Get ’em started early, they say. And indeed, that’s what I’m doing. Since I cannot allow my son to drive the brand-new WWII Jeep I recently assembled from scratch, since his feet don’t reach the pedals, I have decided to purchase a more suitably sized WWII Jeep: a vintage pedal car. But, in keeping with the Tracy tradition, it’s a rustbucket.
I’m no king, and my son Delmar (not his real name) is no prince, hence why his first car isn’t going to be fancy. If I wanted to buy him a new Jeep pedal car, it would cost an absolute fortune.
Just look at what this Hamilton Steel Products Jeep cost on Bring a Trailer:
Naturally, I hopped on Facebook Marketplace and snagged a much cheaper Jeep with the one feature that you could argue helped me build my automotive journalism career: rust.
It cost me $350, and, serendipitously, despite it being three hours north in Paso Robles, when I reached out to my local friend Fred Williams, I learned that he and the seller are buddies. So here’s Fred’s photo showing the Jeep he’d just bought on my behalf in the back of the Ineos he’s been borrowing for a while:
The seller told me the Jeep is “all there,” and for the most part, that appears to be true:
Even if there are parts missing, some can be purchased on eBay. For example, the hood emblem:
And the wheels, tires, and even the windshield!:
There is part of me that wants to keep this Jeep’s patina, but I know I won’t get buy-in from my wife, so I suppose a full restoration is in order. De-rusting this thing should be very satisfying.
Here are some more photos of my new 1950s-era Hamilton Pedal Car (which is a rare, chain-drive variant):
It’s crusty, and if I’m honest, I didn’t get that great of a deal considering I could have snagged this one close to my house for probably not much more than I paid for mine:
But, you love the one you’re with. So let’s see how well I can restore this rusty hulk! It may be a while, since I’m still cleaning my place up after turning it into a WWII Jeep Factory, but by the time my now-16-month-old baby is three, this thing needs to be done.
Top graphic images: David Tracy
Prediction: Delmar will grow up to be a Corvette or EV enthusiast and will think his old man is nuts for even touching rusty Jeeps!
Check out @Handtoolrescue on YouTube, he’s a legit restoration guy and I feel like his videos would give you tips and tricks when it comes to restoring something like this (the man has a vat of Evaporust big enough you could probably dunk that entire car in lol)
I open this website and this is the first thing my eyes see.
I’m torn.
I can’t decide if this a beautiful expression of parent-child bonding or is this the very definition of generational trauma.
Looks very much fake YouTube rusted, ready for a cliackbaity “restoration” video…
Time to get a sponsorship for 15 gallons of Evaporust to drown this in for a month.
All the spare parts are available on eBay? Sounds like David’s cooking up another sponsorship deal…
(Which I’d be fine with. Looks like a fun little project)
Next, enough yellow brick uranium off eBay for any child to win a science fair at 13!
Looks like another Moab adventure story is coming our way.
Or hire Toecutter to do his magic and take it to Bonneville.
Check out the recent laser rust removal videos from Keith Rucker (YouTube). He cleaned up rust on an old steam locomotive, and the results were amazing.
One of my first high-speed driving experiences was in my cousin’s old yellow AA (UK Automobile Association) pedal Jeep. It was FWD through crank pedals. Steering was also rudimentary: the steering shaft bent 90 degrees for the last inch or so: the bent shaft engaged with a hole in a crossbar that joined bell cranks attached to the left and right front wheels. No brakes.
As young teenagers, my cousin, my elder brother and I invented a rally challenge: you sat in the Jeep with your legs outside on the fenders, and sent yourself careering down between the trees in the steep woods across the road from my cousin’s house. At the bottom of the woods, there was an almost vertical drop of six or seven feet to a private road to the local golf links. In lieu of brakes, the challenge was to execute a spectacular sideways drift to stop the Jeep, preferably with the minimum possible distance remaining to the cutaway for the road. Points were awarded for speed and style.
Of course, on one of my bigger, heavier, and blessed-with-iffy-luck brother’s runs, the rusty split pin in the steering shaft failed, it popped out of its hole, and he went straight over the edge, down the steep earth cutaway and onto the road. His luck held to the extent that no cars were approaching, and he got away with a good banging about.
“(which is a rare, chain-drive variant)”
So you could say it’s a holy grail of pedal cars?
I am proof that Jeep rust is addictive. I had one of these pedal cars at age 4 ( it was rusty already) and now at 68, I’ve been a habitual Jeep owner since then. Delmar (nhrn) will be bitten as well. We’ll done DT.
I wonder if it’s genetic. Delmar (nhrn) will be a good case study in nature vs. nurture.
I’d say Just Empty Every Pocket, but if Delmar is like any normal toddler, I’m not sure what good rocks will do. I’m sure they’re some cool rocks though.
My first thought was Is David Tracy tired of being married? But you saved the day like always. Although Prince Delmar NHRN does sound fitting. As does King David and Princess Elise. Sorry Queen Elise just doesn’t work. However at least this project should be less of a nail biter.
You should see if you can get eBay to sponsor this Jeep build as well. Perhaps take Delmar to Moab for the Easter Safari when it’s done.
David’s addicted to rust like a stripper is to coke
When rust is your life you have deeply intimate relationship with strippers.
Took me a second but that’s pretty good. Although I can’t recall David ever actually removing any rust
Mybe not intentionally, but I am sure he hits the occasional pothole while driving his projects, thus adding lightness.
LOL!
I personally like the idea of clearcoating the patina, and especially cleaning up surfaces where Delmar will regularly touch it, but if it’s instead a full strip and paint as demanded by the significant other, I do hope we get incredibly satisfying sandblast cabinet montages.
Just make sure the seat, steering wheel, and pedals are nice. It’s really unpleasant to grab something that feels nasty in the hand, or to wipe rust dust off your jeans. This is what I do on my patinaed bikes. New saddles and grips, sometimes pedals.
Just Rhino coat it
If this goes into a sand blaster I’m afraid there will be nothing left.
It looks to be desert rust, it’ll sand blast just fine (unlike midwest rust). I’d take apart and take it to a powder coat place, they’ll sand blast and powder coat it.
Everything a toddler touches will eventually feel nasty on the hand! Sticky, gooey, wet etc.
There’s not much paint left, but what’s still there would be lead based so grind it off well away from the kid, preferably on the Galpin back lot.
Hadn’t thought about that.
I’ve heard that chainsaws work well for removing lead-containing substances
And even then, beware of what the dust sticks to, especially clothes/shoes.
My take –
Forget restoring the OEM graphics, forget ‘patina’ – take it down to metal and repaint it with the same paint as the eBay CJ. Then take them both to Moab next year.
Also, get a 1/16th CJ, also paint it red, and strap it down in the bed of the pedal jeep. Then repeat with a 1/32 scale Jeep, etc – grab someone with a resin printer and you can take the gag all the way down to the ‘look through this magnifying glass’ levels.
I have a picture somewhere of my four different scale models of GT86s sat in a pile on top of my actual GT86.
GT86.86868686…
I forgot there was already a third-level Jeep available.
It’s turtles all the way down…
I can’t wait till the inevitable restoration eclipses just buying that $2100 one.
That being said, I’m a sucker for a project.
No this is more labor than parts.
He’s already showing over $100 worth of extra parts with 4 tires and a hood ornament.
I predict this is at least $1000 by the time he’s done. Probably more cause I see tool purchases happening to deal with cleaning the rust and painting it.
Agreed, I’m not sure David followed the old saying of always buying the best version within your budget.
That’s what I did with my Mini.
I bought a 998cc auto, one of the worst combos to come in the car, because it’s the cleanest I’ve seen under 30k, and I paid $10k less than a comparable manual and big bore with as clean of a body.
That 10k difference is going to be eaten by a Honda swap, I already have the subframe. Minis with Honda engines are one of those rare cases where the swap increases value.
Looking forward to the rust removal article. My money’s on electrolytic rather than mechanical or evapo-rust.
I can see David using Delmar_b’s baby pool to zap the rust off of the body.
I have been seeing a new car rust remover restorer in my algorithm lately
Dry Ice sandblast will help not punching holes through that “patina”
That’s the way to go, hopefully there’s still metal under there.