Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Kaiser Forum => Topic started by: JoeKeys2010 on August 31, 2014, 08:35:43 PM
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Here are some before and after shots of my 1949 Kaiser. I bought the car about a year ago and started on is shortly after that. I've been under the hood, under the car, new tires, paint job, seats, headliner, new glass, new rubber where possible. I painted the dash, trim around the windows, door jams, deck (trunk) and re-plated everything. I took it for Sunday ride today for the first time and she drove and handled like a dream. Costs as best I remember:
Tires (wide white walls, radials with tubes, mounted) = $1,000
Headliner (had to buy the right colored cloth and send it to a maker who had a pattern) installed = $1,000
Initial cost of the car = $3,500 (came with a parts car)
New Glass = $500
Replate = $3,500
Seats and door panels (don't remember material costs, bought 10 yards of volta cloth from manufacturing fund and 6 yards of Corduroy off the internet) = lots of begging the wife to sew my seats
Carpet = $60
Radio (not installed yet) = $100
Paint = called in a favor
Lots of questions from guys on the forum
New Rubber (some from Rudy some from Steel Rubber) = $250
Its been a labor of love and I would not swap it for a Cadillac. Now I want to drive, drive, drive and take it to car shows.
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Some more photos
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and the last of the photos
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Great piece of work. I really like Caribbean Coral. Display it proudly!
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Beautiful Car! Get off the internet and go Drive that beautiful car
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I think the car looks great. I sure hope you can bring it to the meet in Jackson later this month.
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Outstanding! Love how your car came out.
Dave F #10113
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Thanks for bringing this beauty back to life. You make us all feel proud to have another rare one back on the road!
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I went for a Sunday afternoon drive it in. It runs so smooth. It is a joy to drive. I'm going to take it to church this Sunday. When I bought it I was just going to drive it but the it bothered me it was the wrong color and the chrome wasn't shinny and how nice it would be to have white walls. Next thing you know I was hip deep into it it was nice to have a parts car and the club to help out with it.
I'll take it to car shows and drive it on weekends of all the cars I have built it is my favorite. I first saw one in a show in Mobile Alabama and wanted one every since.
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It would have worked to drive as is, but this is better no doubt. If you have some higher resolution photos, or a website with photos, I'd love to see some more.
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I was so excited to post photos I just snapped them with my iPhone. I'll get my good camera out and post some high resolution photos with cleaner background soon. I love the car. Some times I just sit and look at it. Mostly I love to drive her.
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Here is one of the completed door panels before and after. My wife did the needle work.
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Looks great! :)
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Beautiful. My 49 Deluxe is a sister, paint, tires,etc with an overdrive, to yours but needs some work. Just started on it now that I'm retired, gonna be visiting you for some advice. Inspiring!
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Thanks. It is the first Kaiser I have ever owned. I love the car. It rides and handles so smooth. I'm taking it to a meet in Jackson TN this week. Be sure to take lots of before and after photos.
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My Kaiser is also my first. Look forward to meeting you and seeing the car at Jackson - I'll be there tomorrow and Friday.
Fred
"51Deluxe"
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I'm in Meridian on business which is 4 hours away. Plan on arriving sometime tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting you too.
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My car did not have a radio but the parts car did. I was able to salvage the bracket and speaker. Rather than repair the radio I bought this one from a club member. It obviously needs knobs. I took the paper tags off of the parts car radio and attached them to the radio I bought.
The parts car did not have an antenna and there are no holes in the fenders. I'm not exactly sure where an antenna would go and I'm not to anxious to drill holes in newly painted fenders. Given it is an AM radio I may not even put an antenna on it as I'm not sure what music selection you would have on AM.
I'll have to drop the voltage down to 6 v as well.
Probably when in was new Hank Williams was sing through the speaker.
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When I got my car, I turned on the radio, and 50's Do Wop came out of the speaker. That's the local AM format. it was like a scene out of "Christine" (the movie about the haunted '57 Plymouth with a radio that lights up and plays Do Wop right before killing people.)
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Let there be light....