Just Got Myself Into A 6...

That switch looks like a switch from a Ford.... Cargo light maybe from a 68-72 P/U?

 

1000 Mile Shakedown completed....
now time for the 1000 mile tear down and re torque

Some things to button up / tweak:

- Fuel issues: Need to address pump location due to cavitation and heat under the Jeep..
- In tank pump, heat shielding
- Tearing into the steering column to figure our 'Phantom Horn' issue
- possible spacer at end of column
- Clutch pedal return spring and adjustment of slave cyl rod.
- Need to lengthen and re route drive side brake line.
- Hazard switch wire
- Front marker lights
- Rear seat restraints
- Storage solution for back

 

Almost ever since new, I have been getting pump cavitation and shut down.. will re start 5 min later
Howell points to vapor lock or FP cavitation.. My external pump is higher than it should be.. also knew that since day 1.. thought I would get away with it..

I think the road heat and height of the pump is making it susceptible to cavitation and vapor lock..

my first plan off attack is putting the pump in the tank.. keep it Low and out of the way of any road heat
some muffler and pipe shielding..

last resort.. move the fuel lines to the other side of the frame

 

I'm fairly confident this is why my fuel gauge wasn't working..

Gas tank out and in last night.. should have hooked up and fire tonight..

 

Fuel delivery seems to be resolved..
Some more local driving and no issues.
New sending unit also fixed my fuel gauge, seems I'm a victim of OMIX quality.

Steering tightened up immensely.. finally have a good amount of preload on the top column bearing.. possibly too much.. going to play around with torque.
Horn contacts all double insulated.. used electrical tape to replace 40 year old nylon insulation.

I caved.. 5 scotchlocks used... if the dash ever comes off or the driver seat is out again Im going to go there and clean up a bit. All lights and switches working.. Damn good feeling.

Rear seat and restraints all mounted and kid tested...

 

Had another 2 shut down last week after moving the fuel pump..

first was after the short 7 min trip to office on a cold engine
second was after an even shorter 300 yards on a very cold engine..
Very uneventful... stop light and within 1 light cycle I was able to re start and continue on way home..

the first time I was able to pull out of traffic and really pay attention to what was going on with truck.
Major change is FP was sending prime pulse and I saw pressure build on FP gauge.
Waited a bit, fired and went on my merry way.

Spoke to Howell and updated on the issues..
Pointing fingers to ICM or distributor pickup..
they have heard of these going bad interminably, even when new

Sourced a NOS ICM from the dealer.. also got a NOS pickup coil off of eBay..

Took distributor out last night and replaced with a "better made" New unit.. I have not had good luck lately with Cardone parts and I'm throwing the baby out with the bathwater Swapped drive gear and timed the engine last night... waiting for ICM to arrive before testing again..

 

NOS pickup coil and ICM installed...
went through a full tank of gas without incident..
its going to be 95 here tomorrow.. if it can survive that, I think I'm golden..

turned my attention to some more practical issues...
the console lid hitting the cage just had to stop..

 

construction has started on the hardtop....

for those of you who have/had open air jeeps with hardtops..
what's the 1 or 2 things you would have changed from the stock setup?

 

When I had the Myer's hardtop on my '74 CJ-6, there were a few things I noticed that I didn't like:

1 - Noise! Every bump in the road would result in a thunderclap inside the cab. During a rainstorm, it sounded like I was inside of a drum. So, some sort of sound attenuation such as dynamat or the like.
2 - Condensation....heater running, cold outside.....condensation would build up on the inside of the cab and it would start raining inside. It happens in my Rubicon as well, but it was much worse with the metal cab. Not sure how to combat that other than some sort of carpeting maybe? That would also help the sound I suppose.
3 - Heat....in the summer time, it would get to be like an oven inside of the Jeep after being parked. So, not really a change from stock, but an observation.

Great project BTW!!! I go through this thread looking for ideas all the time!

 

Just spent the day on the beach reading this .... Give me hopes for my 6 ..... My question is what happened to the original 6 it looks like you did not use any of it except maybe a windshield spray nozzle

 

weight and "tin can" were the 2 biggest reasons I'm going fiberglass with this guy.
Deff will need some acoustic and thermal protection..
I used a hardtop on my YJ when it was a DD... similar situation with the condensation... great point

Very much appreciate the positive feedback.. makes me want to keep journaling all of this.
I built this six after several years of accumulating parts from intermediate CJ's.
I had 2.5 southern CJ5's in parts before I even picked up my 6. CJ's from the north east are useless for sheetmetal.
To be honest... i didn't take one part off..

I think that truck is going to be stripped down by the fall...

 

Great point about the weight! I forgot about that....that definitely should have been on my list!

 

Are you building your hardtop from scratch? I am very interested to see it happen if so. I was wondering about meeting up with you one day to check out your Jeep, you aren't too far away.

 

It'd be a meeting of the sixes.

 

my hardtop will hopefully be the prototype of a production CJ6 fiberglass hardtop...
more to come.. I'm not keeping this one under my hat.. I was thrilled to find a vendor to work with me..

Im always for a trip down to PA..
life kinda got in the way this summer, but I do want to take a late summer / early fall trip down to AOAA or RC...

 

progress

 

Wow, looks NICE........

 

Yes it does........Looks great......I have also been toying with the very Idea using an existing fiberglass top as a base. So what tops have you mixed and matched to get you where you are now?...........the doors also look like they will end up being much different than an early model opening. Nice Job.