Henry J Heaters

[Gordie]

Are you looking for a correct heater for your Henry J?  While looking at the illustration of the Henry J heater in the 1951 parts book I noticed that it is the same heater as used in the 1946-7 Fords and Mercury's.  While not cheap in price they are available as they were a very popular accessory on the Fords and Mercury's and were a very good heater in those larger Fords so they should be great in the Henry J's.

[Fid]

They are also the same as the '49/'50 Kaiser.  I remember reading in some article about the J, perhaps by Langworth, where the author states this type of heater was used in late '51s into the early '52 Corsairs. The article further elaborates "...if you have this heater in your car, keep it there as it's a much better heater."

[Gordie]

The owners manuals for 1949-50 Kaisers and Frazers indicate that the factory heaters were a carryover of the "Air Conditioned" units from 1947 and 1948.  The Ford type units were a Universal type that would fit in any car and could certainly be in installed in any Kaiser or Frazer that did not have a factory type heater.  They were also used in the Playboy car from 1948 and one of my Playboy's has that heater.

[HJ-ETEX]

I would offer a clarification. "Correct heater" isn't the best term to use since HJs didn't come from the factory with heaters. The Parts Book shows 2 heaters packages #100171 and #100238. The parts book shows these packages as being the heater unit, fittings, brackets, and switch. The heater unit in the later is from the earlier big cars. The basic unit in #100171 is smaller and resembles a common Arvin aftermarket unit of the time.

Since HJs didn't come with factory heaters, any reasonably installed after market heater could be considered as acceptable for judging.

The parts book section for #100171 shows L&R fresh air vent packages but it doesn't appear as if they are included. The section for #100238 doesn't mention the fresh air packages at all. Neither is going to be very effective without a right side fresh air vent to duct air to the heater.

I don't think finding the 2 heater units discussed would be difficult; the hard part would be finding the switch and switch bracket and the correct cables to operate the fresh air vents.

And a special note to Gordie: Allstates are supposed to have Allstate branded heaters. You would have to consult with Hewlett about whether the Sears store installed fresh air vents or just slapped on an off the shelf heater. 

[Fid]

There were actually 3 different heaters available from the factory for the Henry J and 4 if you count some of the first ones which did indeed have the '47/'48 style "Air Conditioner."  The two types listed in the 1951 Henry J Parts book and those which Tom elaborated on but the '52/'53 HJ Parts book supplement lists a third one:  KF part number 100302.
Below are pictures; first picture is Don Dettore's  early aloha green J which has the '47/'48 Air Conditioner in it (I've seen more than one with it). The heater is obscured by a dash plaque but a close examination reveals it to be a '47/'48 Kaiser heater. My dad's first HJ in 1950 came from the factory with this heater. Likely the true HJ ones were not available  yet.
The second picture is the typical 100171 which is the most common one.
The third one is the one Gordie mentions and it's part number 100238 which was also used in 1949/50 Kaisers.
The last one is part number 100302, listed in the '52/'53 HJ Parts book supplement. This one had a changeable front face which could be changed to read "Allstate" instead.
And yes, they are all listed in the Accessories section of the HJ Parts book.

[Corsairdeluxe]

If you bought it at western auto it had this name script

[Gordie]

The heater from Western Auto would work but it would not be authentic for a Henry J or Allstate.  Sears probably offered more than one heater for the Allstate.