REBUILDING KAISER-FRAZER ENGINES

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

There seems to be a growing problem with engines of late.  I see various things interacting to cause at least a good part of this.  First, while mechanics today are indeed well-trained and experienced, the engines of today are significantly different in construction and metallurgy for parts than those of the 1950's and earlier.  Fixing older engines the way you fix today's motors results in "skipping" a number of checks and steps that are critical to a successful major overhaul or rebuilding of the motor.  As a result, engines may be rebuilt without such things as proper flushing of oil and water passages in the block (you need to do it several times to get all the crud out; failure to do so just shifts the junk to places where it jams and blocks passages causing overheating or lubrication issues), blocks and heads are not checked properly for cracks and fractures (ask some of today's mechanics about Magnaflux testing before re-assembly of a motor for a Hudson or a Kaiser), and resolving damage caused by today's gasoline (things like seal deterioration, valve seat recession on the block and other deterioration from the alcohol-based fuels)?  If a rebuilder proudly says (or you supply the rebuilder) with the original NOS rubber or cork gaskets and seals, you may as well have everything done all over again because those things are no good under todays fuels and operating conditions.

There are plenty of good sources of parts and mechanical expertise.  Members of the KFOCI know this.  Not making use of resources (especially if you've never done a pre-1959 vintage car before) is in my opinion something that does not have to happen.  If you are not aware of the factory's "how to" and diagnostics guides in factory service information you can be heading for a lot of trouble. It seems safe to say that you may be able to avoid a lot of costly headaches due to what your local "expert" mechanic does not know about the old stuff because how much has changed under the hood of a car since 1965.

If you are a member of the KFOCI you can run free ads in the club's monthly Newsletter (which just one another award for excellence in publication) looking for parts, assistance as well as check out the items for sale by others including regular vendors.   Being a member of the Forum or Kaiser-Frazer fan club does NOT make you a member of the KFOCI.  For information on joining check out the KFOCI's website.

[dusty]

One of the items we did always was HOT TANK the engine block and head. now we can not do that as it is considered toxic to the environment and banned.

[rialto]

The old caustic soda hot tanks aren't used much anymore because it's too hard and expensive to properly dispose of the spent cleaning solution. Most of the bigger shops today use a large dishwasher like cabinet that cleans with rotating jets using hot high pressure water based cleaners. They work good and get the parts clean.

[DTort96646]

There is a shop near me that specializes in rebuilding antique and old engines. The also balance antique and old engines. One of the first things they do is heat the castings in and oven to burn any oil or coolant and then the castings are slowly cooled, cleaned in a pressure vessel, and magnifluxed. Only then will he rebuild the engine and cylinder head/s. Some folks don't realize what kind of sediment is in their engine blocks cooling jacket and oil galleys. Taking out the core plugs and galley plugs is not enough to get it all out. Imagine spending serious money to rebuild an engine and having an oil galley plug up or a cooling system passage block off from debris that has been there forever.

[boatingbill]

A good engine re-builder if he installs the engine should  bring the engine up to operating temperature and then pressure check
the cooling for any internal engine leaks and also check the oil pressure and see if it holds steady. Once an engine gets hot hoses
can soften and clamps need to get re-tightened. A new water pump should be installed  as part of the rebuild. I am not a fan of a
local re-builder and think the extra money spent to get the engine to a antique specialist is the way to go. I took my car to a local
garage that specialized in old tractor engines to have them check my exhaust manifold and they spilled  oil all over not knowing what
a oil bath air filter was. The KFOCI Club has listed many times places that will do a proper re-build of a engine. A friend of mine
pulled his engine on a weekend and had it back from the re-builder the next weekend. He spent all day Saturday putting it back
together and finished Sunday morning. He started it up and had no leaks and good oil pressure so his wife said lets take it for a
ride, so then went down a country road and then he saw the heat gauge going higher and higher. He pulled over and saw no
leads so he quickly turned around and headed for home. Then engine seized on the way back. He called a tow truck and when
they got home and the truck was backing the car into the garage, he saw the two new gallons of coolant on the shelf! True story.