Restoration Kaiser Rotterdam de Luxe finished - sole survivor?

[Nils]

Hi there,
Two years ago, a Kaiser Rotterdam de Luxe was up for auction. The car was located a village nearby here in the Netherlands. The former owner had started restoration, but had to stop. The chassis was galvanized, many parts were chromed, but all else had to be done and the car was disassembled. It seemed complete, though.
Last summer, our friend Dick finished restoring the car. We chose an original time correct Kaiser Color to spray the car when the bodywork (little welding required) was finished. The interior was completely replaced, although it took the Oregon supplier 20 months (!) to ship it.
I will try to attach some pictures of the end result. We were wondering if anybody knows of any other surviving Kaiser Rotterdam de Luxe cars, here or elsewhere. We checked and ours is the only one registered in the Netherlands. It is difficult to check if any unregistered are still around or abroad.
Any information is most appreciated!

[konrad]

Beautiful restoration!!!

[Nils]

Thanks! I saw the interior wasn’t completely finished at the time I took the picture, but it is now.

[Gordie]

Congratulations!  It is a really beautiful job and you should be proud.  Send us some pictures and the story of  how you found the car as we are all interested.  There are a couple of different sales brochures for '51 Kaisers from the Netherlands and the cars look just like the American versions.

[Nils]

Thanks so much! I will pass the compliment on to Dick who did all the work and deserves all credits.
The car was for sale at an online auction at a nearby company that went broke. I was bidding on some tools as I pass that company on my way to work daily and thought I could pick these up if I could win the bid for a reasonable price. Then, I saw there was also a classic car for sale. I didn’t know it and I usually do. Pictures showed a rust-free, but rough body and countless loose parts and boxes. My father liked the car, too, and joined me in the bid. We threw in a low bid as we had no time to check out the car. Next day, I received an email that I was expected to come pick it up.
We also liked the history of the Kaiser brand after WWII in the city of Rotterdam (the city was pretty much levelled by the Germans and ressurected after the war) and decided this car needed to be on the road again.
Now, people come look at the car everywhere. It was in the local newspaper with a picture tourists took when I went for a swim. Some older guys (usually men) still know about the Nekaf (Dutch Kaiser Factory) in Rotterdam. Most car buffs look at least two or three times at the emblems and leave surprised that they don’t know the brand. They are even more surprised when they hear the car was assembled here.
We shipped out the radiator to have the cooling block replaced as it was leaking. The company called us if they could buy it from us as it turned out they made it (Dutch Radiator Factory) and are still in business. We left it in the car, though.
I had two seat belts installed, so I can take my sons for a drive without my wife objecting (luckily she is very much into classic cars) and we drove it a lot this summer. Traffic here is not as friendly and laid back as in many parts of the US, so I might have to improve the brakes. Other than that, the car is ready to last a long long time and we are looking forward to that.

[konrad]

Nils...on improving the brakes, check out this thread:  http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,12955.0.html

After having the brake shoes arced on my 51 I can tell you it made a significant improvement!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

What Information (numbers and various positions) is on the Body Information Tag and Body Serial Number (these two tags are on the firewall) and the door post serial number?  The car was a hybrid with some upscale Kaiser Deluxe parts put on a Kaiser Special Body.  It was built only at the Rotterdam assembly plant; less than 400 were produced in 1951.

[Fid]

Fine looking car!  Hope you get it out where people can see/enjoy it.  I used to get to Maastrict and Herleen pretty regularly but not anymore.  Dang, would've been nice to see it!

[Nils]

What Information (numbers and various positions) is on the Body Information Tag and Body Serial Number (these two tags are on the firewall) and the door post serial number?  The car was a hybrid with some upscale Kaiser Deluxe parts put on a Kaiser Special Body.  It was built only at the Rotterdam assembly plant; less than 400 were produced in 1951.

I found the attached photo, but would have to look up the other. There car looks a lot like the American version. The chrome is a bit different and some parts were sourced locally.

There is a website here, where you can look up all cars of a certain brand with a registered licence plate. There was only one Kaiser Rotterdam de Luxe. I searched the neighboring countries Germany and Belgium and found none on the internet. Does the club know of any?

[Nils]

Nils...on improving the brakes, check out this thread:  http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,12955.0.html

After having the brake shoes arced on my 51 I can tell you it made a significant improvement!

That is an interesting solution, thanks! We’ll look into it!

[Nils]

Fine looking car!  Hope you get it out where people can see/enjoy it.  I used to get to Maastrict and Herleen pretty regularly but not anymore.  Dang, would've been nice to see it!

We drive it a lot - as a daily driver in the summer and now when the weather allows. We keep it indoors - dry and warm - in the winter. The car is very comfortable and we can take it for longer drives. Maastricht is not so close, though, as we are located in Zeeland on a former island between Rotterdam and Antwerp.

[MarkH]

Absolutely beautiful!
It takes an incredible amount of detail work to restore a car to that level.
I installed seat belts too since my grandsons also drive the car.
Try arc matching on your brake shoes as suggested. If that does not improve them enough you might consider searching for a front disc brake conversion. I installed front disc brakes on my restoration and am very pleased with the results.

[Nils]

Absolutely beautiful!
It takes an incredible amount of detail work to restore a car to that level.
I installed seat belts too since my grandsons also drive the car.
Try arc matching on your brake shoes as suggested. If that does not improve them enough you might consider searching for a front disc brake conversion. I installed front disc brakes on my restoration and am very pleased with the results.

Thanks! Yes, it took many hours. Getting everything straight on a car this size is not so easy. The paint shop surely did not let us down either. They did a great job. I am still happy with the color. It used to be maroon brown and that was one of very few things we did not want to keep original.
We’ll see if arc matching does the trick.

[pjkaiser]

Here is my post from another thread, just in case you missed it: 

I started driving my Darrin and found the brakes difficult to stop.  I didn't arc them at the time since there worked fine 6 years ago when I was driving it before the restoration, what a mistake!!

I arced the fronts and what a difference.  Pictures tell the story!!

pic 1 arcing machine, this is what they look like!  You must first use a micrometer on the Drum for the actual diameter, then set the machine up for that diameter.  Then you slowly arc the shoes till they match the drums - 100% contact!!!
pic 2 first pass shows a high spot in the middle.
pic 3 shows only about 1/4 of the shoe making contact.
pic 4 after taking a few more thousands off, we are getting close!
pic 5 100% contact. They will act like you have power brakes!!!   

The machines are hard to find, however, they work great.

Also, this is a reply from someone who couldn't find an arcing machine

Yep, arcing the shoes makes a big difference. I do my own with coarse sandpaper on the inside of the drum. Carefully 'sand' the shoe material back and forth, keeping the shoe flat against the drum & sandpaper. I use a spray bottle of water with a little dish soap added to keep the dust contained. When you are done, clean everything with brake cleaner onto paper towel or shop towel and dispose of the towel and debris.

I've considered gluing the sandpaper to the drum (temporarily of course  ) to make the process a little easier, but I haven't really had an issue with the sandpaper staying put especially when wet. Hold the paper with one hand to keep it from sliding, and use the other hand for the shoe.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Nils

Would you consider writing a story about the car and how you got it (with pictures) for use in the Spring 2021 KFOCI QUARTERLY magazine?  It would be an intersting kind of thing for sure!

As far as K-F cars in Europe (including cars not presently licensed for road service) goes, how about trying Armand De Ricques in France or Paul Dammes in the Netherlands?  They are both club members, are active in the K-F scene in Eurpoe and may be able to answer some of your questions.

Jack Mueller
Historian KFOCI
Editor Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club International Quarterly Magazine