Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum

General Category => Kaiser Forum => Topic started by: CurtRod58 on November 19, 2009, 06:37:49 PM

Title: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: CurtRod58 on November 19, 2009, 06:37:49 PM
I have an eye on buying a nice running '53 Kaiser 2 Dr with the supercharged motor. As I am a Kaiser "virgin", can anyone tell me what the production numbers are on the '53 supercharged 2 door cars? I believe it's a Manhattan model but not 100% sure. Can any one help me out? 
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: Fid on November 19, 2009, 07:57:43 PM
Just so you know, there were no original supercharged 1953 Kaisers. The car you're looking at is likely a '54 (which most people like even more), or an even more rare '55, if it is supercharged.  Any two door Kaiser is rare and the Manhattans are pretty fancy cars.  If you get it, let us know as there are plenty of people here more than willing and able to provide you any info you need.  To tell what year it truly is (and a lot of owners who have inherited cars via various means may not know what they have) look at the VIN tag inside the driver's door sill, between the hinges.  A 1954 will have a VIN that begins with K54x a '53 will begin with K53x etc. (x being '1' if it's a Deluxe and '2' if it's a Manhattan in the case of the '54/'55 cars). Best of luck.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: joefrazer on November 19, 2009, 08:02:31 PM
Unless Kaiser built a one-off for a show car, there were no factory built supercharged 53 Kaisers. The McCulloch supercharger was first used on the 1954 Kaiser Manhattans and also continued on the 55s.

1953 two door cars themselves are rare...the total built between the Manhattan, DeLuxe and Carolina numbering something around 4000. I'd say maybe 1/10th of that survives today.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: CurtRod58 on November 20, 2009, 11:48:22 AM
How about production of '54 2 doors, with or w/o superchargers?
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: joefrazer on November 20, 2009, 04:03:15 PM
54-5 Kaiser 2 door production...
54K Manhattan (with s/c) = 223
54K Special, early = about 350
54K Special late = 6
55K Manhattan (with s/c) = 44
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: CurtRod58 on November 20, 2009, 04:22:08 PM
After looking at a picture of the car I'm looking at and comparing to a pic of a '54 Manhattan. I would say it's definitely a '53. It looks like the '54 has a "droopy" headlight/parking light assembly while the '53 I'm looking at has a std headlight assy with seperate parking lights in the cross bar between the hood and bumper. Did all the '54's have the same headlight/grille treatment as the Manhattan? Did all the '53's have the same treatment as I described? Perhaps someone just swapped the SC motor into the '53? I'm sure it would be just about impossible to figure out if this one is a "one-off", wouldn't it?
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: CurtRod58 on November 20, 2009, 04:30:46 PM
If it helps clarify anything it also has a faux (fake) alligator interior and an OD tranny
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: superk226 on November 20, 2009, 11:38:45 PM
There is a 53 two door delux for sale in the Sacramento area that has a supercharger and dual exhaust on it according to the description in the ad. Is this the car that you are considering buying? I did not go look at it yet but it is all home brew as KF did not make such a model.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: CurtRod58 on November 21, 2009, 12:35:53 AM
yes, that is the same one. I was curious about it because it was supercharged and looked to be in pretty decent shape for the $$. But after seeing everyone's responses I was beginning to think it wasn't an OEM model. I was thinking it was maybe a Dragon with the interior but you say it's a Delux? How can you tell from just the pics, or are you just trying to scare me away to pick it up yourself?..........  :P
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: superk226 on November 21, 2009, 12:01:21 PM
I am not interested in buying the car but I do intend to go look at it to see what has been done to it. The reason I say it is a delux model is because it has the narrow stainless steel trim instead of the wide stainless steel. If is a delux model, the VIN number will start as K531-.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: kaiserfrazerlibrary on November 23, 2009, 11:28:08 AM
This is probably way late compared to the original inquiry, but I don't usually check out this forum...

A club member who once lived in Portland Oregon, had a supercharger and other speedo upgrades put into a 1953 2-door Kaiser sedan.  He had "Kaiser Special" fender script put on the car.  He had it for a time in Wisconsin while assigned in Milwaukee by the company he was with at the time, so I got to see the car.

Jack Mueller
Club Historian
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: superk226 on January 04, 2010, 12:48:26 AM
This must be the same car that Jack described as being from Portland, Oregon. The deluxe script had been removed and a script that says 'sprint' was put in place of it. So now it says 'Kaiser Sprint'. The supercharger is a backyard installation as it required moving the radiator forward and this was accomplished by hacking away at the sheet metal to gain clearance for the supercharger and then mounting the radiator on wooden spacers. The body on the is not dented and does not show any signs of rust but the interior cloth in the seats is rotten an needs to be replaced. It is an interesting car and well worth fixing to be drivable. The ID on the door post is K5314-001612 and shows up on Harold Hagen's list as being owned by someone in Portland, OR. The present owner said he bought the in Portland about a year ago.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: Fid on January 04, 2010, 10:10:57 AM
The car is on ebay right now and is listed as a "Rare Kaiser Sprint." The fact that none were ever made makes it pretty rare.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-KAISER-SPRINT-COUPE-SUPER-RARE-1953-KAISER-SPRINT-2-DOOR-SUPERCHARGED_W0QQitemZ330392141008QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4cece7fcd0
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: kaiserfrazerlibrary on January 04, 2010, 10:24:41 PM
This "Kaiser Sprint" car was owned in the 1970's by former (recently rejoined, I am told) member Mike Mesitech (spelled wrong, sorry) who was originally from the Portland Oregon area and was transferred to Milwaukee when he worked for the financial arm of the old International Harvestor operation.  Mike was also instrumental in finding the 1951 Kaiser Special Business Coupe that I would eventually own.  That car is on display at the Ypsilanti MI museum in the Depot Town area with other K-F items including the Explorer show car.  The coupe is owned by the museum.

a Kaiser Sprint???? Clearly the owner doesn't know his cars, didn't bother to research the car and/or is trying to pull a fast one (in my humble opinion) by attempting to pass it off as a factory product.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: joefrazer on January 05, 2010, 06:00:10 PM
Well, someone ponied up 5 grand and used the 'buy it now' option on ebay. A closer look at the trunk reveals that the car was once blue...or at least the spare tire well was! I also know of a 48 Frazer that was supercharged. I could have purchased the car for 2 grand and that included everything needed to put the rock solid car back together as it was partially disassembled for restoration. I should have bought the thing...just to have fun with the uninitiated!

Also, a guy showed up at the '09 national with a turbocharged 49K. Lots of plumbing under the hood that bewildered all who looked. I recall the owner stating that he needed to replace the main bearings in the engine and couldn't figure out why...
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: 84RabbitGTI on January 08, 2010, 01:10:18 AM
I saw what appeared to be a 2 door 1953 Kaiser Dragon with a super charger at the 1990 KFOCI Meet in New Orleans.  I never saw under the hood but the car had the "Dragon" and "Supercharger" badges on the sides and all was plated in gold.  It also had the 1954 Tail light configuration.
Here are some captures I got off the video tape I made of the meet. I don't have any actual photos of it other than these captures. Sorry for the poor quality.

(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee71/Kaiser51/1990%20KFOCI%20National%20Meet/PDVD_022.jpg)

(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee71/Kaiser51/1990%20KFOCI%20National%20Meet/PDVD_024.jpg)
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: Fid on January 08, 2010, 09:09:30 AM
The car is owned by Larry Smith of Iowa. It's a fake, he assembled it himself and always claimed it was his own invention. He and John Haller of Mpls also did a their own version of a 1953 Virginian or something of that nature. Cool cars but not factory issue. There was an article about Larry's homemade Dragon in the Autumn 1972 KFOC Quarterly. I also remember Larry conveying the story of how he built the car at several KF Club meets over the years. He made it from a 1951 Kaiser 2 door body and hung all the accessories he could on it - Power Steering, wire wheels etc. all of which can be seen in the photo above.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: pnw_oldmags on January 08, 2010, 02:32:58 PM
At the National in Prescott Arizona a 54 Dragon also showed up.  I am sure it was a homemade model as well.  Nice looking car all the same.
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: mikeljon on October 01, 2011, 07:08:54 PM
Although this is an old topic, I am new to the Forum and I just recently discovered it.  I thought I would explain the origin of the Kaiser "Sprint".  In 1970, I purchased a green 1953 2 door Deluxe w/od from Joe Borroz, of Vancouver Washington.  Joe and his brother had 3-4 KF products between them and had been members of the KF club for many years.  The car need paint, some body work and an engine rebuild.  Since I had received a Fullbright scholarship to study in Yugoslavia for 1970 and 1971, I left the car as-is until I returned to Portland, OR in 1972.

Originally, I planned to use the car as a daily driver, but the car I wanted to drive (55 K 4 door) from Portland, Oregon to the 1974 KF National in Willow Run was not going to be ready for the trip.  (That car is now owned by Dr. Don Dettore). We (Club member Evan Heis and I) decided to take the 53 Deluxe instead of the 55.  Most of the body work, paint, chrome, basic mechanical and detail work was completed about a week before we were scheduled to leave.

Since we had a couple of extra superchargers and related accessories, we decided at the last minute to put a blower on the 53 and have it judged at the meet in the modified class.  Because of the time crunch, we ended up cutting some corners.  For example, instead of using steel spacers to move the radiator forward we settled for wood.  For the air cleaner, we built a bracket, secured it under a head bolt and fabricated a paper element cleaner from a 62 Plymouth with a two barrel carb.

The most interesting modification involved the piece of sheet metal that covers the front of the radiator.  With the radiator moved forward to clear the blower and the crankshaft pulley, the original 53 part no longer fit.  In a really neat piece of KF engineering, we discovered that they managed to modify the part used on the 51-53 series  to accommodate the 54/55 redesign.  We found that by bending the lower secton of the 54 part (Which is bolted to the grill) to match the contour of the 53, the bolt holes lined up and the part fit perfectly, and it provided the necessary clearance for the radiator and blower pulley. Next time you see a 54 and 53 together, take a look at this engineering shortcut.

The night before we were to begin the 3000 mile trip to Detroit, we still did not have the 53 together.  The last item to install was the re-chromed Kaiser Deluxe script.  We found the Kaiser section but the Deluxe was missing.  We had been working on the 53 in the used car reconditioning area of my uncle's Toyota dealership in Portland, Oregon.  As we searched unsuccessfully through boxes of Kaiser parts we decided that we would just go with Kaiser on the fender; that is until we saw some discarded script in a trash barrel.  The script read "Toyota" "Sprinter".   Since we only had a few hours left before departure we hastilly cut the "er" from "Sprinter" and attached it to the 53's fenders.

Because we did not have time to road test the 53 before we left, many, many things went wrong.  I installed the electric wipers backwards (With the blower, the original vacuum set had to be replaced). When I turned the wipers on they cut a swath across the newly painted hood instead of the windshield.  The rebuilt master cylinder leaked,  the generator and starter had to be re- rebuilt on the road, the base broke off the distributor and on and on.  The other members of our cross country caravan eventually ran out of patience, since we were stopping every 2-3 hours for repairs.  The eventful trip was later chronicled by club member, Gary Gudmunson for the quarterly.  The car, however won a third place at the national in the modified class.

The most embarrassing aspect of the Kaiser Sprint story occurred at the Willow Run National.  I lost count of the number of Kaiser "experts" that came by to explain how, when and why KF made a 53 "Sprint".  There was never any intent to pass the car off as one-off a kind factory special, but even after I attempted to explain the Sprint's history some people could not be convinced.  The Langworth book should be required reading for anyone planning to spend $ on a so-called one-off KF car. 

I drove the "Sprint" for many years after I moved from Portland to Milwaukee, Wisc and later to the Chicago area.  About 1983, I sold the car to club member Evan Heis and eventually lost track of it.

 It amazes me that anyone can look at the "hurry-up" modifications we made and think the factory had anything to do with it. 

On a side note, I did own a 54 early Special trimmed as a 54 Dragon that had a factory supercharger installed.  The car, the leather interior, the engine and the blower were all black.  The car was apparently built for the 1954 Chicago auto show.  Lowell Johnson kept the car, I retained the blower, which was sold to Dr. Dettore along with my 55K.

That is the long-winded story of the 1953 Kaiser Sprint; not a factory special but more a function of my inability to keep track of parts.

Michael Misetich 1993(http://)
972.506.0915
mmisetich@grandecom.net
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: 84RabbitGTI on October 26, 2011, 11:08:15 PM
Thanks for the info, Fid, and the story, Mickeljon!
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: kaiserfrazerlibrary on October 27, 2011, 04:50:49 AM
The comment about a 1954 Dragon is interesting.  At least 2 1953 Kaisers -- one show Dragon and the only 1953 Kaiser Manhattan 4-door Traveler known to be built by the factory --stayed in factory hands and ended up at Toledo.  They got 1954 front cowls, superchargers and 1954 tail lights (looked like an Eary Special).  Going through the Dragon (which belonged to my father at the time of his death) we found enough info to verify that the front fenders were not production type (no pre punched holes for script) and notations chalked on the inside door panels confirmed the people doing work were factory mechanics in the company garage. 
Title: Re: Supercharged '53 2 Door Production Numbers
Post by: mikeljon on December 31, 2011, 01:09:24 AM
Recently I found a few pictures of the Kaiser "Sprint" and added them to my previous post for anyone who is interested.

Michael Misetich
mmisetich@grandecom.net
972.506.0915