Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Thu Oct 10, 2002 12:14 am

So Brule,

what is the latest deal with your car. Are you draggin it every week? are you still rebuiding it or what? did you sell it? and what is some of the history of the HenryJ?

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Oct 10, 2002 5:29 am

Are you draggin it every week?

No, It has been a little neglected lately. With a 1 soon to be 2yr old son (Tach) I haven't had much time to do more than take it up town for a cruise, now and then. Right now it doesn't even have a battery in it

When the bat. in my wife's car died I took the Delco out of my CC , put it in her's, I stole the Optima red-top, out of HJ and put it in my crew cab

are you still rebuiding it or what?

I have a few on the waiting list, but I'm taking some time "off" to concentrate on a position change at work (the full-time job).

what is some of the history of the HeneryJ?

Kaiser-Fraiser's HenryJ was built from 1951-1953 , also re-badged and sold as an Allstate in the Sears & Roebuck catalog for $1300. They had a Willys designed engine , either the 4 cyl "tornado" flathead (std) or the Deluxe "Super Hurricane" 6 cyl flathead. A little over 250k were produced. Not too many people were interested in a small car that got 34 mpg back then so they didn't do real well. Their popularity rose in the '60's during the Gasser wars, since the V-8 conversion was pretty easy. This car has been in this valley since the early '70's. A guy named Harvey had it back then with a "hopped" up 289ci ford. There are stories of him doing wheelies on main street

It went through a dozen more owners, one of which rolled it. Finally I found it in the salvage yard. It had a stock 351 Clevland in it and was pretty rough, but $125 later it was mine

. I fixed the bent tie-rod, put the wrongly wired firing order right and drove it for two years back in high school. Then tore it down and set my mind to do it right. It has been real fun, nothing quite like that kind of power!

Hotrodder's Garage

Tags: Kaiser , Kaiser-Fraiser , HenryJ , Allstate , Corsair

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 12:04 am

so Kaiser-Fraiser's , is that like a car company? chevy, ford...exuse my ignorance here. and sold as an allstate? i am confused.

so i know about the sears and roebuck catalog so you dont have to explain that one to me

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 5:18 am

Yes, Kaiser -Fraiser was a company (ie. Chev., Ford, Chry.etc.)

HenryJ Kaiser owned steel and manufactured equip. for the war effort, after the war he got together with Darrin Fraiser, a designer and they started building cars.

If you heard the story of the Tucker's , it was much the same for Kaiser. However Kaiser owned his own steel and didn't have to buy it from the "Big three", so He was able to last a little longer.

Note: It's pretty easy to pick out a Kaiser by the rear window. The heart shaped rear window was kind of a "signature" for Darrin Fraiser.

Some of the Models they built: HenryJ, Allstate, Vagabond, Dragon, Darrin-(cool one, all fiberglass with doors that rolled into the front fenders)

, Golden Dragon,Special,

Kaiser, Fraiser, Manhattan

etc.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri Oct 11, 2002 10:13 am

hmmm, that cool. i know i have seen the heneryj before in magazines and stuff. cool car!

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:45 pm

Just wanted to see if motorcities allows linked images-

In street trim, mufflers and Mickeys

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 8:11 pm

HenryJ wrote:Just wanted to see if motorcities allows linked images-

In street trim, mufflers and Mickeys

its bitching

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:22 am

Found some more Kaiser pictures, so I edited the above post to include some images.

Sure would like to have a '54 Darrin for saturday night cruizin'

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:50 pm

My car is sittin in the garage too... I dumped a whole lot of money into it then lost intrest... I love the car too... I think I lost intrest because of the rear end setup I got.. Right now I am running a 7.5 rear that the v6 originally came with.. I have a 8.8 setup in the garage but it needs to be rebuilt and frankley I dont know anything about rear ends.. also since the rear is from a 89 mustang I know I might have to do some welding.. however without a welder and not much money I dont know when I will get back to working on it... after the rear I want a set of heads... after that I am going to turbo charge it.. hopefully... so brule I feel your pain...

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:31 pm

I thought that I'd give this thread a bump, since there was a question on where my username comes from, and the motorcities links are dead...

Here's a link to my webpage if you want to see more- Hotrodder's Garage

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 1:10 am

i want to drive it

Post by **HenryJ** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:57 pm

a2b wrote:i want to drive it

Sorry the learning curve would kill me. The throttle is VERY touchy, and it can swap ends way too easily. It will still light up the street tires at forty miles an hour, and try to go sideways.
I am the only one that has ever driven it since October 31, 1990 when it was reborn.
I have had it going that long and still to this day get out of it shaking like a leaf.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:09 am

I like all the photos of it parked but really want to see some nice action shots. Any wheels up or "John Force style" burnout pics?

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:12 am

Rusty wrote:...really want to see some nice action shots.

The biggest problem that I have is , the photographer in the family is the one driving it.

SomeCrew · Post by **SomeCrew** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:04 am

What does it run in the quarter mile Henry?

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:26 am

HenryJ wrote:
Rusty wrote:...really want to see some nice action shots.
The biggest problem that I have is , the photographer in the family is the one driving it.

Yeah, I know that one. I've had sort of the same problem with the Geocaching. Can't figure out how to take my own picture with the cache. Of course in your case the subject is moving at a pretty good speed. At least the cache stands still!

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:51 am

SomeCrew wrote:What does it run in the quarter mile Henry?

Hotrodder's Garage wrote:...my quickest quarter mile time (on slicks, of course) has been 10.74 seconds at 125 miles per hour.

SomeCrew · Post by **SomeCrew** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:04 am

HenryJ wrote:(on slicks, of course)

Street slicks or straight drag slicks?

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:36 pm

SomeCrew wrote:
HenryJ wrote:(on slicks, of course)
Street slicks or straight drag slicks?

Mickey Thompson ET Drag Slicks 31x13-15 They are wrinklewall slicks. I run between 4-8 psi.
The street tires are 29 x 15.5 Mickey Thompson Sportsman tires. They don't hook at all. I have tried running the "Quick eight" on street tires, but smoked the tires for the whole quarter, pedaling it to stay between the lines.

It is a little more manageable while underdriven for the street, but still way too much fun

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Thu May 19, 2005 8:40 pm

I can truly say that the good old henry j deserves a

>> Thanx for taking me for a spin when i was down there brule... also while I got u .. remember that one kid with the zr2? .. I don't know if u seen it! but he rhino lined the bottom half of the truck and it looks pretty good.. !
..Ok back to the henry J.. Fastes car I've ever been in .

brings tears to my eyes..

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri May 20, 2005 1:35 pm

HenryJ wrote:
SomeCrew wrote:What does it run in the quarter mile Henry?

Hotrodder's Garage wrote:...my quickest quarter mile time (on slicks, of course) has been 10.74 seconds at 125 miles per hour.

thats really getting it in the top end right? if you had lower gears could you do the same time at a slower speed?

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:45 pm

a2b wrote:
HenryJ wrote:
SomeCrew wrote:What does it run in the quarter mile Henry?

Hotrodder's Garage wrote:...my quickest quarter mile time (on slicks, of course) has been 10.74 seconds at 125 miles per hour.

thats really getting it in the top end right? if you had lower gears could you do the same time at a slower speed?

You could be right.
If I geared lower I could possibly, and probably would run a faster time with perhaps a slower MPH.
It is not ideally geared for the strip. I still have about 700 rpm to redline when I clear the 1/4.
I have compromised some performance on the strip , for streetability.

It currently runs 4.11 gears and 4500 rpm stall converter. The roller cam is good for 7500 rpm and with the rev kit the valves should resist float to 9000 rpm.
Big blocks like to pull so they tend to peak early at between 6800-7200 for my engine.
I finish the quarter in the 6300-6800 rpm range.

The higher miles per hour are good in the topend. It gives my opponent less time to judge distance. Makes it easier to plant a fender on them.

If it was strictly a race car it would weigh close to 1000 lbs less, and be geared and stalled much differently. I'd probably lose the blower too, since the big heat pump can be a liability for consistency.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Sun May 22, 2005 12:54 pm

gotcha! i figured you had it all worked out for one reason or another

ya i compromise alot with my trail rig/comp rig. i compete but i also run trails so i dont every little thing i can to make it a better comp rig.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:00 pm

Dusted off, charged up and made a run to town

I was not alone. I pulled into the gas station next to a bright yellow seventies Corvette and across from us was a powder blue sixties Falcon. Everybody had spring fever today

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:25 am

Out for another year. Dusted off and finally I got a "round too it". The fuel lines from the pumps have needed to be changed for a few years now. 25' of 1/2" braided stainless line is hard to justify replacing for the third time.
This time I finally broke down and replaced it with hard line.
I have had a problem with diminishing fuel pressure after everything warms up. I changed regulators, pumps, filters, and finally blamed an internal separation in the fuel lines.
As with any task, it was not as difficult as I had imagined, or built up in my mind. Once into it it took less than half a day. The new lines worked , but did not solve the problem. I relocated the mechanical gauge as well as the isolated interior gauge. I still need to bleed the interior gauge, but the mechanical gauge shows good fuel pressure again.
Weather changed to rain here today, so I'll have to try it out another day.
Now out to bleed the air from that isolator

The day was not without a very spendy mishap. One of the glass tail lamp lenses fell out somewhere on the trip to town

Those are hard to find! I am stuck paying $58 for a NOS replacement.

Highway robbery for a 3" round piece of red glass, but what do you do? Bite your lip and pay the price.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:14 pm

i hate spending money...but i do it so often

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 12:11 pm

I made a very cool trade last week. I have a friend who is building a Studebaker gasser. He wanted a blower for the project.
I told him that I would trade him a good 6-71 street blower for a trunk script.

He found one and had it rechromed for me.

That is the one thing I did not have on both of the HenryJ's I have owned. They are hard to find as most were broken or stolen. This is the big one on the back of the car. It was not a priority for me. I have the smaller dash script.

The spare blower sitting in the garage was really doing me no good. It will do nicely on his car, and I get some shiny chrome to ooh and ahh over

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:36 pm

nice!

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:58 pm

Dusted the HenryJ off with a spirited run down the road and back. Spring must be here the smell of tire smoke is in the air!

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:04 pm

Congrats! I wonder how you find the time but, was thinking of the HJ this weekend. London had a big car show and all I could do was avoid it trying to get back and forth to the hospital. I did get glimpses of every thing from Porches similar to what James Dean was killed in to some very nice '69 Camaros. Maybe next year we'll fly in to Boise and camp out on your door step

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 5:12 pm

I just Googled my name and found this: Firebird Raceway archives

Nice picture.

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:54 pm

That is a cool pic! Do you remember that day?

Steve

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 7:44 pm

killian96ss wrote:That is a cool pic! Do you remember that day?

Steve

I was there every weekend for three years. I entered the King of the street every year except one from 1991-1994 or '95. I was not running my pro number and the F designates a full tree. Probably trying to fly under the radar. King of the street is run heads up, no handicap. Quickest car wins. I qualified in the quick eight every time I entered.
1993 was one of my better years. I went with the team to the nationals that year. I placed seventh.
Can't say I remember the day. I remember lots of good days from that time

S-10CREWCAB.NET

Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ

Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ

The Henry J

Re: Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ

Re: Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ

Re: Brule's 1951 Kaiser-Fraiser HenryJ