A Wild CJ6 Story

UNTAMED, you might say. 

I'm so excited this one is coming back home!  I'm not even sure what I am going to do with it yet, but when it was offered to me (for $FREE$), I knew I had to jump on it. 

A little backstory: I have owned a lot of Jeeps over the years.  So many, in fact, that CJs started to find me. But my first was a Scrambler (CJ8), back before Scramblers were cool. Most people didn't even know what they were, but I loved the longer 103.5" wheelbase vs the 93.5" of the CJ7 and 80-83.5" of the CJ5. I could pull trailers, haul stuff in the bed, and do 90+ on the highway without much worry about swapping ends. It also was great at climbing cliffs and ledges, except for that rear overhang...

Then I remembered the CJ6, which my first encounter was seeing the one on "Killdozer", a cheesy early 70s movie with evil alien intelligence, an island, and Robert Ulrich getting killed off in the first 10 minutes.

So I put feelers out that I was looking for a CJ6.  Found about this one, an old mud bogger that was running a 383 Chevy backed by a SM420 and a Dana 20 t-case. Came out to look at it, and it was hidden in a trailer, on tiny tires. The seller really wanted that stroker motor; he was willing to take $500 off the price if he could keep it. I took one look and saw all the spark plugs were out of it, and decided it was a good idea that he keep it. 

So, I set out to build the CJ6, but I also acquired two others along the way.  I decided this one would become a 70s throwback instead of a hard core trail rig. So I scored a set of 38.5×11.00 Boggers and welded up a set of DIY beadlocks to mount them on. The Aero beadlock rings were already yellow, so I painted up a set of Jeep wagon wheels to match, and fit the color scheme of the old CJ6. 

Then, life set in. In rapid succession, I was diagnosed with bladder cancer, the economy tanked, I got laid off, and my wife left me. Most everything got sold off, including all my CJ6s and M170. But selling off UNTAMED hurt the worst.  I made sure it went to someone I hoped would do it justice.  He took the body off the frame, and cut the frame in half...

Fast forward about a decade to today, and the buyer contacts me. He says he has decided to put his LSx motor in a C4 Corvette instead of building another 4wd. (He has a really nice first gen GMC Jimmy he built)  He says it feels like it always should be mine, so I can pick it up for free.  

So now I need to schedule a trip to the thumb area of Michigan in the next month or so. 

More photos when I pick it up, but I will noodle over the direction of the build, and maybe toss out some LWB Jeep trivia along the way. 

Cool. I only remember seeing one CJ6 in person. The City of Waterbury owned one for park maintenance. I actually knew about Scramblers long before I knew about CJ6s.

I've seen Scramblers with CJ7 hardtops on them, leaving a useless but cool little pickup bed behind it. CJ7s with Scrambler tops look really good.

My Scrambler was an '81 with the half hardtop. This is a fairly early incarnation at the Silver Lake dunes- after the Chrysler 360 swap, but before the cage, lockers and body damage. 

Not as rare as the CJ5 Camper Option.  This was a factory Jeep option, I swear. 

It had it's own wheels!  

I've owned 3 CJ6s and an M170 at one point. Things got so bad that I had to force myself to only buy LWB Jeeps. (Mostly 6s, 8s, the odd 10, M715 and C101)

The beater M170; what an odd duck. 

Another CJ6- went to St Louis for this one. 

Crammed on the pole barn

Had to sell them all when I got sick, however...

In reply to pinchvalve :

I'm aware of the different Jeep campers, and the Jeep-A-Trench. My interests tend toward the lesser known LWB stuff, like the Alaskan Postal (A 4wd RHD CJ8 with a World Top that was used by the USPS), the Horton ATM (All Terrain Medic) ambulance- 

...and the Holy Grail of LWB CJs, the Gaucho, which spawned both the Scrambler and the CJ10 and CJ10a .

I will likely build a replica with a CJ10 cab and fiberglass stepside minitruck bed I have squirreled away.  But again, that would be another thread for another time.  

Oooooh, CJ6s are my favorite

I remember the Alaskan postal jeeps from when I lived in Fairbanks, AK. I wanted one converted to LHD and windows in the back side. Figured it would check all the boxes better than the K5 I had at the time.  Hardcore Jeep with room for the family.

Every day I learn something because of this place. Today it was the CJ6 vs CJ8 rabbit hole I went down. I had no idea until I saw this thread.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie :

As an added Tuesday Bonus, here is Ronald Reagan in his CJ6 out on his ranch. 

'Murica!

And not to leave out the CJ8, here is Ronny on his ranch giving Gorby a ride in the Scrambler Nancy gave him for his birthday. 

I had a 1970 Jeepster Commando. I believe that they shared the frame with the CJ 6. I have always liked the CJ6.

In reply to pilotbraden :

I had a 1967 Jeepster Convertible (the only one that didn't have "Commando in the name), and have always regretted selling it. Believe it or not, the C101 frame is almost completely different from the CJ frame, aside from wheelbase. Even the leaf springs had vastly different dimensions, with the rear spring being incredibly long, going all the way to the back of the overhang behind the wheels, and the front having an offset center pin for the axle.  

TIL there's something called a CJ6

You can run a decent lift on a '6' and not have it look like a clown car.  

I've toyed with the idea of stretching my '74 CJ5 now that '6' tubs are readily available from the aftermarket in glass, steel, and aluminium($).

Stretching your CJ5 is much easier than making a 7 into an 8, IMO. It's just a couple filler panels, and the seams are not even hidden on the factory tubs. 

Today is the day (I hope)  Wish me luck!

Finally going to pick up UNTAMED today.  I'm more excited and stressed than most of my cross country Fly and Drives. I'm not sure if it is because of the fact that this is one of the "ones that got away", or because of the incredibly poor vehicular luck I have been having lately. I had to pass up a great deal with SVRex due to frame rust behind the shackle mounts on my Sprinter, and also had half the transfer case fall out of my wife's Wrangler due to frame rust. Now I noticed the trans fluid is pretty low just before leaving for the greater Detroit Metro (ish) Area. Hopefully the trans will hold for this trip...

Pix later today or tomorrow of the Adventure. 

24 hours later.  Still in The Mitten. (Lansing, to be more precise) 

No photos on the Kindle; will update from the phone. 

What's your path from Lansing to Home?  

EDIT:  Nevermind, I checked your profile.  You won't be anywhere near me unless you go the wrong way on 96...

In reply to AngryCorvair :

I was actually picking the Jeep up yesterday in Oxford, and could have stopped "on the way" back. (Which wasn't exactly on the way, but always up for meeting GRMers)

Just got home a couple hours ago, and working out a post in my head that describes this experience in a way that is somewhat readable. 

So...

Left pretty early Sunday, as I knew it was going to be an Adventure to haul this back even if nothing mechanical went wrong (more on why later), but figured something likely would (and did, that part will be sooner), but both my Ladybug (my wife and best friend) and I both had Monday (today) off, and we brought an overnight bag "just in case"  

Obviously, we used it. 

Partially because we could and not be rushed heading home, but also because we ran into a problem. Not the transmission, thankfully. 

That's some really nice Goodyear tread. But it really should still be attached to my left rear tire...

So, yeah. Blowout. First it felt like the whole vehicle was coming apart, then, just like the entire rear end was coming loose from the leaf springs.  Fortunately, it didn't seem that difficult to keep it under control an get to the side of I-94. And we had a spare.  In fact, I was pretty sure it held air. Pressurized air, even.  

Problem was, I never dropped the spare on one of these before, and wasn't entirely sure how to do so. Or where the jack was. Or if I even had one.  I wasn't even into Michigan yet. :/

Ahh, Hoosier Helpers! That's it!  They can change the tire for me!  But a quick check of the INDOT site showed they only went a few miles past the 90/94 split, and I was quite a ways out of their service area, near Michigan City.  Well, p00p.  

Ladybug had let AAA lapse just this month (I know), but she called and renewed, so we were back in business. I was expecting a wait of several hours, as that has been the norm whenever I needed a tow.  But I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they would have someone there in 45 minutes to tow me off the highway and then change the tire. And then we were actually called immediately afterwards by the driver to tell us he was already on his way. (This won't be too bad after all)

Less than a half an hour later the driver calls looking for us.  NBD; he is at mile 33, and we are about 3/4 of a mile further down the road. (I was originally going to limp it off the highway and try to change the tire myself) But as I hear Ladybug talking to him, I realize he is pulling up behind us. I look in my mirror and see?? A PT Cruiser...

I wait a couple minutes while the kid (Ladybug says "what is he? 12?? But she said that about a few people this trip- we are old) writes up some of his paperwork before he gets out of the PT, and then get out and talk to him. He is dragging one of those Harbor Freight $50 aluminum floor jacks. Oh boy, here we go.  But surprisingly, he is able to lift the van (from a shock mount) and gets to work on dropping the spare, which while not a cakewalk, is much easier than I expected, especially with both of us fighting it. (I dread retirement; I just am not able to watch someone else work on my stuff) I try to watch the traffic to keep him from getting run over as he changes the tire. 

Meanwhile, about an eighth of a mile past us, someone has lost a giant box of some sort in the left lane, so as the considerate people get out of the right lane into the middle lane to give us a safety cushion on the shoulder, others cut around them as if they are racing to the yellow flag, and the left lane drivers close the gap to keep anyone from the middle from squeezing in. Then they realize that there is a 3' by 5' box in their lane, and now everyone is in the two right lanes and onto the far left shoulder, swerving, and hard on the brakes. I have no idea how there wasn't a multicar pileup. But finally a State Police car comes up and gets the box out onto the left shoulder. And then, after the spare is put on the van and the kid is about to lower it, the jack handle slips out of the jack making it impossible to get the handle, or even half of it back in, as hydraulic pressure pushes the yoke back up to vertical...

Fortunately, I did bring my "Medium Sized Junkyard Excursion" tool set with me, so we jammed an 11/16" deepwell on my flexhead ratchet into there to open the valve and drop the van back on the ground. 

The spare actually has tread and still holds pressure and everything!

The wheel is a bit rusty, but who knows how many years it has been under there??

The kid also apologized for forgetting to put the center cap on, but I told him not to worry, as I will be buying at least two new tires this week anyway. He apologizes again for the center cap and the jack, and I tip him $20.  We've all been there. 

The rest of the trip is uneventful, and we get to our destination with any further stress. The Sprinter even pulls down nearly 22 MpG again for the trip, even though it spent nearly 2 hours idling with the air on (I love me some A/C)

"Wait, the Sprinter?? Didn't you say that the rear rails were shot and you couldn't put a hitch on it?"

Yeah, well. About that-

The Jeep isn't quite as I sold it. 

We're doing things a little different.  

We don't need no steekin' trailer hitch to haul an entire CJ6 body and frame home!  (But, as you can plainly see, the hitch still went along for the ride, just to mock me)