Resurrecting a rolled CJ-6A

Now that I'm making some decent progress, I figure it's time that I can start a build thread.

I've owned (and loved) my 66 cj-6a for close to ten years, but last May it was wreaked in an accident. A guy driving a truck didn't look before pulling out and hit me on the passenger side. My Jeep (Lizzy) ended up hitting a curb and rolled three times. My belt came undone and I was thrown after the first roll, into the Jeep's path. I went between the roll bar and windshield when it rolled over me. Somehow, I walked away with just some severe road rash (Lizzy was doing 45) and several stitches in the back of my head. Lizzy wasn't so lucky. Best part is he had no insurance, license, or even registration. Cheap fool that I am, I only had liability coverage on the Jeep.

Here is the resulting aftermath -





Now she is not done for - I won't give up on her that easily.

I have since located a replacement tub and other body parts and am already well on the way to getting her going again. Many upgrades are in the works as well.

More to follow soon.

 

Poor you and that poor '6 .

I'd say salvage all the original pieces that you can.

Glad that you were not injured.

 

Man what a heart breaker. From what I can see in pic's you took pride in your rig. Glad you were not injured severely. Howard Eisenhauer (a member here) didn't give up on his either and is well into his complete re-do so your not alone.

 

Almost the exact thing happened to me with my Corvair.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO EVERYONE READING THIS: Liability insurance is not enough. The price difference for comprehensive insurance is LESS THAN YOU THINK! I didn't even ask, but after I got my car fixed I found out the difference was about $50 a year. Caveats apply. Main reason was that I had more cars than drivers in the household.

Anyway, file in small claims court against the guy. It will cost almost nothing and just take a little bit of time. The guy will not show up, and you will get a summary judgement. The limit in my state is $5,000. It's the only way I could get any money out of the other party in my case. If they don't have any money, that's fine. The will some day, and if they want to buy a house or a car they will come to you with your $5,000.

In my case, I had liability. The other driver was fully insured. I was CLEARLY not at fault.

My company said "We don't have a dog in this fight since you are clearly not liable."

Her company said "It's your fault, we're not paying for your car."

What is supposed to happen is that Her company should have (and did) pay for her car. THEN... They SHOULD have contacted MY company for reimbursement from MY liability insurance.

Well, they knew the case would go to arbitration and that they would lose and end up paying for both cars.

So, they never called my insurance company. I was amazed that this is how it works.

I contacted a lawyer friend and was told that the solution is to SUE the other driver in small claims court. The other driver's insurance company is legally obligated to defend their interests and will pay the judgement. That's exactly what happened. It took a year but I'm glad I didn't give up.

I hope that makes sense. Sorry about your Jeep. Get the judgement against the guy. It's worth doing.

- Ian

 

Good to hear your OK.........Your Jeep not so!.........The good news is that it's only sheet metal and can be fixed! If your replacement tub was not complete and need some measurements I have them. Love to see some more pictures!
What happened to the Butt with no Insurance or License?

 

First thing after getting her home, we started by cutting up the destroyed body and salvaging the useable parts.



I very shortly started the search for a replacement body. I came close to using a M170 body we found in CA, but I ended up finding a CJ6 tub locally. It had a fair amount of rot (especially for a vehicle here in AZ) and needed some patching on the firewall.



And thats how it sat for several months.

Until I ended up with this -



It's an abused 73, but it had rancho 2.5" springs (my BDS springs were bent in the roll) and 3.73 gears. I took the steering off for my cj-3a, and kept the pedals, axles and springs for the 6. I then sold the rotted tub and frame.

The rebuild actually started to look possible, and then I actually started making progress.

 

As for the fellow in the Ford, it doesn't look to be worth the effort. He lives in the most run down trailer park in the Tucson area, possibly in all of AZ. He didn't own the truck, and it looks like all the money he ever gets goes straight to his dealer.

Tarry - thank you for the offer, but the tub is nearly done. I just have one hat channel left to replace.

BTW- I have now found out that the difference for me was less than $50 for the year. Painful.

 

Go after the owner of the truck. Several years ago I was hit by an unlicensed, uninsured driver who borrowed a friends truck at work to go get lunch. The other guys license had been revoked by the state and he was uninsured. The truck was in his mothers name. She had insurance. To bad for her. She ended up being liable for the whole thing

Might be worth a try

 

Glad you're ok, looks like your project is back on the mend.

Look forward to watching what you're doing.

 

my wife was hit by a garbage truck a few years back. she was traveling 50 down the road and he was stopped at a sign. he took off because he didnt see her and t-boned the grand cherokee. if he would have pulled out 10 seconds sooner she would have ran right into him. he clipped her right on the rear axle and sent her spinning into someones yard. snapped the rear axle at the diff and damage to the rear quarter. i rushed there after getting the call she was in the accident. when i got there the police were there already and come to find out the garbage company didn't have insurance at the time. we were bummed because we only had liability on the jeep and would only get 500 for it. we setteled out of court for the amount of blue book value for the jeep, got to keep the jeep. we actually paid a lot less for the jeep so that was a win and i wound up replacing the rear axle and continued to drive the jeep for a bit until we sold it for almost what we paid for it the first time.

 

Glad your OK

BUT ..... I would have fixed it mechanically and wheeled with the tub all jacked up ....now THATS character

 

It was a thought, a short lived one though. The body was far too twisted, bent, and broken to attempt getting it even moderately useable. Stretching a cj-5 or a flat fender tub would have been significantly easier. Then the cj-6 body showed up for a price I couldn't pass up.

 

After obtaining the parts jeep, I started working on the previously purchased '71 cj-6 tub.

First was the grill and radiator



The crossflow radiator was pulled from an 80-something cutlass supreme with a 231. Perfect fit for the 71's grill.

Then came the fenders and lights. The two sets of fenders that came with the tub were rotted and cut up, but I could have cut-and-paste them together to make a good set. But... I found a postal jeep in the JY with a virtually perfect set of fenders. Much easier. The lights are just the cheapest LED assemblies of this style that I could find on amazon. They are very bright - surprising for the $30 is spent.



My grandfather was in the middle of a word, and my phone caught the moment perfectly .



The dash also go some attenton



Its been changed around a little bit, but that's about how it [the dash] sits now.

The tub also got its fair share of attention.

 

Looks Good!

 

Really nice work on the patching. It's cool to be able to use postal parts on your rig isn't it? I scored 2 fiberglass fenders for my 6 off a postal jeep for 70 bucks total. Nobody looked at the old mail truck in the junk yard, been there for years. You are doing a great job.

 

I've been upside down twice over the 55 or so jeeps I've owned. First was in an 81 CJ7 in about 1984. My fault. Too fast, too late, too much fun on gravel sliding sideways when we caught blacktop. 3 of us in it all walked away after it rolled about 3 times. It was fixed, driven for awhile and then traded on a Scrambler I wish I still had...2nd time was about 1999 in a freshly restored CJ3B I had sold to a friend of mine. He had put Dana 44's under it, 35" tires, and a Chevy 350. We were out on a straight stretch of road and he was commenting on how smoothly it ran at 55-when a drunk driver crossed the center lane and hit us in the drivers side rear tire. It yanked us sideways and over she went. I didn't have a seatbelt on and went out on the first roll through the soft top door. I could hear the jeep tumbling and following me down the highway, but it never got on me. I was bloodied up real good-road rash, bruises, clothes almost torn off of me-but I never hit my head. I did almost get run over laying there in the highway after the wreck was finishing up-sun was in the drivers eyes and they saw the jeep but not me! I walked away, as did the driver and his 5 year old who was in a car seat in the back. I wear my seat belt in jeeps ever since then. I believe in good roll protection too. Enjoy fixing up the 6. It looks good!

 

Nice work. I lived in Arizona for 8 years. High speed demolition derby can best describe it. I had a car door smashed just before leaving. They never paid and I was to far away to mess with small claims. It's been 8 years since I left and I would imagine she still doesn't have insurance or pay damages. The truck belonged to her deceased father. Still licensed in his name. Police wouldn't do anything.

 

Here's what is going behind the original 225 -



We used a 70's FSJ T-18 case, mainshaft, and dana 20 adapter along with a ford input, gears, and bearing retainer. We bolted on the original large hole D18 after losing the single stick pieces.

Early stages of frame progress -



Here's the new rear crossmember/hitch in process -



The frame has been straightened (mostly), had the cracks welded, and is now sitting on the suspension and axles from the parts jeep.

Today my grandfather and I finished off replacing the shackle and spring bushings. We had his Warn pullzall hooked to a beam - much quicker than setting up his portable lifts.

 

Made some progress.




I still need to do the rear driveshaft and figure out the hydraulic clutch slave mounting and adjustment. When that is done the body goes on!

 

I like the offset that driveshaft has built in. Eliminates the need for shims....