1973 cj6

hello all , i am not new to jeeps but don't know about early cj's. i am looking for a father son project do to with my dad and we found a 73 cj6 with a full hard top. i have a 78 cherokee with a amc 360, turbo 400,quadratrac and a set of dana44's does anyone see any problems with installing the cherokee drive line in a 73 cj6? i know that some of the early cj's had frames that ran straight back and did not widen in the rear like my 79cj5 and 86 cj7 do when did they start making the wider rear frames? i have a 86 cj7 that i got bone stock and now has a set of 1 ton chevy axles and a 105 " and 39"krawlers. i did all the work my self and i have no problem welding or fabricating any mounts that are needed to install the cherokee drive train (i hope that i don't come off like a know it all) the jeep would be more of a street jeep and something that we could take to jeep jamboree's

 

Hello 86cj7! This is not concours correct site so asking about modifications is perfect! Please fill in your signature with what jeeps you have and where you are from, you may have a member close to you that can provide on site advise.
As far as swapping in the cherokee drive train all of the AMC stuff will fit as long as the CJ6 came with the 304. The I6cyl and V8 use different motor mounts that are specific for intermediates and you will need to build a auto trans crossmember. I would use the 360 and either go with a 700r4 tran or change transfer cases to a Dana18 with a Warn overdrive. You will need the Dana 18 because of the off-set of the rear Dana 44 in the Cherokee. An Overdrive will help the street manners to and from the trail.
The front leaf springs will need to be outboarded, that means now the leaf spring mounts get moved to the outside of the frame. If you are going to this I would recommend going ahead and converting the YJ springs, there are several articles on how to do this online. YJ springs will also help with on and off road abilities.

Hope this helps! Coby

 

If you want to use the entire Cherokee drivetrain, make sure that the offset of the Cherokee rear axle is little enough to fit between the frame rails. A '73 will have a ladder frame, which is parallel from front to back.

Nothing wrong with the BW1339 Quadratrac as long its in good condition. If this is a junker Cherokee, it's likely you'll find that the 1339 has some severe problems due to neglect and/or abuse. Not many service parts are available, and no other transfer cases bolt up in place of the 1339.

Visit www.ifsja.org/forums for lots of background on the 1339.