7 ms·
I Built the Only 2026 WWII Jeep
- dofm 2mo ago"o my god I lob a yeep" Super article. Something to actually read, great photos. "How I Got Myself In This Predicament" is just the sort of subheading I like to read.
- babakzy 2mo agoCool, maybe worth it!
- thomasjb 2mo agoI can see the appeal, not having to deal with much rust or bolts breaking (the 2 things which cause the most trouble for me in working on vehicles). 800 miles across the desert is some way to run it in though!
- dominicrose 2mo agoThere's a Wheeler Dealers episode where Edd China takes care of a WWII Jeep.
- Cthulhu_ 2mo agoI love that show
- jaffa2 2mo agoa decent long form article with pictures, a story, well written, and something of interest. I will read this fully later as it will require some time. Good work!
- RugnirViking 2mo agoI wish he shared what it cost him overall. I can already see from some of the numbers and some guesswork that it must not be a flattering sum, but I still want to see it!
- hardibro 2mo agoHowdy! This is Matt from The Autopian. I talked to David about this and we'll have it for you soon. We've been doing the math and it's kinda hilarious. Obviously, we were proving a point with this video but it's not... the most efficient way to do this.
- 27183 2mo agoAnother big point of curiosity for me is registration--it clearly doesn't have a CA number plate, but there was a big red "3" on a laminated card in the spare.. what is that? How do you go about titling and registering a brand new body + frame?
- hardibro 2mo agoThat was also a fun story! I had to do the insurance for it and CA is actually surprisingly a great state for this kind of stuff.
- AnimalMuppet 2mo agoCalifornia has a tradition of being car-friendly. Probably not the first time someone did something like this, and they might have some idea of how to handle it by now.
- pjc50 2mo agoNot OP, but since I looked up the corresponding UK process: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-approval https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-appro... You end up with a special "Q" (as in James Bond?) number plate. There's a whole bunch of different processes depending on how Car of Theseus the vehicle is. Apparently this has recently been streamlined for rebuilds of classics from original parts (which is _not_ what the Jeep is). The system is still intended to prevent the re-use of crashed or otherwise written off frames, though.
- usrusr 2mo agoIs it truly a 2026 car though, if it does not come with an ungodly amount of attention beep nagware that cannot be permanently disabled?
- theandrewbailey 2mo agoIs it really a 2026 car if it was made in 2026? (New cars in 2026 are manufactured and sold as 2027)
- fusslo 2mo agoThat's an insane amount of work. An amazing adventure and a saint of a wife! I'm wondering if there'll be any follow up: Thats a lot of metal in the engine oil. Whats the source? is there a fix? or is it just 'breaking in' a new motor? Did he ever solve the overheating problems? Did he ever finish the headlights and other small items? and now what does he do with all the duplicate/spare parts? I've done a couple extremely high stress road trips, so I fully empathize with him passing out every time he had to pull over. What a fun read; I love these ultra-long-form articles.
- robbak 2mo agoFrom what I've seen of break-in oil, this books typical. Especially as what he did on that trip is everything you should not do to a freshly built engine.
- bushwart 2mo agoWonderful project. But alarm bells went off in my head when I saw the picture of the helper, wearing gloves, holding a part to be drilled while the author held the drill centimeters away from the helper's gloved hands. I hope that was just for illustration purposes. pic: https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-6.28.37%E2%80%AFAM.png https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/Scre...
- cduzz 2mo agoThose kids (the autopian team) specialize in generating engagement doing things that are pretty unsafe... Another example would be the dude who used a chainsaw on some lead acid batteries, for reasons. https://www.theautopian.com/how-i-used-a-chainsaw-to-remove-batteries-from-the-cheapest-ev-in-the-world/ https://www.theautopian.com/how-i-used-a-chainsaw-to-remove-... That dude's also an owner of the company, so maybe giving himself lead poisoning for clicks is worth it?
- MisterTea 2mo agoIt doesn't set off alarm bells in my head. That bearing material is very soft and easy to drill. clamping it is not simple as it's easy to deform. I would have done the same and went nice and slow starting with a center drill and moving to a standard jobbers afterward.
- cduzz 2mo agoAnd I would have put the bearing shell over a pvc pipe and used a hand drill or just spun the drill bit between my fingers, assuming it is just bearing material.
- 27183 2mo agoThe things about that picture giving me hives are 1. drill not perpendicular to the work 2. bearing cups are unsupported so the downpressure is spreading them 3. when the bit punches through it's going to mar the table. They noted glittery bits on the first oil change, might be prudent to run an oil analysis and see what's up.
- Shalomboy 2mo agoI love the Autopian, glad they're on the HN front page. David Tracy's Jeep antics have kept me up at night worrying for at least 10 years now.
- brendoelfrendo 2mo agoEmbarassed to say I didn't realize that Tracy had a new gig over at Autopian. Really pleased this article made it here because now I can see what he's been up to! This is a great place to start.
- baerbelblue 2mo ago[flagged]
- thisisauserid 2mo agoJust like they eventually added to WWII Jeeps, it needs a huge anti-decapitation pole on the front (maybe a really cool (and huge) hood ornament?).
- bombcar 2mo agoThis kind of story makes you realize what a true marvel the modern production line is - so many moving parts that have to line up just right each time to be able to produce vehicles as fast as we do.
- jbailes 2mo agoWow. This is super neat. After having gotten my hands dirty on a 30+ year old car, I can definitely see why it would be desirable to have a relatively new frame to start from vs. a WWII Jeep.
- steve-atx-7600 2mo agoGood skills to have for mad-maxing it thru the desert after the ai apocalypse :)
- hvs 2mo agoOne of my great regrets in life is not knowing anything about how to rebuild an engine (and various other car parts). It's not exactly a cheap hobby, so it's probably for the best, but I have the feeling I would love working on cars (my wife probably not so much).
- andrewblossom 2mo agoIt doesn't have to be a super expensive hobby. Plenty of old cars need some love, and you can buy them (and their replacement parts) quite inexpensively. In my experience, if you're willing to learn, break a few tools and old parts, get dirty, and persevere, you'll more than likely succeed, and your bank account won't be too broken at the end of it. (Owner of two old german cars, one which has seen a partial engine rebuild, the other significant chassis welding. No formal training doing either.)
- qup 2mo agoI started last year. I had most of the tools already. I picked 90s ford trucks as my platform: cheap, plentiful, variety of models, known to be reliable, easy enough to work on with simple tools, parts still readily available, lots of YouTube material for any job I need to do. I bought a couple and I've already had to do a lot of work. It turns out, it's not that difficult. The systems are simple, each on their own, with few exceptions. When you isolate systems, you can just learn one at a time without pressure to be a whole mechanic. I still reserve the right to send it to the shop if needed. I haven't had to rebuild an engine yet, but I've been all around the wheels, tires, axels, AC, fuel system, timing, vacuum lines, trailer wiring, brakes, coolant system, and of course I service all my own fluids. I put it off way too long. My advice is to start now, if you think you'll like it. And you can start with mowers...a whole lot of the tools and concepts transfer.
- toast0 2mo agoSee if you can find a copy of 'How to keep your Volkswagen Alive' by John Muir and have a read through. Find an older VW (or similar) and that's the basics and a bit more. Definitely replace the fuel lines on an old VW, but otherwise drive it and let it tell you what needs doing. IMHO, fuel injection is nicer than carburetion, but you some early injection systems have a bad reputation; Bosch L-jetronic seems pretty reasonable. Some people really like carbs though, so up to you. Lots and lots of forums, some of them helpful even. When it's an extra car that you have for fun, you don't have as much of the 'needs to work asap' stress and you can also get one that's more questionable cosmetically to save some money.
- stronglikedan 2mo ago"the only" is hardly ever correct. you built the only one that you know of
- MontagFTB 2mo agoThis article was tremendous. My dad and I rebuilt an old GPW as my car in high school. His brother bought it as his car for high school a generation earlier. This article and the video are a love letter to that old car- a quirky, heavy, underpowered, beautiful legend.
- elzbardico 2mo agoIncredible project. And how much I love that this is an article instead of an youtube video.
- ggm 2mo agoThe important point is "from as much ebay parts as possible" because I suspect there are still "jeep in a crate" boxes where all you have to do is remove the Cosmolene (this is undoubtedly not all you have to do btw)
- m463 2mo agoReminds me of stories where someone parks a pristine <some-car> and goes away for some reason, never to return. Then decades go by before the "barn find" is rediscovered.
- ErroneousBosh 2mo agoYou can build a Citroën 2CV from scratch with entirely new parts - almost - because someone somewhere makes what you need. About the only mechanical component you can't buy is the gearbox "bucket", presumably because nobody ever breaks those. You can actually get various gearbox upgrades for them which is worth it if you daily one, because the mainshaft nut can slacken off and get you jammed in gear.
- normie3000 2mo ago> get you jammed in gear Terrifying prospect. What are your options in that situation? Would turning off the ignition have any effect?
- 27183 2mo agoJust stomp the clutch and shut it off
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- ErroneousBosh 2mo agoPress the clutch, brake to a stop. Unscrew the bolts holding the top of the gearbox where the selector mechanism goes, lever the main gear back into place with a long screwdriver, and then use the screwdriver to tap the mainshaft nut around until it's reasonably tight again. Then drive it home where you can fix it properly. At least, that's what I did.