New to old Willys with a 1973 CJ6 in Oregon

VernN

Gear Grinder
Oct 25, 2022
6
Portland, Oregon
First Name
Vern
Willys Model
  1. Other
Willys Year:
  1. Other
Hello I am new to the Forum and excited to learn more from others who own older Willys/Jeeps. I live in Portland, OR and just bought a 1973 CJ6 with appx. 42k on it. The body is in great shape and from what I can tell would make a good restoration project. I needs some immediate work (brakes, steering tightened up, tires) but after that should make a fun ride. I am toying with the idea of taking it out with some groups on the weekend and/or restoring it.

I have the original metal rims which I am having powder coated to match what I think was the original color. I'll post pics when done as well as anything else we do that would be interesting to look at in a pic.
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You sure it's not John Deere Yellow. Joe It Looks kind of agricultural to me. Maybe International Safety Yellow.
 
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Welcome. Looks to be the same color as mine which is Transport Yellow aka school bus yellow..
View attachment 130509

Nope, now that I compare, our yellows are different.
Welcome aboard. CJ6's are unique.
They are close in color for sure. The guy I bought it from said he had some "Cat" paint sitting around that he used.
 
Hello I am new to the Forum and excited to learn more from others who own older Willys/Jeeps. I live in Portland, OR and just bought a 1973 CJ6 with appx. 42k on it. The body is in great shape and from what I can tell would make a good restoration project. I needs some immediate work (brakes, steering tightened up, tires) but after that should make a fun ride. I am toying with the idea of taking it out with some groups on the weekend and/or restoring it.

I have the original metal rims which I am having powder coated to match what I think was the original color. I'll post pics when done as well as anything else we do that would be interesting to look at in a pic.
View attachment 130166
Just changed out he 16" rims pictured above for the 15 original rims with some Toyo M55 tires. The Toyos weren't my first choice, but the guy at Les Schwab (local tire company) has been super helpful and took the lead on getting the original 15" rims, which were rough, powder coated. Just parked the jeep in a friend's garage for the winter. Need to find a good mechanic to fix some steering, clutch and brake issues. Anyone have a mechanic in Oregon SW Washington they recommend? . . . if not, a good book/manual on how to work on these Jeeps?


New Rims.jpg
 

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My Brother is the parts manager for Schwab's in Prineville. He swears by the Toyo tires in ALL applications! I think I will buy a set the next time I need any.
 
Just changed out he 16" rims pictured above for the 15 original rims with some Toyo M55 tires. The Toyos weren't my first choice, but the guy at Les Schwab (local tire company) has been super helpful and took the lead on getting the original 15" rims, which were rough, powder coated. Just parked the jeep in a friend's garage for the winter. Need to find a good mechanic to fix some steering, clutch and brake issues. Anyone have a mechanic in Oregon SW Washington they recommend? . . . if not, a good book/manual on how to work on these Jeeps?


View attachment 130548
Man you scored a beauty.
 
Hi Vern! Thats a cool CJ-6, I'm envious of the leg room. Squeezing into a CJ-2A at 6-4 should qualify me for a Cirque du Soleil act.

I'm down in West Linn and there are several OWF'ers in the Portland area. A few of us got together last spring for a little trail run out in the Tillamook State Forest. I'm sure we'll do it again and it would be great to have you join us. Look for info on OWF in coming months. @IceBox was the instigator last year. There's also a long time club, Jolly Jeepers, in the area that has a several events.
 
Just changed out he 16" rims pictured above for the 15 original rims with some Toyo M55 tires. The Toyos weren't my first choice, but the guy at Les Schwab (local tire company) has been super helpful and took the lead on getting the original 15" rims, which were rough, powder coated. Just parked the jeep in a friend's garage for the winter. Need to find a good mechanic to fix some steering, clutch and brake issues. Anyone have a mechanic in Oregon SW Washington they recommend? . . . if not, a good book/manual on how to work on these Jeeps?


View attachment 130548
Looks very nice with those wheels. If there is a local jeep club, join it. These are simple,stout rigs that most of us enjoy working on. Every single maintenance item has been written up on forums, and posted on youtube. And most parts are easy to find. It's probably an ideal rig to get into wrenching on. Watch a few videos on brakes, and try replacing a pair. So what are the btake symptoms? Soft pedal? Pull? Squeal?
 
Hi Vern! Thats a cool CJ-6, I'm envious of the leg room. Squeezing into a CJ-2A at 6-4 should qualify me for a Cirque du Soleil act.

I'm down in West Linn and there are several OWF'ers in the Portland area. A few of us got together last spring for a little trail run out in the Tillamook State Forest. I'm sure we'll do it again and it would be great to have you join us. Look for info on OWF in coming months. @IceBox was the instigator last year. There's also a long time club, Jolly Jeepers, in the area that has a several events.
Running the Jeep down at the Tillamook State Forest sounds like a lot of fun - use to ride motorcycles down there as a kid.
 
Looks very nice with those wheels. If there is a local jeep club, join it. These are simple,stout rigs that most of us enjoy working on. Every single maintenance item has been written up on forums, and posted on youtube. And most parts are easy to find. It's probably an ideal rig to get into wrenching on. Watch a few videos on brakes, and try replacing a pair. So what are the btake symptoms? Soft pedal? Pull? Squeal?
Looks very nice with those wheels. If there is a local jeep club, join it. These are simple,stout rigs that most of us enjoy working on. Every single maintenance item has been written up on forums, and posted on youtube. And most parts are easy to find. It's probably an ideal rig to get into wrenching on. Watch a few videos on brakes, and try replacing a pair. So what are the btake symptoms? Soft pedal? Pull? Squeal?
Mostly just that the brakes are soft. Had a guy "fix" them last week, but I still feel like I need to stand on them to get to a stop. Might be a me issue - getting used to the brakes on an older Jeep.
 
Vern, my 49 2WD truck had mushy brakes & pulled hard to the left when I bought it.. pulled front wherls& hubs off and found the right front wheel cylinder was completely frozen up. New wheel cylinders, brake shoes, springs, etc and a good scrubbing of the inside of the drums with 120 wet or dry and cleaning with brake cleaner fixed it.
It did take two sessions of purging the lines with several drives of 8-10 miles in between to get final mushy feeling banished...I can now lock up all 4 wheels if I want. Les
 
Vern, my 49 2WD truck had mushy brakes & pulled hard to the left when I bought it.. pulled front wherls& hubs off and found the right front wheel cylinder was completely frozen up. New wheel cylinders, brake shoes, springs, etc and a good scrubbing of the inside of the drums with 120 wet or dry and cleaning with brake cleaner fixed it.
It did take two sessions of purging the lines with several drives of 8-10 miles in between to get final mushy feeling banished...I can now lock up all 4 wheels if I want. Les

Appreciate the insight Les - I'll take another swing at making what I've got work. Nice to know it's possible to lock them up
 
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