Need help on a myriad of things Manhattan

[strelnik]

Hello All,

I have spent most of my life collecting and wrenching on Citroen cars, Mercedes diesels and Volvos.  I thought Kaisers would be out of my league.

I went to the hospital for 40 days with pneumonia and met a nurse whose husband wanted to sell his 1951 Manhattan project car.

He had bought the car from a man who had sent it to a restoration shop. The resto shop disassembled it and went bankrupt soon after.

The engine and transmission disappeared soon after as well!!! The former owner sold the pile of parts to the nurse's husband.

I am seriously considering buying the car as is, and either replacing the engine with a Continental 226 with gearbox, since I was told this is the correct engine.  Or possibly a Chevy 6?

I really need to talk to collectors who wrench and have some idea how available a Continental engine is for these cars, if it is correct, and what my options are.

Also, where do I start in the way of buying the manuals and fact books I might need?  I have old Motor Manuals from 1935 to 1955 so there is some info, but not everything I need.

Thanks in advance for all your advice!

[rrdcorvair]

Where are you located?  What state?  KF built 'Continental' engines are not hard to find.  A vendor located in California offers rebuilt engines at a fair price.  Transmissions also.  Owners manuals, shop manuals, parts books  are not too hard to find on Ebay.  KF club members also have access to a site called 'Circle KF' easily and most of the parts books and shop manuals are available there and can be printed out yourself (I believe you can download/print from this site - I have not done so).  There are several parts vendors and there are still some parts available from auto parts stores.  You say your car is a 1951 Manhattan, just to help out the Manhattan model name wasn't used on the Kaiser cars until 1952.  Kaiser models in 1951 were (top of the line) Deluxe, then Special.  The Manhattan name was still being used in 1951 on a Frazer model.  Welcome to the Forum.  Bob

[Fid]

I take it since the car is a '51 Manhattan that it's a Frazer.  Many, if not most, '51 Frazer Manhattans had a Hydramatic transmission. That means if you find a Continental engine it would need to have the correct crankshaft for the Hydramatic or you'd have to replace both the engine and transmission and associated linkage/controls.  As rrdcorviar pointed out, it's important to note if the car is a Kaiser (there were no '51 Kaiser Manhattans and Kaiser did not adopt the Manhattan moniker till 1952) or a Frazer and if it was equipped with manual or Hydramatic transmission.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

1951 Manhattans were Frazer only and either convertible or hardtop; both were 4-doors.  With prtoduction of each type well under 200 cars, this could be quite a project.  I'm not trying to discourage you but it is possible you are looking at quite a project.  If you could post any pictures, the people here could be more helpful.

[Rchilds]

If the car turns out to have been a manual, I have a rebuilt engine in Michigan that I will consider selling.  I intended to use in my 48 Manhattan, but ended rebuilding the original engine.   


Rich