54 Manhattan

[Guest spudmitchell]

Looking for a front bumper for a 54 Manhattan and trying to find a running motor and tranny.226 supercharger

[Bud Tierney]

A suggestion on the motor: Kaiser used a Continental 226, which was a very popular Continental engine in all kinds of comm'l, industrial, Ag eqpmt uses for years.

Under Cont'l usage of the time the "automotive" (truck, etc) version was F6226; the ind'l/comm'l/ag version was F226, and the stand-alone power unit version was PF226 or P-some other letter 226...

You'll have to talk to Kaiser-Fraser club members to find out if any of these would be a drop-in fit, if off-the shelf F6226/F226 etc parts will fit (one had timing gears, the other a timing chain--I can never remember which is which), or whether Kaiser made particular modifications for its normal or blown engines...

If I recall, Kaiser bought a Cont'l plant to build it's engines...

Kaiser/Fraser club members: please feel free to correct or enlighten me on this engine point..

[jimkf]

While the F226 industrial engine shares many components with the automobile engine, it's not a good swap. The torque curve differs (camshaft, valves and valve timing) because the industrial engine is meant for slow, steady work where it's under load all of the time. You can, however, use pistons, rods, bearings, timing gears/chains and the basic block in a Kaiser. One thing to note, if your 54 is an automatic, you cannot use the crankshaft out of a stick shift engine or one from an industrial motor because they lack a pilot bearing slot that's cut in the back of cranks used in hydramatic equipped cars.

KF engines are plentiful and if you PM me, I can send you contact info for a friend in Somerset, PA who probably has 2 or 3 he'd sell.