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Collector's Corner / WW II Victory Clothing Collection Poster
« on: December 28, 2018, 05:38:14 PM »
Found this hiding behind some boxes.
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General Discussion / Re: Help identifying hubcaps needed
« on: December 27, 2018, 08:11:57 PM »
That makes sense. My dad liked studebakers, his family might have had one when he was younger.
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General Discussion / Help identifying hubcaps needed
« on: December 27, 2018, 05:40:10 PM »
So I just found a bunch of hubcaps when clearing out my late father’s shed. I know these aren’t KF hubcaps, those were easy to pull out of the piles, but other than the one that’s obviously a Chevy (not sure of year) I’m a bit stumped on what they’re from. Anyone recognize them?
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General Discussion / Re: Any recent experiences transporting an inoperable car?
« on: December 03, 2018, 05:38:10 PM »
To try and head of any other replies of the sort, Yes, I'm well aware that most shippers will not take a car that doesn't roll. It's not my first time shipping a car. However there are companies that will ship inoperable cars (Inoperable meaning not moving vs non operational which means rolling, but not running on its own engine). They'll load either with a forklift, pull out with a strong winch, or move on dollies. I was just looking to see if anyone on here had experience with any of these companies and could provide a recommendation.
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General Discussion / Any recent experiences transporting an inoperable car?
« on: December 02, 2018, 06:00:32 PM »
I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience getting an inoperable car shipped? I've got to get my 54 Early Special out of its garage in NY, and so far I haven't been able to get her rolling. Between lack of room to work in the garage and a shoulder injury, I just don't think I'm going to be able to pull all the hubs off to try and mess with the brakes.
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Kaiser Forum / Re: New '53 Manhattan Owner
« on: September 14, 2018, 02:28:47 PM »
Welcome! That's a beautiful car especially for that price.
As far as the starter goes, the one on my 53 is a standard modern turn key ignition.
I'm assuming the gauges you're asking about are the ones underneath the dash. Those are additions that someone put on.
As far as the starter goes, the one on my 53 is a standard modern turn key ignition.
I'm assuming the gauges you're asking about are the ones underneath the dash. Those are additions that someone put on.
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General Discussion / Re: forum
« on: September 11, 2018, 08:28:54 PM »
I will say that as a younger member (I'm only 42, so that's pretty young compared to the average age of most car clubs, more particularly of orphaned cars), I've gotten very quick responses to every question I've asked, both on the forum and by email to specific club members. I don't post answers to most questions, because I personally do not have the knowledge. I've lurked on the forum for years, but only joined the club in the last few years, because I didn't have a car, and got updates from my father who was a member.
The simple fact is, younger people in general are just not that interested in car collecting. Most of them don't have a connection to them. They'll go to shows on the weekends, look at them, then go home and forget about them. My connection to Kaisers is through my late father. He loved old cars and old aircraft and shared those loves with me. His family had a number of Kaisers growing up, and they were his favorite. The fact is, until I bought my Dad a 53 Manhattan 5 years ago, I had never even been for a ride in one, much less driven one, because the 54 that my Dad owned wasn't in running condition, and with 3 kids and a disabled wife, my father had neither the time, nor the money to fix it. Now, that has fallen to me, and, come hell or high water, I will drive that 54 one day.
As far as forum membership and participation goes, the plain and simple truth is that this form of online communication is dying, something I have much personal experience with both as an administrator of multiple forums in the past and as a user for over 20 years. 1) They can be costly to maintain. You either need to buy or rent a server and bandwidth to support it. Even using a free version like this one does just means you have to rely on someone else to keep paying for the service. They don't always last. 2) It often requires technical knowledge to maintain, which means time and effort that you have to put in, and often uncompensated for time. A lot of people don't have the time. If they do, they often get burned out after a while and choose to spend their time elsewhere. 3) Many groups are just moving to Facebook. I personally dislike using Facebook for this sort of thing, because it's not as easily searchable and can often get drowned out with Facebook's algorithms on how they display things on your news feed. However, it's free, easy, and has a high user penetration rate. I've seen 2 forums that were once heavily active (hundreds of posts per day) go nearly dormant, as everyone has transferred to Facebook groups. It has also caused a high degree of fragmentation, since what was once all covered on one forum with multiple sub forums is now split into well over 50 Facebook groups.
Getting younger people involved is difficult with ANY group.Again, something I have a pretty good amount of experience with, having either been the president of, or board member of, multiple non-profit organizations. People are happy to make use of your services, but are often very reluctant to pay to join, or donate their own time to help get things done. Without that it basically just ends up falling back upon the same people, time and again, and they either burn out and leave, or they become entrenched and things become difficult to change. It's just reality.
The simple fact is, younger people in general are just not that interested in car collecting. Most of them don't have a connection to them. They'll go to shows on the weekends, look at them, then go home and forget about them. My connection to Kaisers is through my late father. He loved old cars and old aircraft and shared those loves with me. His family had a number of Kaisers growing up, and they were his favorite. The fact is, until I bought my Dad a 53 Manhattan 5 years ago, I had never even been for a ride in one, much less driven one, because the 54 that my Dad owned wasn't in running condition, and with 3 kids and a disabled wife, my father had neither the time, nor the money to fix it. Now, that has fallen to me, and, come hell or high water, I will drive that 54 one day.
As far as forum membership and participation goes, the plain and simple truth is that this form of online communication is dying, something I have much personal experience with both as an administrator of multiple forums in the past and as a user for over 20 years. 1) They can be costly to maintain. You either need to buy or rent a server and bandwidth to support it. Even using a free version like this one does just means you have to rely on someone else to keep paying for the service. They don't always last. 2) It often requires technical knowledge to maintain, which means time and effort that you have to put in, and often uncompensated for time. A lot of people don't have the time. If they do, they often get burned out after a while and choose to spend their time elsewhere. 3) Many groups are just moving to Facebook. I personally dislike using Facebook for this sort of thing, because it's not as easily searchable and can often get drowned out with Facebook's algorithms on how they display things on your news feed. However, it's free, easy, and has a high user penetration rate. I've seen 2 forums that were once heavily active (hundreds of posts per day) go nearly dormant, as everyone has transferred to Facebook groups. It has also caused a high degree of fragmentation, since what was once all covered on one forum with multiple sub forums is now split into well over 50 Facebook groups.
Getting younger people involved is difficult with ANY group.Again, something I have a pretty good amount of experience with, having either been the president of, or board member of, multiple non-profit organizations. People are happy to make use of your services, but are often very reluctant to pay to join, or donate their own time to help get things done. Without that it basically just ends up falling back upon the same people, time and again, and they either burn out and leave, or they become entrenched and things become difficult to change. It's just reality.
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General Discussion / Re: Kaiser on TV show
« on: September 11, 2018, 07:40:22 PM »
I'm watching it now and had to stop and take some pictures as soon as I saw it. It's either a 54 or 55. I don't know the exact differences between those model years that would be obvious from the two angles they showed
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Collector's Corner / Re: Another Kaiser Carabella model
« on: August 30, 2018, 02:28:38 PM »
I've actually been working on something similar. I wanted to put a small kaiser at my father's grave, so I've been playing around with creating silicon molds of some of the Kaiser toys I have, so I can cast one out of either resin or concrete/plaster. I've got one that's decent, but not quite the quality I want. My workbench is currently buried in kaiser parts, so I haven't been able to do much in the last few weeks. I'm hoping I can get back to it this weekend. I'll post some pics when I have something.
Wow! Another Carabella has appeared on eBay with a seller named "vainella" in Argentina and he is offering 1:43 scale resin models of several cars including a Carabella and for only $1.95 plus $37.00 shipping. He has two colors, red and blue and they do not have interiors or rolling wheels but look nice in the illustrations. I bought both and will try to combine the postage. I can't believe the price but he has sold several already. I am sure that he is making money on the shipping but it still seems like a good price. I'll report back when they arrive in the mail.
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General Discussion / SS Red Oak Victory
« on: August 26, 2018, 07:19:18 PM »
Hopefully this is ok to post here.
The SS Red Oak Victory, the last surviving Victory ship built in the Richmond CA Kaiser Shipyards, just had an overhaul completed on her boilers in preparation for getting her running under her own steam again. I got a chance to visit this ship a few years back and had a tour of the engine room from one of the docents, since I was the only person on board for a tour and I actually knew something about the history of the shipyards and Henry Kaiser. If you have a chance, it's worth a visit.
Article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nativeson/article/Full-steam-ahead-as-SS-Red-Oak-Victory-ship-13181875.php
Here's a video showing them lighting the boilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61vEE-xcaw&t=3s
and a nice video about the history of the ship https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=7U1Qz9zqu2Y
The SS Red Oak Victory, the last surviving Victory ship built in the Richmond CA Kaiser Shipyards, just had an overhaul completed on her boilers in preparation for getting her running under her own steam again. I got a chance to visit this ship a few years back and had a tour of the engine room from one of the docents, since I was the only person on board for a tour and I actually knew something about the history of the shipyards and Henry Kaiser. If you have a chance, it's worth a visit.
Article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nativeson/article/Full-steam-ahead-as-SS-Red-Oak-Victory-ship-13181875.php
Here's a video showing them lighting the boilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61vEE-xcaw&t=3s
and a nice video about the history of the ship https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=7U1Qz9zqu2Y
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Collector's Corner / Re: Kaiser-Frazer toys
« on: August 20, 2018, 03:29:43 PM »
It's the booklet that came with the car. There are a bunch of different models in the "Unforgettable Autos" series and they all seem to come with a booklet about the car.
I've got more photos of the booklet, but for some reason, the forum will not let me post them. I've tried about 10 different times.
I submitted offers to a few of the sellers and was able to get it for the same price as Gordie. (basically $75 shipped). Anything of South America seems to have really high shipping costs. From what I can see, the seller I bought it from shipped a bunch of stuff to Miami, then repackaged and mailed to me from there (they cheated the system a bit and sent it media mail. so they probably made a bit of extra money on the shipping costs) These may come down in the future, since they are very new, but there is a pretty limited market for these, so who knows.
I've got more photos of the booklet, but for some reason, the forum will not let me post them. I've tried about 10 different times.
I submitted offers to a few of the sellers and was able to get it for the same price as Gordie. (basically $75 shipped). Anything of South America seems to have really high shipping costs. From what I can see, the seller I bought it from shipped a bunch of stuff to Miami, then repackaged and mailed to me from there (they cheated the system a bit and sent it media mail. so they probably made a bit of extra money on the shipping costs) These may come down in the future, since they are very new, but there is a pretty limited market for these, so who knows.
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Collector's Corner / Re: Kaiser-Frazer toys
« on: August 20, 2018, 02:41:59 PM »
I picked up one of the Kaiser Carabella's that Gordie talked about and got it today It's a little over 5 inches in length. I haven't taken it out of the package yet. It's a static display, nothing opens, the wheels might move, but I don't know. It's screwed to the small base with a couple of tiny Phillips head screws.
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Kaiser Forum / Re: Cooling system questions
« on: August 16, 2018, 06:27:25 PM »
Thanks. I'll give the TSP a shot and see how that goes.
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Kaiser Forum / Cooling system questions
« on: August 16, 2018, 11:25:01 AM »
I'm really new to doing work on a car by myself, so I've been digging through the forum, manuals on Circle KF, etc. I know this topic has been discussed a few times, but there were a few things I haven't been able to find the answers to.
So, it looks like the engine on my 53 Manhattan is definitely running hot. I took her out for a drive the other day. It was 85 degrees with a nice breeze. I drove about 5 miles, stopped for about 20 minutes to grab some lunch, then drove back home. As I was getting home (maybe about 1/2 mile from home) I saw the temp gauge was getting close to the red. When I got in the driveway, I pulled out my infrared thermometer and took readings all around the radiator and engine block. I got readings from between 205 and 210 all over the block and radiator.
I did a cooling system flush (just water for the moment) and noticed when I pulled off the elbow on top of the engine for the return to the radiator that the retaining ring for the thermostat was missing. I've gotten a new thermostat, gasket and retaining ring, but I can't find anything about the torque required for the two bolts that hold it onto the engine. Does anyone know what that should be?
I've also seen for newer cars the recommendation to use RTV sealant when putting the elbow back on, but I don't think that was done whenever the thermostat was previously replaced. Is that something I should do, or is it not recommended for our older engines?
In reading about doing a flush on the forum I've seen mention of removing the rear freeze plugs as well as mention of a drain valve on the engine for the cooling system. I haven't been able to find a diagram that shows me where those parts are though. Could someone maybe post a picture of them so I can locate them?
I also saw Jim Brown(Corsairdeluxe) recommend using Oxalic acid and TSP to flush. http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,10461.msg47522.html#msg47522 Has anyone else used these?
Finally, I'd like to buy another water pump and water pump gaskets, before I pull the water pump off, in case there's a problem there. Would this be the right model to buy? https://www.kaiserwillys.com/replacement-water-pump-fits-54-64-truck-station-wagon-with-6-226
So, it looks like the engine on my 53 Manhattan is definitely running hot. I took her out for a drive the other day. It was 85 degrees with a nice breeze. I drove about 5 miles, stopped for about 20 minutes to grab some lunch, then drove back home. As I was getting home (maybe about 1/2 mile from home) I saw the temp gauge was getting close to the red. When I got in the driveway, I pulled out my infrared thermometer and took readings all around the radiator and engine block. I got readings from between 205 and 210 all over the block and radiator.
I did a cooling system flush (just water for the moment) and noticed when I pulled off the elbow on top of the engine for the return to the radiator that the retaining ring for the thermostat was missing. I've gotten a new thermostat, gasket and retaining ring, but I can't find anything about the torque required for the two bolts that hold it onto the engine. Does anyone know what that should be?
I've also seen for newer cars the recommendation to use RTV sealant when putting the elbow back on, but I don't think that was done whenever the thermostat was previously replaced. Is that something I should do, or is it not recommended for our older engines?
In reading about doing a flush on the forum I've seen mention of removing the rear freeze plugs as well as mention of a drain valve on the engine for the cooling system. I haven't been able to find a diagram that shows me where those parts are though. Could someone maybe post a picture of them so I can locate them?
I also saw Jim Brown(Corsairdeluxe) recommend using Oxalic acid and TSP to flush. http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,10461.msg47522.html#msg47522 Has anyone else used these?
Finally, I'd like to buy another water pump and water pump gaskets, before I pull the water pump off, in case there's a problem there. Would this be the right model to buy? https://www.kaiserwillys.com/replacement-water-pump-fits-54-64-truck-station-wagon-with-6-226
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