226 Continental OHV engine

[leorob51]

Many of you K-F owners already know that Checker Motors (Cab) used the same engine as K-F, for many years, but they also used an optional OHV 226 Continental engine from 1960-1964. Does anyone know if that engine will drop into a K-F vehicle? I'm not going to hold my breath in attempting to find such an engine, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Not sure what the flywheel pattern would be like & clearance for steering box and column.   Willys motors turned the 226 flathead into the 239 cu in Tornado with overhead cam.

[joefrazer]

In 1963 you could get a 230 in the early style Willys station wagon body. Motor mounts, the radiator, and the bell housing are just a few of the items that had to be modified to make the engine fit.

Since the engine is taller, I'm not sure it will fit in the 51-5 body but might in the 47-50.

[DTort96646]

This question has intrigued my for some time. Checker cab used the Continental 226 L head in their vehicles up to 1960. In 1960, Checker came out with an OHV version of the 226 Continental L head engine. Everything I have found so far indicates the OHV version was used from 1961 to 1964. After that, Chevrolet engines were used. I have posted 2 pics of the Continental 226 OHV engine. Notice the distributor is down on the left side of the engine and the spark plugs go in the head below the intake manifold. I'm looking for more info at this time. It was offered with a 1bbl carb and later with a 2bbl carb rated at about 141HP. As near as I can tell, this engine and parts are very scarce, but let's see what turns up. This is not the Willys 230 Tornado engine. This is a Continental 226 based engine. The 230 Tornado engine is also a Continental based design used in the Jeep trucks beginning in 1963. This is an OHC design, with it's distributor on the right front of the engine.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I knew Continental offered the OHV version in the 1960's but that was about all I knew.  From a design standpoint, given that the "trade" for Continental's product was mostly industrial, it would make sense to try and put as much as possible on one side of the motor for serviceability in tight spaces. 

[Corsairdeluxe]

Photo taken at Cocoa Beach,still picking up fares!

[HJ-ETEX]

Dtort:
Thanks for the images. The Cooper boys of Kansas showed up with an OHV Checker engine in the back of a truck years ago at a big Regional meet. I had seen the 52 Edgar Kaiser car with that OHV 6 not too long prior to that and recognized what they had was completely different approach to converting the 226 to OHV.
The few people who know of the Tornado OHC 6 tend to believe it was introduced with the Gladiator/Wagoneer series but it was available just before that in the old style trucks and wagons. I have a Willys truck sans engine with a very neat cutout on the firewall which suggests to me it was done at the factory and may have come with the OHC motor. 
Anyway, the Checker OHV engine was an option and with several other considerations, if you ever found one, I would think it would be best used as a display piece.
The Tornado OHC 6 was regular item in US production, used for a lot of years in South America, and Kaiser made a lot of US military vehicles with that engine so I am thinking it would be easier to find and even repair. The pictures I have seen of the engine look like the motor mounts were similar to those used on Frazers and early Kaisers - under the timing cover and close together. I couldn't say whether it had an oil pump that wore out prematurely like the flatheads or not.