'51 Frazer

[Logan]

I am considering buying a '51 Frazer and I wanted some feedback from Frazer experts.  Here are the pics.



Unfortunately, I KNOW how much taillights are going for these days, so that's a problem right there!



Looks like a pretty straight body, no?



Of course it will need new upholstery, but it looks like things are quite complete, save the gearshift knob.  Any word on how difficult/expenseive these are?



I'm worried about locating a new hood ornament and badge.  Are there sources for them?



What in this engine bay is non-original?  The air cleaner and carb don't look right to me, but I've only ever owned two KF products, and they were both 53Ks, so I don't know about earlier cars.

The seller is asking $3,200.  He says it runs.  Does this sound reasonable?  Will it be a huge investment?  My thought was to get it running and drive it around for a while without worrying about appearance, then restoring it later on.  I wanted to bargain for less than $3,200 if possible.

[jerussel]

Another difficult part will be the steering wheel.  (1000.00 to restore professionally)
I paid 3400 for my '51 Frazer Vagabond.  Am doing a frame off restoration now.

[Logan]

Yikes, that's steep.  Well, it will steer the car as is for now at least.  Do you happen to have a website or pictures of your project?  I'd love to see it.

[Doc]

The Frazer hardtop we have been restoring now for over three years was $2550 and looked about like this car does.  Price seems high for the condition and the fact it is a more mass produced sedan. Indeed, taillights IF you can find them and want them bad enough are going to set you back $500-600. The grille emblems it would seem are non-existent and even though they were reproduced years ago, someone must have tossed the mold. Hood ornament will be difficult to find as well as any scripts that may suppose to be on the car. The sunvisor is certianly a plus. Looks like an engine coolant recovery container on the fender well and at least the air cleaners I have seen are circular with a long intake tube on them (I would much prefer the type opn this car as those original ones are just a pain). Is the rocker panel stainless on the driver side? Trunk handle intact?  Missing at least one bumper guard an these appear hard to find. All the engine components are readily available from several sources as well as brake parts. I see it is a stick shift and appears to have the Overdrive relay mounted to the firewall. How are the Rocker panels and floorboard? The grille not appearing bent is a definite plus.

[Doc]

More "pluses" I see are no major dents or bumper/frames bent. We've had to deal with that. And the rear window and windshield appear intact. The sedan, being more plentiful, should have parts more available that are unique to it.  Of course, after you hear it run, then you can have more of an idea of any engine work that might be needed. Gear shift knob might be available from Rudy Phillips, or else I believe it is just a 7/16"? scrw-in that something more generid could be used. $3200 seems a bit high, but then look what those sunvisors go for on ebay and elsewhere.

[Gordie]

I sold my '51 Frazer sedan a couple of years ago for $2,000.  It was complete with good body and paint but needing a steering wheel and complete interior but had most of the parts except the grill emblem.  I would recommend that you double or triple your purchase allowance and get a much better car.  This car needs everything and it would cost a lot of money to restore.  You would be way better off to buy one that did not need any parts or interior or chrome work.  All very expensive plus this one has missing parts that will be very hard and expensive to locate.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I would also suggest watching the CARS FOR SALE ads in the KFOCI MONTHLY BULLETIN and hit the KFOCI mets in your area whenever possible.  1951 Frazers show up for sale from time to time, but scarcity of some parts would make restoration pricey.  I agree with the idea of scouting out prices for nice cars that are complete, running and driveable, then plan your budget accordingly.

[joefrazer]

While it does look like a good, solid car...with the [plus that it runs...51 Frazers can get expensive to restore. Many items are unique to the car, one of which you've already mentioned...the tail light lenses...so take that into consideration before a purchase. The air cleaner is incorrect, it should be along, tubular affair that mounts over the engine.
Looking at the pic, I see what looks like a temporary gas can setup under the hood. Relining a fuel tank, assuming this one is good enough for that, can run $400 or so.
In my opinion, somewhere in the $2200 to $2500 range would be fair for the car.

[Doc]

Yes, that's probably it....not a coolant recovery plastic jar but a gas container.  Been there done that on the gas tank scenario and it's $400-500.  I had an estimate a couple weeks ago to take a couple dents out of my grille, which because it was chrome plated, would have necessitated a rechrome.....total $600. The grille looks just fine on the car and when installed is barely noticed.  That's what I was thinking, in the $2000-2500 range. Even for the sedan, the restoration cost can really get up there. I just looked at the pictures again. There's at least one hubcap missing and those are extremely hard to find.

[Logan]

I see now that it's definitely a gas tank.  I don't know, it just looks tempting to me to get.  I know I could certainly sink a lot of $$$ into it, but save another Frazer, right?  He said he has the hubcaps--I assume this means all 4, but I'll have to ask him about that and some other things.  The other thing is that it's in Oregon and I'm in Texas.  I've had cars hauled before, but that just means I'll need to tack on additional costs to the whole project.

[Doc]

Some of the 51 Frazers came with accessory group 5 listed on the data plate.   This included beauty rings with smaller hubcaps.  We recently discovered that the reason our beauty rings and hubcaps were in the trunk when we bought the car was that someone had changed three of the wheels so there were no clips on the wheel rims to hold the hubcaps on.   Luckily we had a parts car and some parts we received when we bought another KF vehicle so we were able to come up with the correct wheel rims.

[joefrazer]

You would definitely be the only guy on the block with one! If you have the time, money and ambition, go for it!

[superk226]

Cut the best deal you can with the seller and buy it. Ten years from now, the price that you paid today will look like a real bargin.

[truckmen]

I see now that it's definitely a gas tank.  I don't know, it just looks tempting to me to get.  I know I could certainly sink a lot of $$$ into it, but save another Frazer, right?  He said he has the hubcaps--I assume this means all 4, but I'll have to ask him about that and some other things.  The other thing is that it's in Oregon and I'm in Texas.  I've had cars hauled before, but that just means I'll need to tack on additional costs to the whole project.

Hello Logan,

Did you ever get this '51 Frazer?

Ralph

[Doc]

Truckmen, got your email and replied but not sure it went through. Yes, we made a second run on the '51 Frazer lenses that are totally different from the '51 Kaiser.