opinions on 75 CJ-6 changes

When comparing my 75 CJ-6 to my other late model CJs, it drives like a high speed farm tractor. It had a 258/T-14/dana 20 that I swapped over to a 75 304/T-15/dana 20. Now, I pop the clutch and it will lay 50 plus feet of rubber down.....but, I hate the points, I hate the feel and shifting of the transmission and I hate the feel of the body roll and loose suspension. Yes, I know that each of these issues can be addresed with upgrades. Axles are stock Dana 30 front and Dana 44 rear that are both narrow trac 4 wheel drum with 3.73 gears. But.....I have a buddy that wants the whole drivetrain.....I only want the body and frame. I want to keep the look of the CJ-6 intact. I was leaning toward a 91 on 4.0/ Aw-4 / dana 300 OR maybe use a manual like a T-5 as I have a few. Swap to widetrac axles and get the wider stance and disc brakes. Even thinking of going to the longer 76 on CJ or YJ leaf springs with a few frame mods. Add a late CJ sway bar too. To be clear, if this was a mint CJ-6 or a Renegade package I would restore it or keep it stock...but this is not the case. It almost needs a new body as it is. Frame is great. One concern is the rear axle. As is the rear frame rails are the same distance apart as the front (about 28 inches). So the spring perches are amost centered between the tire and the pumpkin where as the later CJ and YJ they are closer to the tire for sway and stability. With my new swap, the springs would be closer to the diff than the tires so I wonder if that would be too much leverage on the axle tubes. Also what would the drivetrain be worth? The engine runs strong but burns oil and smokes only when first started. T-15 pops out of first unless held so I guess it needs a synchronizer and the axles are in good shape. I was thinking about 600 buck to my friend....Any thoughts are welcome as I brainstorm all of this. Thanks. Heres a pic or two of it.

 

JMO - sell it and buy a used TJ. You are clearly unhappy with every aspect of it except the power and appearance.

 

I agree with Tim.

If you don't like all of those things about it then you are probably better off with a newer model Jeep. It would be a lot less work.

 

If you are going to chop it up why not just sell and find a nice cj8? sounds to me like you all ready want to go that route and want to have some one agree with you. the eight would have wide track and more cosmetics for the driver. good chance you could find a clean one down south also. I my opinion, (which means nothing) I live in the rust belt, where not much 6's were bought and the ones that were are almost reclaimed to the dirt. one of this condition should be drove till it "needs" rebuilt. then the proper time and money put towards keeping it stock and org. I would just drive it as a DD and until you have saved the money, start a slow rebuild process.

 

Ok I will tell you to keep it and look at doing the following mods............this depends on how much $$$$$ you want to spend.
Option 1
Keep the 304 and maybe upgrade to fuel injection, add performance mods.
Upgrade to the NV3550 5spd or the newer 6spd if you can find one. these bold up behind the 4.0 and AA ans Novack have conversion kits.
You can go with the Dana 300 if you have one but AA Atlas 2 transfer case is about the same price as the cost of buying and beefing up the Dana300.
Suspension, you can fab up YJ Wrangler leaf spring for a better on road ride and better flex off road.
Axles are only limited to what you want to spend. You can custom order Dana 60, 44, and Ford 9 inch for anything. Junkyard axles also are and option but will need a full rebuild. You can also buy the newer Rubicon Dana 44 from MOPAR with all new electric lockers, brakes, and 4.10 gears. You will need to remove the stock coil spring brackets and mount leaf perches and you will need 5x5 bolt patter wheels.

Option 2

http://www.cjoffroad.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18027

Its all in the $$$$$ and imagination

 

Wow....OK....lets start over......Someone got the wrong impression and I am not a newbe . I have been into Jeeps for 19 years. I currently own 2 CJ-8s, 3 CJ-7s and the CJ-6. I would like to have a TJ, but not for any of the above reasons. The CJ-6 is not for sale and I have too much history with it. I do like it and love the old style of it. I have no plans of chopping it up and your opinions do matter or I wouldn't ask for them. My mind is not made up and yes, I am exploring different options as I have all the extra engines/ axles/ and transmissions to swap and I can do extensive fab work. I want to keep the look of the original 6 as far as the body and interior. Not looking to lift it or big tires and not use as a trail Jeep. I do want a smoother running CJ with more modern parts such as disc brakes, and fuel injection. IF I did restore this Jeep to showroom condition, it would still be a bear to drive as it was a base model when I got it with no power brakes or steering and no front swaybar or roll bar. It was almost dangerous to drive. Power steering came with the 304 swap and two new front springs helped the body roll. This Jeep was my DD for a two years.....every day, rain or shine, hot or cold no top or doors (and boy some nights were cold). I guess I'm looking for anyone with the 72 to 75 CJ-5 or 6 that did something simular such as a 360/999 swap or put a 6 on a bobbed 8 frame.....I had thougt of the Unlimited TJ (thanks for link) but I would want to swap the frame too and the only thing left of my 6 would be the body with a bunch of fab to fit the TJ frame mounts. Don't want to go that far. Just getting ideas....may stay stock or go with just drivetrain upgrades via Jeep/AMC stuff.

 

Here is what I would do. keep your curent axles. Put an HEI and fuel injection on it. Put a sway bar on it. Later model knuckles w/disc brakes will bolt to the front housing. Because its street only I would not go to wide track axles. You will be throwing water, mud an other street crud all over the place if you do.

If you really want to you can swap in an automatic. You have enough wheel base to do it. A Th400 would be really nice in that set up.

 

Yeah, an automatic is easy in a CJ-6. The TH400/D20 combo is a junkyard solution and works well. The dealership I worked at did a brand-new CJ-6 like this back in the '70s for a disabled Viet Nam vet - he was missing a leg and couldn't shift a manual trans. Mostly done with factory parts. Front power disks would be a good addition with an automatic.

I wonder if there is something wrong with your Jeep ... even with the factory HD springs, they ride and handle just fine. The factory did not offer sway bars on CJS before 1976, but you can add a sway bar from a later model if you want. You can convert to the wider Wrangler springs - a common conversion - which will trade off some harshness for increased body roll. Outboarding the rear springs a few inches is another option. Look at the rear springs of a Jeepster for ideas; you can't go that far outboard with a CJ because of the body shape, but the principle applies.

Electronic ignition and EFI are easy junkyard add-ons ... no need for expensive aftermarket solutions.

Also - just a comment - that CJ-5 roll bar isn't going to protect you in a rollover. Might be of some value if you set the Jeep on it's side, but if you go over, it won't help. The CJ-6 rollbar puts the hoop directly behind the front seats and mounts to the floor.

 

We put YJ springs and a shackle reversal on my 5 and the ride is MUCH better. You almost needed a kidney belt & back brace to drive it more than 100 miles before. It's road manners have improved considerably. I did have to buy adjustable shocks and crank them up for the street to counteract the body roll.