I am sure somebody here knows the difference, but I don't so... Who can tell me the differences between a 1951 and a 1952 Henry J? I am thinking about putting some time into a 52, and I have access to some 51 parts but I don' t know for sure if they are interchangeable.
51-54 parts are all interchangeable. Even the fenders and grilles will go on one another. 51 had no trunk and no glove box. If it's a late 52 and not a vagabond then it will have a glove box and not have the famous -+- grille that looks like that. The rear fenders on later 52's have brake lights in the fenders and either reverse lights or (K) kiaser K's as deletes. The deletes are pretty rare but come up from time to time on evil bay. The 51 may not have front vent windows that open. The dealer installed radios are different in 51- and 52-54. The gauge clusters are the same for 51-2 and 53-4. for 52-54 the radio matches the same font as the gauges. 51's don't have a interior light.
51 has the different grille than 52's and up to 54 Other than that. Mr ****ies said all the rest in order what does the vin tag say under the hood if its still there ?
Minor Hijack while info is coming.... Does the frame have a VIN stamped on it, and if so, where? My frame still has the factory painted on build date stencil of 12-4-1952.
the biggest differences between the 51's and the other years are the grille and rear quarters. all of the parts interchange as far as I know... But, you could get a trunk on the 51's. They were most common on the Deluxe models... which usually had the 6 cylinder engine. The Deluxe cars also had chrome around the windshield and the rear windows. it's funny but the Options for Henry J's were items that were standard on most other makes of cars...bumper guards, turn signals, heater, arm rests, and I'm sure a few others that I don't know about. Henry J's were cheap cars, and were made to be affordable. Hell the 4 cylinder cars only weighed a little of 2,000 lbs. I guess that would be the reason their so good for g***ers. I'm far from an expert on these, but I do have 2 of them... a standard (plain jane) and a Deluxe. My personal opinion is the 51's are the more desirable ones and I say that because of the grille. But that will interchange on all of the years, so that shoots that thought in the ***! Good luck, keep us updated on your project, if you choose to take it on. Oh yeah... the 51 deluxe car, that's the brown one, that's apart is FOR SALE! pm me if you're interested.
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