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L6-226 Super Hurricane Rebuilding Tips
The Super Hurricane 6 was used in Wagons and Trucks from 1954 to 1963. This is the same motor as the Kaiser Super Sonic. Built by Continental for Kaiser, the ‘Red Seal’ six resembles an industrial motor built for industrial equipment, however, some of the components are not interchangeable.
This engine can be expensive to rebuild correctly but the expense to Repower the drivetrain is costlier and requires careful engineering. The following list outlines problem areas that will need to be checked and repaired as needed. Once rebuilt correctly balanced and blueprinted, these engines will perform trouble free for many years.
Connecting Rods:
- Important to resize big ends
- Make all rods weigh the same
- Check for side wear on big end – indicates crank end-play is excessive
Crankshaft:
Cylinder Head:
- Check for cracks on both sides from overheating and freezing
- Check and resurface for warping
Cylinder Block:
- Will commonly crack between #3 or #4 cylinder and valve seat. Weld cracks and sleeve cylinders. DO NOT bore beyond .040. It is best to sleeve all bores to ‘Standard’
- Resurface block
- Check tappet bores for roundness – they can be machined but oversize lifters are getting hard to find.
- Align bore main bearing saddles
- Tap out and check head bolt threads. Use new head bolts with ‘Threadseal Compound’.
- Important to check valve spring tension
Distributor:
- Check vacuum advance unit
- Check bushings for shaft side-movement
- Check mechanical advance spring retainers for wear
- Check aluminum adapter for cracked ear
Exhaust Manifold:
- Check and repair cracks at head pipe outlet
- Replace studs
- Replace exhaust head pipe as the flange warps and the gasket leaks
Flywheel:
- Balance! It’s important to do this to prevent vibration at higher RPMs
- It is recommended that you balance the flywheel when doing a clutch replacement
- Replace starter ring gear
Front Damper / Pulley:
- Check integrity
- Commonly found to separate
- Difficult to find part
- Can be rebuilt by WILLYS AMERICA if separated
- Often found to have slipped on rubber center and timing mark inaccurate
Oil Pan:
- Check aluminum filler blocks for warping
- Helicoil threads on front filler block behind timing chain
- The rear filler block can warp preventing good alignment with the oil pan. The rear filler block has two styles, early and late. Early style uses a rope-type oil seal and is identified by the walls of the oil seal groove being the same height and having slight ‘barbs’ on the inside to hold the rope seal in place (part # 733543). The later – and replacement style – uses a rubber seal and has the wall of the groove shorter on the crankcase side with a smooth interior on the groove.
- If the oil pan is equipped with a skid plate, the spot welds sometimes fracture. Fill the bottom of the pan with mineral spirits or gasoline and leave overnight to observe any leaks.
Tappets:
- Reface if pitted
- Check for side wear on tappets & tappet bore in block
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