1949 kaiser special and 1953 manhattan

[samos]

HELLO TO ALL FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD FROM THE GREEK ISLAND I LIVE.
RECENTLY I DROVE THE GREEK INTERNATIONAL RALLY WITH MY 49 SPECIAL. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I DROVE IT LONG DISTANCE SINCE I GOT IT LAST YEAR. WHAT I NOTICED WAS THE OVERDRIVE WORKS FINE BUT IT WILL NOT DOWN SHIFT WHEN YOU PUSH THE PETAL TO THE FLOOR, ALSO WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING FOR A LONG TIME....COUPLE HOURS...IT WILL NOT SHIFT FROM 1ST TO 2ND, BUT WILL SHIFT OK FROM 1ST TO 3RD THEN TO 2ND. AND LAST ABOUT THIS CAR WHEN THE ELEVATION IS HIGH ITS DEFINATLY STARVING FOR AIR. I PLAYED WITH THE MIXTURE AND IT GOT A LITTLE BETTER BUT IT WAS STILL A DOG. AT SEA LEVEL IT RUN FINE.
        MY NEXT PROBLEM IS WITH MY 53 MANHATTAN. LAST YEAR THE ENGINE BREATHED ITS LAST BREATH RETURNING FROM THE RALLY. IT TOOK ALMOST A YEAR BUT I GOT IT BACK ON THE ROAD.THE MACHINE SHOP DID ALL THE REPAIRS TO THE ENGINE, NEW CYLINDER SLEEVES NEW VALVES. SPRINGS RINGS ETC. WHEN THE ENGINE RETURNED FROM THE SHOP ME AND MY MECHANIC FRIEND PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER, THE ENGINE STARTED AND RUN OK....BUT
IT SMOKED. NOW AFTER 250 MILES IT STILL SMOKES...THE ENGINE SHOP SAID IT NEEDS AT LEAST ANOTHER 250 MILES FOR THE RINGS TO SETTLEDOWN AND HE RECOMENDED A HEVIER OIL.COMPRETION IS WIYHIN PARAMETERS AND THE ENGINE HAS LOTS OF POWER.
SHOULD I RUN THE EXTRA 250 MILES OR SEND THE ENGINE BACK......HELP.....THANKS TO ALL

[joefrazer]

Thanks for the post! It's great to hear from folks outside of the US who own Kaiser-Frazer cars.

About your 49...
- The overdrive kickdown switch is probably defective. I would replace the switch. If you use ebay, replacements are available. A replacement is also available here -> http://kfparts.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27_111

- The problem you are having with shifting from 1st to 2nd is common. It is due to worn parts in the shift mechanism. Sometimes you can adjust the mechanism to allow for better shifting. Adjustments can be found here (you might have to scroll through some pages to reach the one you want. This is from the 1951 shop manual but the process is the same -> http://circlekf.com/sourceslider.php?sid=9589&yr=all&mk=all&dp=service&cls=all&mg=all&modID=none&srcID=1115&pub=KF&typ=SM&nbr=550&pag=137&Submit=Search&tbl=&updID=&camefrom=

About your 1953, I would drive it some more to see if the smoking stops. The rings do need to seat and some smoking can be expected.

Hope this helps!

[Corsairdeluxe]

Overdrive problem... When you are driving, instead of flooring the gas to get it to kick down, quickly turn the key off and back on.It should downshift just the sameas flooring the pedal and if it does, it reinforces that the switch is bad or the wiring to it.The switch is generic and on ebay at reasonable prices.

[Fid]

You may also want to check to make sure the  transmission and overdrive are full of gear lube. A "dry" transmission will burn up and these old cars usually seep a bit.  I check mine every spring and I usually have to add a bit of gear lube to at least one of them.

[boatingbill]

On your '53, pull the spark plugs one at a time to see if any plugs are covered in soot. This will show if all cylinders are getting oil
or just one or two are burning oil. If all the plugs are sooty drive it some more. If only a cylinder or two is sooty, I would take it back to the
re-builder.

[r1lark]

I am surprised that the mechanic recommended thicker oil during the engine's break-in period. Usually the break-in oil is thinner. The thicker oil may cause the rings to take longer to seat. Others weigh in here also, am I remembering this correctly?

Thicker oil can be used in a high mileage engine to reduce oil consumption slightly. But in a newly rebuilt engine, if the rings fail to seat properly, this will just be covering up the issue.

[samos]

thanks to all the feedback. very helpfull, i will takle each problem as all of you said.
i may have sidetracked about the thick oil....the engine has thin oil and the mech said to run the engine on thin oil for two oil changes , he did say about seating the rings and after that i could put thicker oil.
even with a bad shifting trany we still came in third in our category.not bad for using only a stop watch and the stock speedometer.total run of the rally was 300 miles plus another 400 miles round trip to get to the rally area. oh and another 24 hour ferry boat ride from the island to the mainland for the drive.
while i was at the rally another driver had a mid fifties mercury sedan with full wheel cover hubcaps. he had the same problem that many of us have......hubcaps flying off.
how he fixed the problem was very impressive and much safer.
he welded 3 bolts in a triangle pattern to each rim facing outward. he then drilled holes at the same place on the hubcaps so the bolts would go through it and he finished it by screwing chrome end caps on the bolts. the bolts looked like they where the width of a pen.
                                                                                        thats all for now       drive safe and a good day.