1949 Frazer "Taxi Edition"

[Jeri Conklin]

So we finally started the restoration of my 1949 Frazer 4 door sedan (or so we thought). We ordered our brake shoe parts off the Kaiser Parts Interchange & Sources List (NAPA TS53 - 47-55 KF standard) and picked them up. My brother came up to help and he pulled the covering after working with the cams and there were my brake shoes! The only problem was, the replacement shoes looked rather different and didn't have the oblong hole for the cam to come through, nor did it have the spring set-up which may be part of the "self-centering, self-adjusting" assembly. So back to NAPA we went with old and new shoes in hand. The clerk was able to find 1949 frazer parts in their computer and when he pulled up pictures of the four types of brake shoes (sedan, deluxe, manhatten and TAXI EDITION). The only set of shoes of the four designations that had the oblong cam holes was the Taxi Edition. So I ask, is it possible my 1949 Frazer was designed as a "Taxi?" Its serial number and identification tag identify it as: 1949 Frazer 495 Body 1; (retag designation F-505-015807). Or were taxi edition wheels put on 1949 Frazers? My Frazer by way of pictures looks just like the 1949 Frazer Manhattan because of its chrome, but none of its identifying numbers give it that designation, nor are there holes in the side for the customary script that the Manhatten carries. I am seeking info on the "taxi edition" of brake shoes or why my 1949 Frazer might have those type of shoes. Thank you for any insight you can share! Also, in case you have the same type of shoes - NAPA 2PG is the correct parts number for the taxi edition.

[Fid]

There were no factory issue 1949 Frazer Taxi cabs. They were all Kaiser and none survive that we know of. I wonder where NAPA got that information?

[Jeri Conklin]

Well, I don't know where they got it, but that is how they were listed and we looked at each at picture to be sure they were one and the same and that is the section they were under. My Frazer has an identity issue and outside of the firewall plate which gives it a F495 body 1 designation and its door wall plate identifies it as a retagged F-505-015807. Every accessory (grill, emblem and hood ornament remained Frazer) and there are chrome strips from front to back on each side underneath the windows in that arch from front to back. The taillights are the tall upright lights of 1949 Frazer, not the small sideways lights of the Kaiser. Now we have taxi edition brake shoes. Is there any other way to determine what model it might actually be? It doesn't appear that a new body has been put on an old frame, nor does it appear any of the frame has been replaced. This is a pretty much in-tact car from its birth. What am I missing? Is it possible that when Kaiser retagged it to a 1950 they made changes to the brakes thinking they were going to change it over to a taxi, though in the end they didn't?   

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Kaiser-Frazer Advance Information Bulletin #18 indicates that all 1949 and 1950 model year STANDARD Frazers (the F495/F505 models like yours) used either the Wagner Lockheed self-adjusting or a Bendix version.  The 1949 Kaiser and Frazer parts book shows the Wagner Lockheed type brakes. 

Again your car is a STANDARD not a Manhattan and has no fender script on it.  Deluxe and Taxi types were Kaiser only.  The NAPA info (as is the case with other after the fact parts books) is wrong, they jumbled everything up.

You can also check out Serivce Bulletin #163 for more information on this.

[Jeri Conklin]

Thank you all so much for the information. So I can call it a 1949/50 Frazer standard 4-door. Whomever first registered it at DMV has it registered as a "Kaiser." I am taking my firewall plate and a picture of door re-tag plate and the glove compartment door with the Frazer script on it and my pictures and the pictures from the KF book and hopefully they will change it to Frazer without a hassle when I take it out of non-op next week. I don't need anymore surprises, but then who knows what I will find around the next turn of the screw.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

KFOCI HANDBOOK Version 5.0 will have month by month production information on this model;  Unsold, undriven, untitled 1949 Kaiser and Frazer cars built prior to November 4, 1949 were given 1950 model year serial number plates; all but a handful of Frazer F495 models were built prior to this point. 

The current version, KFOCI HANDBOOK Version 4.0 talks about this, but 5.0 fills in the gaps based on the factory's own counts.

[Fid]

I second that - your car is absolutely a 1950 Frazer standard. NAPA is wrong as they often are. I don't know where they get their information but I don't ever trust it. I  always check. They're not the only ones who get the KF stuff wrong - lots of places/sources do.

[Jeri Conklin]

As I remember the body plate meaning for "sched" my number was 157 and I think that was June of 1949 and it was the 339 car (Item No.)  off the line for that period. I looked on my KFOCI (2009) Handbook and I found some of the meanings on the body plate but not all of them. Is there an easy way to clean the body plate without destroying the writing?

[Jeri Conklin]

What is a TR 4 on the body plate, I know it has to do with the transmission. Also I have a 6 under the A on the bottom row, I think that might be where I got the June date of manufacture. The Sched was 157 and the item no. was 339. Meaning?

Thank you once again.

[joefrazer]

TR 4 means that your car has the standard transmission with the overdrive option. Most every 49-50F came with OD.

And, that's not a 6 under the A on the bottom row...it's a "G". It stands for AG or Accessory Group. There should be a number under that.

[Jeri Conklin]

You are correct, it is a "G" under the A and there is a 5 above it. Thank you for sharing the information.