Banana Bars

[Orphanauto]

My 53 Manhattan did NOT have the "Banana Bars" when I got it. A amazing club member gave me a set he pulled off a car being scraped. I noticed the taps, and holes to bolt them up to my car are not the same distance. Neither line up to the bolts on my 53. 2 questions arise to me. 1. Is there a left and a right? 2. Are they different for different years and models? Thanks

[Dragon]

51 Kaiser did use a different size banana.  You would need to post pictures to see the difference.

[54manhattan13]

I am a long time Kaiser Frazer owner. I thought I knew all about them, but I learn new things almost daily on this forum. I want to ask, what are banana bars?

[joefrazer]

On the 1953 Kaisers, the bumper ends are shaped like a banana...hence the nick name.

[Fid]

Those on the '51 Kaiser are definitely different:


and the '51 Special did not have them  at all:

[tq]

If I recall correctly, the 51 and 54/55 Kaiser's had the flat style corner pieces and the "real" 52's as well as 53's had the banana style corner pieces.

[54manhattan13]

Am I correct in believing that the '51 and '54-'55 front bumpers are the same? If so are the "banana bars the same on these cars?

[joefrazer]

Yes, the 1951 and 1954 bumper bars and bumper ends are the same. The bumper guards however are different between the two years. The 1951 units sit vertically and the 54 units are canted.

[Orphanauto]

I wasn't sure the real name, but have heard them called banana bars, haha. The ones I got have the tabs about 1 inch or s to far apart formy bumper. That's what made me think maybe the 52's were a bit different. Thanks for all the input.