Body Hood Support Bracket?

[slitvak]

Restoring/modifying a 1966 CJ6 (my first car). There is a bracket attached to the firewall under the cowl (photos attached). The left-side hood hinge is bolted to this bracket. For some reason there is only a left-side bracket. The right side hood hinge is bolted directly to the cowl. I've talked with Rob at Willys Works in Tucson and he checked around a little but no one seems to know why there is a heavy duty bracket on the left but not the right. According to Rob the bracket is not present on AMC Jeeps. The bracket does not appear in Rob's Kaiser parts book.

Does anyone know anything about this bracket? Why is there only a left-side bracket? Because of horrendous rust, the tub has been replaced. Should this bracket be transferred to the new tub?

Thanks for your help!

 

[CJ]

66 is way earlier than we specialize in but I will give a call to someone who might know.

 

[BajaEdition]

OK, I know what is going on, In 66 the heater was an option so there were many different heaters sold by many different dealers. how they were mounted and such is dependent on the heater you got. Plus a lot of the heaters got changed out for better heaters.
What I am seeing is a penetration on the down side of the bracket that does not appear factory. that is where the heater hose went through. I believe the bracket is designed to take place of the old hinge, so there is backing for the heater, and the bracket also gives a place for the new hing to connect to.
What you have to remember is that many dealers bought the jeeps as base products and then charged to add accessories, that way they did not have over priced jeeps on the lot and there were many vendors making parts that could fit in many vehicles. Jeeps were very utilitarian at the time.
restoring that correct? What Transmission is in that jeep? oh and do not split the Transfer Case from the Transmission unless you have a lot of experienced with married setups, if you are going have that worked on please bring it to an early cj specialist.
I have had quite a few kiaser and AMC cjs, ask anything you need

 

[Belizean]

That makes sense, because that is an odd one.

 

[CJ]

I am so glad I called Baja! It's nice to have friends in high places!

 

[slitvak]

Baja -- The heater installed in this old Jeep may have been installed by the dealer. I looked quickly at the service manual and no heater is mentioned. However, I have seen pictures of the same heater on other forums and there is a lot of hardware which has a factory installation look. There was a fresh air intake at the radiator and a duct which moved air to a box on the firewall (engine side, see photo) which contained a small heat exchange radiator. Engine coolant circulated through the heat exchanger. A cable and big flapper-type valve controlled the amount of air that made it out of the box. The blower was attached inside on the center of the firewall. Heat or defrost was controlled by a vacuum switch driven by engine vacuum.

Nothing but the hood is bolted to the bracket. I think it is possible that the bracket may have been intended to strengthen the firewall because of the weight of the heat exchanger and its box.

In answer to your question about the driveline, everything is stock from 1966. I did have everything from the clutch to the wheel bearings restored by a competent mechanic. I have done some tinkering, tuning, and simple fixes but don't have the skills or tools to be messing around with trannys or transfer cases!

Transmission : T-86
Transfer Case : Dana/Spicer 18
Front Axle: Dana 27
Rear Axle: Dana 44

Thanks for the info and suggestions!

 

[BajaEdition]

I had that exact same heater box in my 67 with the dauntlessV6, I know what you are talking about, OK the Transmission in your jeep, if it is stock, is not the greatest one, during the 67 model year they swapped out to a better Transmission . It does not want to grenade like the earlier Transmission . I would highly suggest you bring it back to your mechanic and have him check to see what Transmission is in there. I love the fact you are keeping the oil bath air cleaner, it actually works better than putting a modern filter, just kind messy. So I imagine you still have the dana 27 0r 29 that thing came in the front axle. I used to swap those out for a narrow track Dana 30 because they are so much less maintenance but they are just a few inches wider than the stock ones. Also, you can make a bracket to put in a ford 2 stage brake master cylinder/reservoir in there, that way you can put GM truck disc brakes, the brakes will bolt up direct, however the brake master in your jeep is only single stage and you will never get to balance the brakes, you will also have to go to summit racing and get a brake thinggy so you can adjust the pressure as the rear drum brakes and front disc will need different pressures or the rear will become the front during braking. PS, somewhere around here is a great write up I did about changing that clutch over from a cable system to a chain system that will give you better control and your cable will not beak when you are out wheeling. There may be a few write ups about how I fabbed up some really killer bumpers and made winch plates on them.
PS you want to set up the steering with a Saginaw system, the system you have now is prone to bend, also the Saginaw will make steering easier.
I could go on for hours, you have a great jeep, the engine is one of the best jeep ever used. most parts can be sourced from Buick 305 v8s, it is just a 305 with 2 cylinders cut off., with the super heavy fly wheel it delivers torque in the v8 range
there is a guy in Washington who can set you up with the Overdrive unit that fits in there and you turn it into a 6 speed, that way you can put 4.88 gears in the axles and run around with normal gearing on the street by leaving in the Overdrive .

one more thing, the t case that came stock in there is really a modified 18, Jeep has stronger guts in it than the stock 18 so the v6 would nt harm it, when they switched to the 20 Transfer Case they used those stronger parts.

 

[BajaEdition]

PS, can that heater and buy a newwer style from Summit or someone, that one is a pain n the #*!

 

[slitvak]

My original plan for this Jeep was to fix some glaring problems using modern upgrades and not mess with much else. I had four wheel disc brakes installed (so nice to be able to stop in a straight line!) when the driveline was serviced, went to the chain clutch control, replaced worn steering parts, and did some ignition system replacements. The body, however, turned out to be mostly rust held together with body putty and paint so a "new" CJ6 tub was purchased. This, of course, ended up expanding the project scope and opened up some possibilities.

Since everything was coming apart I decided to have the old steering replaced with the Saginaw steering, a new wiring harness will be going in, added some gauges (always missed having a tach), and have had the battery moved from the engine compartment over the headers to a box under the floor at the rear (see photos). The old body's tool box cover is now the new battery box cover. The spare will also go into the rear bed to cover the battery box.


The original trailer hitch which dug into the ground when approaching steep grades is replaced with a modern receptacle hitch.

The old heater is coming out. Heat is not the issue in Tucson that it is in colder places but windshield defogging is necessary at times. The Summit heater is simple and might be the best choice. Looks like several vendors source this heater from the same manufacturer. The Flex-A-Lite Mojave heater is another possibility with an optional plenum allowing heater and defrost. BTUs and CFM are lower than the Summit heater and it is more expensive. The Vintage Air heater allows control of defrost vs heat and heat level. Fit under the dash might be a problem and it also has lower BTU and CFM than the Summit heater.

Thanks for the info on the engine. It's been a dependable workhorse. The V-6 has been well-maintained and has only about 120K miles on it. Aside from cleaning the gunk from the oil pan I don't plan to mess with it. It has had headers since the late 60s and has always sounded great. I'll be cleaning the Rochester 2-barrel and installing a new carburetor kit. I stumbled across some excellent YouTube videos on this topic.
Disassembly:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Assembly:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Will be keeping the oil bath as it seems to catch even the finest particles. The carburetor intake has never had any grit in it. My only complaint with the oil bath is that it can slosh oil onto the firewall and engine when ascending steep hills.

Sorry for getting off-topic. I'm still trying to find more info about that bracket.

 

[BajaEdition]

Been there done that
Tucson, hey I am in Chandler