glass media but it did the job. Here is a few quick pics of just the hood latch. And as I have mentioned before my bird has been right beside me through this build learning the in's and outs of cars and what makes em tick. So its only right she gets dusty blasting.

Haven't really updated this that much this month so thought I would jump on and fire up my normal belch of images etc. (yip belch, im using the classy language today boss) Started off with a pretty good local car show for charity (Hospice) that spanned across St Paddys weekend. Timaru's Rock n Hop. Friday had a street cruise and the turn out was good. Being St Paddys Friday the place was packed with people. Check out that Kreepy ride at 2:03 and 3:03 \m/(-.-)\,,/ cam whore. You yanks might like a look at some of the RH Drive Brit and Aussie cars. Saturday had about a thousand cars show. Open to all. Need to do the Kingpins on the Buick so may be the last show for a bit. Kinda thinking I may rebuild the whole front steering as its a bit lose. Need to get under there and take a look. /procrastination active. Now I have my wheels and tires all painted up and together I have started thinking of wheel covers. Wont see the rear wheels due to the Hudsons skirts and height so I figure no point wasteing wedge on anything back there. Up front its a different matter. Have some 15" Moonies but they are dull and a bit boring for my taste and plans. So HubcapMike.com sorted us out with some 57 Cadillac wheel covers. Big shiny buggers that cover the whole rim not even leaving a millimeter of paint showing. Popular with custom cars overseas but I hardly ever see them at a car show. None at the show above. They came minus a center cap. Fine with me as I wouldn't of wanted the old Caddy logo. This leaves me with a few options. Bullet in the middle like most people use or try and change it up a bit. Off to summit and I ordered in some Dodge Lancer (59?)centers. They had two types listed with the same description and pics but one at like $60SUD and another at $10USD per cap just different part numbers. Support told me they are identical. So ordered the cheapies. Arrived and turned out to be the center logo area cover for the Lancer caps. Summit told me to keep them and sent over two of the more expensive ones for free to NZ. ^^ Thanks Summit. God am i really talking so much about wheel covers o.0' So long story short. I got the dremel out and massaged the lancers to fit the Caddys. Unsure if i like the bullets or lancer centers more. Lancer looks over the top by its self but once on a wheel it balances way better. Your thoughts, ideas and suggestions are welcome. I know I should of taken the pics on the wheels with the whitewalls. The Lancers give me that "Greese" Scorpions vibe and those dudes I always thought where way cooler than the other goodie two shoe sing along bunch. So moving along! Out to the Hudson we plugged up the old factory drain holes in the floor. Simple job when you got the right kit. Plasma cutter to cut the disks. Lathe to make up/adjust some dies. Hydraulic press to quickly press the disks into nice little flat bottomed bowls to fit int he holes. Glue em in place and done. Now if we can pop them out if ever the need arises. Flockie then moved in and fixed up the few rust holes. Took him about an hour to cut it out and weld in a few plates then grind it all off whilst tapping away with the hammer. And that was most of the rust done in the car, one other spot has been spotted that we will get to at a latter date. Unbelievably I missed getting a photo of this. I know I seem to take a bizzillion photos of everything under the sun and I somehow missed getting a few snaps. But im sure you have all delt to rust and can guess the scope of things due to how fast Flockie delt to them. Love of my life then donned the white ninja suit/painters overalls. Restrained my self here from calling them overies like I normally call overalls due to a chick being in them got to be all politically correct and all right... anywho she then proceed to sling some black etch primer under the car. First time she has shot paint with a gun and I personally think she did bloody good. Gave it three coats and tarted up the diffs pumpkin as well. Once that has had time to harden up all good she will be back under there to lay down the Lizard skin. And a quick before/after of the underside. Now whilst she was busy under there shooting it the old school way/in the shed I helped Flockie put the body on the chassis of the coup he has been working on. Was a heck of an unsafe mess underneath and he has done a stella job that not only is stronger but looks bloody good as well. And body on.

thanks man

Have not updated this for ages. So here is a bit of a ramble / catch up as to what has been happening. So this will be a bit of a long post with a spam load of pics. Wirewheeling like a possessed Tasmanian devil. Scrapped of the junk and old paint getting everything back to bare metal. Talking underside of the car, inner guards/panels, front guards, rad support etc. Still got more to do like the front end and other bits. I guess we didnt really need to go all the way back to shiny metal but I like to know whats what and how it all is looking under all the ancient gunk. Then went over and rust killed/converted it all with Brunox. great stuff that turns the rust a purple black. Found a local chap Noel the slinky man who has a big ass sand blaster they use for trucks etc. For a 24 pack of cool beers he was happy enough to do a bit of blasting for us. no flat panel stuff just the hard to wire wheel bits or sturdy bits like the rad support. Did a great job. Whitewalls arrived. BFG Silvertown 235/70/ r15. Got some custom steelies made up from Elite Wheels in Christchurch. Fraser there did a bang on job with some great looking welds. 15inch rims. 6" wide front, 7" at the back. centers are 4" from the back. You wont see the backs due to the car being so low and has skirts. The front will have wheel covers that will hide the full steel rim. Have painted them up using Red Caliper paint. I figure the stuff is made to be resistant to road grime, brake dust, heat and what ever other stress calipers get so should be fine for wheels. The red was a bit more orange than I would of liked but yeah no matter wont see them. Got chrome valve stems on the way. Will edit the post later with a pic of the rims painted. But im sure you can all figure out what a red painted steel rim looks like. Assembled the rear end. It had been mocked up for testing so pulled the axles etc and got it all together. The whole rear came from Moser engineering. Top crew if you ask me. Support was great. Welds and quality of material is top shelf. Kit included: Bare 9" Ford Housing (54.7” AF to AF) Moser Axles w/Bearing Pkg 5X4 ½ With Screw in studs Moser Performance Nodular Case Trac Loc Posi 31 spline Nodular Pro/Street Support Setup Kit 1350 Pinion Yoke-steel P/S Gear - 3.50 Wilwood Pro/Street 12.19" 4 pot disks with internal Park brake. Fill & Drain Plug. Screw in breather. Lokar E-Brake Cable kit & Braided Caliper Hoses Further info on Moser custom Centers/pumpkins. Further info on Moser custom 9" housing and axles package. Further info on Wilwood brake package. Throwing it altogether was easy enough even though we couldn't find the instructions. Have since downloaded them from Moser just so I have the torque settings and will go back and tighten everything up next time im out there.

opps double post. So I guess I will do a quick update on the car. Wire wheeled the underside back to shiny metal. Brunox rust killed it all. Have also stripped most of the fronts panels etc underside and again Brunoxed them. With luck the few small bits of rust will be cut out soon so we can get it primed and move on to all the other junk. Alex

themoose on HAMB has worked his magic with Photoshop dealing to the Hudson. 50 Buick grille, nosed, shaved, louvers, side pipes, tinted glass, 57 wheel covers and white walls then on top of that a scalloped paint job.

Did like five hours of scraping old sealer off or wire wheeling today. Got the missus to help out what kinda kept me on track what was good. Still think we have another few days to go to get it decent. Poor bird was stuck with the rear tire wells. Pain in the butt angles to deal with but she made some solid progress thats turning out good. Check out the sexy dirt tan lines on my scrawny arms. Similar to a farmers tan... that make it what ? a Bogan/red neck tan? these twisted wire wheels sure do a good job though. So good it uncover a few spots of rust >.> B@$tard!

Summer Dayz have been good. With the sun shining the 52 Buick has been rolling about the blacktop as much as possible. Haven't really touched the Hudson much but have tinkered on the Buick. Decided to upgrade to an electric fuel pump. The old mechanical fuel pump still is in place with its pipes plugged up. This is not just as a backup encase the electric dies on me but because the old vacuum powered window wipers are driven off it. With the left over plug wires from the Hudson I made up some new sparkplug leads. We had a few issues at highway speeds on a road trip when the car would missfire. Also chucked in new spark plugs. Gave the car a good tune up and adjusted the rockers. Cars going way better. Have a pertronix unit on the way I will chuck in the distributor as well when it arrives. The Hudson is back up on the rotisserie. Below are a few pics that show the new frame work. Obviously the Trans support isn't shown but you can see where it attaches in the above pic. Next is to strip down and wire brush the underside then rust kill, etch prime and lizard skin it.

Summers here and finally we are starting to get that drive to work on the car again. Winter months tend to make me like some reclusive old bear who rather stay nice and warm in his den and spring when it wasn't raining had us touring about in the old Buick. To help get the enthusiasm back up and get a better picture of where we currently look it was decided to throw the panels back on. Not only would this confirm the jig and new front sub fitted up how it was supposed to fit but it is a simple easy start to getting back into everything. Front On. Alot of this will be changed up abit down the track. Nailhead lurking in the background. we didn't put it in as it would just need to be pulled for the rotisserie. Picked up a visor cheap on HAMB. Adjustable width and seems only slight modifications are needed to make it fit. Will certainly make it look lower. Pulled it out to get a better look. Placed the side pipes just to see how they look. Pretty happy with its stance. This is air out. And finally a before and after. As you can see its dropped down a considerable amount. rear tire is no longer visible. Guessing we are looking at a 5 inch drop. so at air up fully inflated the car will be a bit higher than original. And as we hopped this has me pretty darn keen to get stuck back in to it. Blow it to pieces again in a few days time then get it up on a rotisserie again.

Some one on one of the forums I post on asked to see the gusseting a bit better. So images of it below. Innerside: Outter side: Basically the rails are cut at 45degress there. Plated on the sides along with top and bottom. Circles cut to show the 45 joins(or lack of it as you see) Cert chap ran his eye over everything. He is more than happy with the front and rear end. Only comment was to add a small bit of triangle bracing to the above image just under the floor pan there. Looking at the original chassis they had some thin metal sheet riveted on in this spot. Its no biggie and will do once the cars up in the air. I was a bit worried about the tie rod ends at the back. Being welded not a one piece. But he was happy with them. He explained the one piece are needed for certain rolls but the welded ones I have for the purpose they are being used for are fine. yey. So ya big tick by the cert guy for the work so far.

sweet thanks man. have update the post across all the sites i post it on.

Fitted jig to locate mounting positions for front panels. Radiator and grill support brackets. Bumper mounts tacked into position. Notched out for radiator surround. Reduced front of chassis to clear front panels. Surround in position. Front panel fitted. Sub-frame removed for final welding & notching for steering arms. This shot can give you an idea of how we attached the front sub into what was a full chassis/uni-body car. All welded and bolted back in. Note xtra cross member installed, this ties the Hudson front together as there is no chassis running through to the back. Notched to allow full travel of the steering arms. Rods by Reid front end all tig welded. Looks good and is nice and strong. Extra bracing added to cross member. You can also see some of the gusseting that strengthens up frame. Thick plate with circles cut, welded in and out. Front brace and rad support completed along with the attachment points for the panels. Trans brace is lurking below on the ground. Done. Ready for the certifier to take a quick look this weekend. For such a project its good to have him follow along. Better to get any issues he might have delt to now than latter when its all painted up and assembled. Once thats done we will throw the panels on to make sure it all fits then rip em off and get the heavy old beast up on the rotisserie again.

Spring is here, sun is shining and the welder is sending beautiful sparks in the air. Progress is picking up. Engine is out as is obvious from the above pic. The jig that was made up way back when the Hudson was still whole to mark out the holes to mount any panel work is in place and everything is looking good. A few tweaks will be needed but other than that pretty happy with it. A better look at the trans mount and brace that strengthens up the frame so the whole thing dosnt collapse inwards as the sides flay outwards like some molten pudding. (im on a bit of a sweet vibe at the moment- would totally demolish a pack of licorice). Any who this shows the top hat cross sections way better than the last posts pictures. They will be out soon so the frame can be strengthen up. Pic above is for Hnstray on HAMB (I post this build on multiple sites). Showing the diagonal "braces" and how they are mounted on conveyor belt rubber at the bottoms so don't really add anything in the way of bracing. From the jig you can see how they are used mainly to mount the inner guards. That bracket up top held the horns. A better look at the jig that marks the mounting holes. Once everything is marked out the front clip will be taken off. Braced up where needed at the back. Holes cut - both for mounting the panels and rad but also larger ones to help add a crumple zone. Part of the NZ cert rules say we must have a crumple zone to help absorb an impact. So those nice big ol holes we used when doing the rear end will be brought forward up front. The half pipe notching for the steering arms will also add to the whole crumple zone. Then weld it all together, add a lick of paint, put it all together along with the engine panels, rad etc to make sure it all fits.

Front end is all tacked up and sitting on its wheels!Happy times.Been some time since it has been rolling and its a good feeling seeing it all together upfront again.Air out its sitting pretty much where we wanted it. If you enlarge the above pic you will see the trans cross member is bleeping low. have a couple of inch clearance at this point air out. Ride height is about 2.5 inch higher so say 100mm or 110mm or so.Engine is offset 20mm to get clearance for the PS pump. Not really noticeable even when you are told.If you have been twisted enough to follow along with the progress of the build then you know the rear ends shockwave airbags mounts are adjustable. At the moment is in the middle setting. May bring it up to the highest setting. I do love that rake but the extra inch at the back will help level the carbs a bit along with all the other obvious benefits. Time will tell.Cross support and trans mount are all made up. Folded top hat with a flat bottom similar to the original Hudson braces. Bolt in for ease of access if in the future we ever need to do work under there. Front brace helps for body flex etc.Pic above gives a better idea of how low the braces are. Just lower than the trans pan to help protect it a bit with luck. You can also see eight (4 per side) front access holes to the bolts that let you remove the whole front clip. The whole idea with all this is ease of maintenance for future work.Next is taking out the engine. Welding up everything. Brace up some bits with some gazeting. Notching the front rails for bit more clearance on the steering arms. Drilling the panels holes and ya ... golden. Oh and trim those long ass rails and add the rads front brace. Sigh list goes on.And talking about panels... Flockie held them in place as i took a gander. Instant grin when I steeped back to have a look.We did this not only just to see how it would look but to check the tire clearance as there was a bit of concern the inner guard my hit the tire air out. Nope it was fine with heaps of room. You can see how much longer the chassis rails are as well. Easier to make em shorter than longer was the idea.And talking of Flockie who is doing the welding, math and all the hard stuff at the moment for me.... BAMLooking pretty happy with him self and rightly so. He has done some great work.Go like him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flockieschassis/Oh and for a laugh check out my Buick gravel track fun vid on youtube here.

Things are looking good.Surgery was required & the firewall was cut up a lil bit. This has meant the engine could be brought back a bit whats solved a raft of issues. Clearances for PS rack hose connections solved. It was right up against the sump. But now we have ample room. Able to bring the engine into the center more. Its now only slightly offset by about 20mil. Engine mounts will work way better. Able to get the carbs to the ideal flat positioning as it was on a bit of an angle. Positioning for bracing to join the two sides of the rails will be better. Being able to go under the engine in a bolt in set up. How the trans will sit along with the two piece drive shaft will be way better and pretty much flat whilst not having to modify the floor pan other than maybe slightly at the very front. The distributor will be hidden more. I wanted wires out of sight as much as possible so this suits me. Being a pertronix unit I shouldn't need to get to it much but if needs be will still be able to with out to much hassles. Weight and center of gravity move a bit more back behind the front wheels instead of over them. better clearances for sump. Doing all this means we may have a heap of room up front. Not what I really want but we will have to wait and see how it all looks with the alt, PS pump, radiator and fans. the custom fan shroud I was envisioning may need to be bigger than I was thinking to help fill the gap. Time will tell. once I have the panels on & rad in.Speaking of the radiator. i have decided to keep the original Hudson radiator. Its getting re-cored by a local shop Timaru Radiator Repairs. Russell the guy in charge is a top man and been bloody helpful with some great input. Gave options for different cores etc for the old four core copper rad that included different row spacing etc.Since the tanks are off etc im getting him to do a few other modifications. moving the bottom outlet to the other side to match the Nailheads inlet then shifting the radiators top inlet to the center to match the Nailheads centrally mounted thermostat. Thinking of using a flexy hose to give it that vintage look you see in all the old 50's and 60s mags. Plus the ribbing will go with the fins on the engine.Since its not a great idea to have the filler at the same point as the inlet due to pressure etc im getting it moved to one side on the top but im also getting a dummy one added to the opposite side. This is merely to please my OCD nature. when im standing with the hood up looking down at the engine I want to see the top hose running center rad to center engine then two caps to add balance on either side. My train of thought was with just the one to one side it would be a bit lopsided for the look im after. The dummy will also have a dummy overflow pipe just to keep it symmetrical. OCD much? /twitchA slight notching is needed on the chassis rail above for the steering arm.The engine mounts minus the side supports shown. Along with PS hose clearance. Once the trans is lifted slightly and bolted up it will get the carbs flat along with increasing clearances around the racks hose fittings & rocker covers. Hard to tell from that photo but its looking like very little if any modifications will be required to the floor pan. Will pop it in soon to have a look. Should still be nice and tucked up even at air out.A look at the old Hudson rad and where everything is being shifted to.

or use a Pertronix setup. Easy to install and works well.

Been ages since I have posted. I find at this time of year i can make an excuse out of anything to put work aside and stay inside being nice and warm.Winter here in New Zealand.My mate Flockie who is doing the brunt of the work has been pulling some long ass hours at work as well and only recently has been able to find a bit of time to get back on to the Hudson.Still as I last said its time to move on to the front end.Loaded up the Nailhead and took it to the Hudson den so measurements could be made.Plonked the engine up front along with the front rack just to take a look.Decided to raise up the low / air height a bit from 2" to 3".Front chassis tacked & assembled. Reid front end in position.Further bracing is still to be added.The whole front sub is bolt in/out. The four holes you see (lower right) is where the front bolts attach. The rear ones obviously are not shown. Some of the bracing will be removed as its just there to hold everything in position.The front clip will be in and out a few more times as things are drilled, welded and god knows what. But still the basic structure is now laid.Slight modification is needed to the rails for better clearances of the front rack.Engine will be in soon enough. Seems like there is heaps of room for it.So things are still progressing.