I knew nothing of Frenzels, and very little about flatheads actually, But that thing is BEAUTIFUL! Geez, what a looker!
Yeah, it's likely the 9 Frenzel count is now at 8. When the tweaker stole that, he didn't realize it was like stealing a Tucker or Rembrandt. It's a beautiful piece. Hope it doesn't get repopped and mecome common like some other rare Hot Rod parts have.
Is this the picture you are talking about? I think they are mistaken I don't believe this is a Frenzel
This is a fantastic piece. I love the blower, the motor, and I have the utmost respect for the owner, builder, and all involved. I know I'm about to paint a huge bullseye on my forehead bu posting this, however... Why so much polishing? Personally, I think it makes the whole assembly look too billetty. I'd prefer to see the aluminum castings bead blasted, maybe parting lines and little warts tidied up, with chromed or polished fasteners. I think that look would be more in keeping with the overall "vintage speed" vibe of the motor. 'Nuff said. Donning fire suit now...
highly doubtful, I imagine that it would be way to expensive to recreate and make any money. High design and manufacturing costs vs small market. Similar to the repopped Ardun heads, I know they are doing them but I have yet to see a set in person and only a very few being used in builds on the web. Unless they could be made and sold in the 5 - 10k range, I don't see it happening. IMHO I think a vintage style Paxton kit would probably be more feasible to manufacture and sell enough units to make it worthwhile based on cost.
I thought that too... I am not a polish and chrome kind of guy at all... and without doubt, I wouldn't have even thought of polishing this thing. No way in hell. And then, I saw it in person... Holy crap, it is gorgeous. Reserve judgment until you get a chance - trust me on this one. It's out of this world beautiful.
A friend found a 1951 February Speed Age and gave it to me. There is an add for Frenzel superchargers $183.75. Shop was Warren Frasers Custom Engine Parts Culver City Cal.Also Norden cams and Norden 180 " cranks. Couple of pages before that is a short article on it mentioning Warren Fraser. Gives some speed improvments as mentioned earlier in this thread. Few pages before that an article on the Ardun,mentions how it was designed in 1945 ect. 27TV8
Hi Doc: Thanks for the info on the dizzy. The twin plug heads are a great choice and just reek of trad speed!!! TEB
I like to convert 'old prices' to 'today's money'. The $183.75 in 1951 converts to $1,659.20 in 2014. Not really a bad deal considering the performance increase.
Been looking forward to this article since it leaked on IG a week or so ago. Thanks Ryan and everyone who has added value to this thread. Pete
No sir. The picture is of a Frenzel in a wooden crate. I have pictures of mine in a wooden crate,which makes me believe it may be mine in the magazine. Thanks.
You're right that is a Mc Cullough. And the other one you posted is an S&S. Unless there is another picture my friend may have been mistaken. ynottayblock says the magazine is the R&C little pages. Is that the one you are looking at? Thanks for taking the time to post the pictures.
The one I have is the 2012 Annual Rod & Customs Little Pages the article is Rarest Of The Rare Flathead Speed Equipment. That is the only picture of one in a wooden crate. I don't know what to say
Yup, I was wrong Doc. It was an S&S supercharger in that issue that I saw, not a Frenzel....sorry. (see I told you Ive been wrong before)
Pretty little engine....I like the idea that it will be used in a Hot Rod instead of put into a museum Thanks to Norm for telling me about your write up Ryan....for some reason I like these ol engines
My good friend George copied all the Frenzel literature he got from John Frenzel's widow and sent me copies of everything he had. I would be more than happy to share the Frenzel literature with you. I don't see any mention of any patents anywhere as I was reading the literature. I would assume a patent wasn't applied for. I didn't see any special intake listed in the sales brochure either and it looks like the entire Frenzel kit was sold without an intake manifold. The Frenzel supercharger kit was intended to go on a stock flathead engine that you installed on your own flathead intake manifold according to the sales brochure. I carefully reviewed the additional pictures of the intake that you posted and brought up a Canadian F1 truck intake (C11A-6520-C2) from the basement just to compare. From what I can see from the pictures the two intakes are both the same, with the Frenzel intake manifold having a lot of machine work done to it. The Frenzel intake hasn't been recast; it has just been modified. The runners have been milled down to give a flat base on which to apply the Frenzel name. The next step I have seen done before and I even got fooled with a flathead intake I have here. Some guys are just unbelievably talented with a Bridgeport milling machine. What I think has happened here is that the Frenzel name has been aluminum welded onto the runners and finished off with a Bridgeport milling machine along with some die grinder work. The F,E,N,Z, and L would be pretty much straight forward with a Bridgeport but the R has a curve to it and a lot harder to mill.Without seeing the intake in person and relying only on pictures I can see a difference in the two R's. One R looks much wider. This is why I think this intake has been made up by someone. Don't get me wrong here, I think the intake and engine are really cool and the Frenzel name on the intake is a really nice touch but John Frenzel didn't cast it. I really like the polish job, it is really well done. It's really nice to see someone step up and build a flathead engine that is this nice and at the same time very different. Congrats all around.
I was at South Glastonbury, CT show a couple/three years ago...I was standing near the front of a car that had a McCulloch..A fellow walks up to me and asks if its my car and whats that thing on top of the engine; no not my car but whats on top of the engine is a supercharger..He asks if they are made in different shapes and I replied that yes but I only seen some at swap meets [Stafford Springs and Lake Compounce in CT] over the years and I ask why? He said he got one [that a neighbor was throwing out or was in his garage and gave to him] but it was shaped different and had a different name on it that started with an "F"..I said Frenzel..He said yeah, thats it..I gave him my phone number...
Would be awesome if you could email that to me! I'll post it for everyone to chew on! As for the intake, I think we are gonna have to agree to disagree... Tardel and I both studied it last night and I just don't see how those letters could be anything but cast into the intake.
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