Henry J spy photos

[Gordie]

Back when our cars were new Ford and Chrysler and perhaps others would obtain a new Kaiser-Frazer product and take it to their factory's and sometimes take them apart or at least take photos and analyze the cars to see how they were made.  Chrysler took so many photographs regarding the 1951 Frazer's that they assembled a book with all of the photos. In looking through some of Ford's spy photos they took pictures of the 1952 Henry J Vagabond with trunk and also the 1952 Allstate with trunk to show the interiors and layout.  In looking at the photos I noticed that the Allstate spare tire and jack laid loose in the trunk while the Henry J Vagabond had a cutout in the left side trunk floor for the spare to stand up vertically and be secured but the jack was loose with all three pieces laying on the trunk floor.  My 1952 Allstate with no deck lid has the vertically installed Spare tire mounted with the cutout in the floor.  It is interesting to note the differences in construction.  There are also photos done by Kaiser-Frazer of a 1951 Chevrolet that they had disassembled for study.

[G.B. (All Vinyl Dragon)]

Gordie, Great Story.
Is it hard to get things in & out of the Trunk with No Lid ?
I remember the Nash Metropolitan also did that on early models.
Some had Continental spare on the Back.

I had a Friend with 59 Ford retract. You also wanted spare on the back. Trunks lid hindge opeset normal. You had square box area to store tools ect. Spare Tire in Box area if no kit on the back. Hard to get anything without scratching  sides.

[Gordie]

Some of the Henry J's had a folding rear seat and that would make it much easier to retrieve the spare tire and those are probably the ones with the spare mounted vertically.  It is very difficult to reach over the back seat and retrieve something as heavy as the spare tire and wheel.  My Metropolitan has no trunk either but it has a locking upper back seat panel that covers the trunk area and folds down and forward.  Fortunately they all have the spare mounted on the rear a la Continental style and the hardest part of removing the spare is getting the tight fitting vinyl tire cover off and on.

[Terry T]

no deck lid forced a folding seat rear seat back
with deck lid, fixed rear seat back, package shelf was an option or...
folding rear seat back was an option

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The Folding Rear Seat was required on all Henry J's without deck lid.  The first approx. 40,000 1951 models (4 and 6 cyl types total) were build with folding seat and no deck lid.  When K-F got the money together for a new stamping, deck lid wieh either a fixed back seat or folding rear seat back were offered with the lid as part of an Accessory Group (along with seat type).  Allstates were also built with or without deck lid and with different versions of the Allstate included addition of deck lid and rear seat choice.  These versions are identified in the KFOCI HANDBOOK under the appropriate model year HJ or Allstate cars.

It's all in the handbook CD that new members get when they join or if you were a member during the fall of 2013 you got the latest release (still 5.0) with your 2014 calendar.  The CD is NOT available to non-members.  Any member making or distributing information off the Handbook to non-members voids the club's copyright use agreement and the Handbook project will end.

[Roadmaster49]

Another interesting story.  Here is the deal when I read this - unlike today when tires seemingly never fail and go flat, in the fifties, (heck into the 80's!) tires regularly went flat or there were issues.  How old would that get pulling the spare out especially if it had been used 1-2 times?  Now you have a tire with road dirt on it that you are trying to work back into the trunk over clean upholstery and clothes!  And to boot, I believe many women owned the Henry J as a 2nd round town car.

[Corsairdeluxe]

A lot of folks went to 6.40 x 15 especially with WWs. Unfortunately ,it will not fit in the wheel wells. I found that out to late.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Here are a couple 1952 Henry J Corsair platform photos from that year's Competitive Intelligence report at Chrysler Corporation on the car, a Ford Motor Company spy photo on the 1952 HJ Vagabond amd a 1953 photo from that year's Chrysler Corporation Competitive Intelligence report.

[Fid]

Wow, that '52 Vagabond picture looks very familiar.   Here's mine, which is almost a color version of the same shot.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

On the 6.40 x 15 tires,  this was kind of a strange thing applicable only to later production 1951 models.  Whitewall tires were not that easy to get and while the 6.40 x 15 would fit on the 4 inch rims it was a tight sqeeze and the tire itself was wider than the 5.90 so under certain tight turning situations, the tire might rub while the 5.90 x 15 would not.  A similar situation occurred with the Darrin in 1953 when K-F was working up the final spec's for the car.  Goodyear put K-F on notice they would not warranty 6.70 x 15 tires on a Darrin and did not like the idea of using 6.40's due to clearance issues. 

[Corsairdeluxe]

On a hard left turn with 6.40s on the J the, clutch arm will rub against and sometimes bind against the tire.

[Corsairdeluxe]

I am a full size person. So is Big Dave in L.A. He's 6-8. He tried on one of My Js. He had more leg room than he needed and 2 inches head clearance. I'm 6-4 and 300#. We both fit into it with room to spare. The huge front seat of the J will allow a teenager to  get into more trouble than any other!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Henry Kaiser had to fit in the car with room to spare to drive so there is loads of front seat room.  Three adults should fit on that seat nicely with 2 in the back

[Fid]

Frank Zappa had this to say about riding in the back seat of his father's Henry J as the family moved from Maryland to CA.

"I spend two weeks riding on that ironing board from hell..."   

[G.B. (All Vinyl Dragon)]

Wow,

 An Ironing Board ? You would have to stop more times for a Break !!!