1953 Henry J Gasser
Last year while attending the Vintage drags at Fomoso Raceway I spotted a well used up
Henry J at the swap meet. After speaking to the owner about his car he had for sale, I obtained his phone number.
A week went by and I tossed and turned every night thinking about the "J". My dad had one in his arsenal of cars during his
years of driving and I wondered why every old car guy loved them. So without really thinking about it I made the call.
After some short negotiations, we reached a deal and he even delivered it from Santa Maria. Well I have been collecting
parts for it and slowly but surely I have a vision of where I want it to go. Now I know why old racers loved them...the
car is just so ugly it begs to be loved.
Every time I talk about the "J", someone overhears the "J" story and lights up...all I ever hear is "I knew a guy who had a
"J" and it was fast, wild....", you get the picture.
So here is my vision...
Straight axle from a Willys with disc brakes all chromed up and shining...front end sitting in the clouds, strong 350 Chevy backed by a Muncie 4 speed M20 spinning an aluminum flywheel, Chevy 10 bolt rear bolted to some vintage 15x10 mags twisting some really big Mickey Thompsons, all controlled by some large ladder bars built in the garage. The vision is getting there, all of the above is in hand and waiting to be "installed"...a few more weeks, more like months, and the "J" will be ready for the street.
If I only had a bigger garage........
As of May 11, 2008
The Henry J has new floors, custom cross members and trans
mounts built, New fabricated rocker panels inner and outer, steering mounted and
modified to Henry J column, 12 bolt rear end, radiused rear wheel arches, roll
bar hoop, front straight axle installed, fire wall set back and painted, front
inner sheet metal modified and painted, rear push bar built, Roller 383 with
6/71 BLOWER installed, wild Turbo 350 with very custom torque convertor, cut
down driveshaft, Seats mocked up, Real Halibrands mounted and waiting in the
wings, Vintage Stewart Warner gauges installed, and wiring being routed…soon
very soon, it will be running…. Just a little more time
Proud Owner, Rick Rose
