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
I haven’t seen the words HOLY GRAIL yet?
Holey Grail more like
Holey Grille most like.
Anyone else imagine Torch laughing at how inevitable this was while putting together that topshot? After the appropriate amount of parental relief that line about not being able to let his kid drive the new WW2 jeep wasn’t followed with “…so I’ll do the next best thing and let Jason’s kid drive it!”
The only kid in playschool needing a tetanus booster
Back in the day every kid in playskool needed a tetanus shot. Where every piece of playground equipment was metal and had exposed fittings and was rusty within a week. And no one wore a stinkin helmet. If you weren’t able to use the equipment correctly you were getting a shot or a cast Because that was back when kids were men, the girls were women. And we could tell the difference.
Is it weird that these are ‘USAF’ and not ‘Army’ jeeps?
Flyboys can’t walk on the ground, gotta be transported.
Actually the USAF was created during WWII and so was the Bantum Jeep so I think it works
USAF inception was 1947. It was still part of the army during the war.
My friend had a 60s four door Dodge pickup with all the air force marks still on it, pale yellow. So they had a motor pool.
Add some buttons that make real jeep sounds. At least that’s how I got hooked on cars at an early age
I’m not sure anything could be more on brand for David Tracy as a parent. Rustbucket project for his son? Check. One was available for better condition for only slightly more money? Check. Project will sit for a bit until a mad rush when he realizes his son is about to outgrow the pedal car? Pencil it as a half check for now.
That extra $200 is definitely worth how much money and material this timesink is gonna need.
But content, David isn’t fancy Kristen. And a shout out to Mercedes for the link because I started reading Jalopnik right after she left and never realized what I missed. I thought it was an inside Jalopnik joke.
Chain driven huh, should be simple to work up a little motor assist. Maybe a Harbor Freight Predator?
Not without upgrading the brakes too. Safety…. somewhere in the top five.
Safety 1rd.
Boots with thick soles, should be enough.
“Hold my beer” Fred Flintstone
Screw that! Put a 18 HP BRIGGS and Stratton motor in it, increase the gear ratio, take out the entire brake system for weight savings, because no one ever won a race by slowing down and then challenge Otto to a race with him driving the Chang Li the cheapest EV in America and let the heirs go toe to toe.
(Insert Tom the tool man Taylor grunt here)
I’m thinking a small ebike hub motor, controller and battery.
DeWalt 18v drill motor might be sufficient.
I can imagine the lump in your throat when you see Delmar NHRN pedaling off to next year’s Easter Jeep Safari. Buck up, man, you knew this day was coming.
3 hours from Paso to LA? Maybe in the middle of the night with a very heavy foot on the pedal. Cool project though…
This is where “LA” is no where near specific enough. 3h from Downey? No way. 3h from Burbank? Totally doable at the right time of day (er… night).
True in some cases it takes 3 hours to go from LA to LA
Depends on mpg and how much paso gasoline you can do
I believe it was 3 hrs north of Paso, not south, so that would put it on one side or the other of the bay area.
Young and feral David meets responsible and mature new David through the “rust” of the latest mini-David version?
Isn’t that a kind of time paradox?
Obviously, you need to snag the one close to your house as well. Tell Elise (NHRM) you need a reference Jeep for this project. When you’re done, sell it.
I also agree with Spopepro’s post below. With this crusty one in need of a rebuild, you can finish it as you wish, perhaps make an improvement or two, and paint it Delmar’s (NHRM) favorite color.
Also, from an engineering perspective, with this being chain-driven, do you think you could install a 3-speed hub (Shimano Nexus or similar)? Gotta teach the joys of shifting gears from an early age, after all.
Also also, NHRN, not M, since the editing window closed. D’oh!
Not His Real Moniker
Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. lol
It definitely could be done, though if Nexus is like the SA, it will require an index shifter (probably not as obnoxiously proprietary as SA with an odd index length—I no longer care about history over usability, so I will always choose something other than SA for custom builds going forward. It’s not just odd shifting, it’s weird thread for axles and nuts and things that only they make that they charge way too much and that are very limited in options). A thumb shifter with an extension would be easiest if it matches a standard derailleur index length, but if it needs to be index and it’s weird like SA, it’s possible, but not as easy as he’ll need a way to retain the shifter where the grip wouldn’t be present to do so and to tension it. For my ACME rocket bike, I mounted a horizontal length of bike handlebar with the rotating part of the shifter extending off the end and ran a shaft through the sides of the rotating part passing through 180* apart (I used a shaft collar as the thin plastic is not strong enough on its own). That shaft is the shift lever and I added a knob on top. With a kid, I’d choose a plastic for the lever with some bend for safety. For shifter retention and tensioning, what I did requires probably at least 3″ of handlebar extension. I could describe it if anyone cares, but as nobody likely does, I’ll save myself that typing for now.
Seven speed gear hub is easy now.
In the meantime, red primer with some parts OD and others left crusty just like the big one.
Hang on. Are YOU restoring this or is HE? It seams pointless if you don’t give him a challenge.
This is the kind of content that sits the Autopian apart from other Automotive websites
Michigan rust-free Jeep.
Sorry no points with out the snark symbols
Add bailer twine, and duct tape – it’s already got the structural rust to fit in on I94.
Tbh better to get the completely rusted version. Something that still had most of its original paint would land you in decision paralysis of how much to restore and how much to preserve due to it being 70 odd years old. Now you can fully rebuild it without care, and I think that’s better.
If using vinegar to remove rust, don’t put any spring steel in it. The spring steel will break.
Some years ago, Edd China built a very large tank in which to submerge a whole rusty Land Rover frame in rust remover in one go.
I’ll bet you could use a large plastic storage bin to submerge one part of the Jeep at a time, especially if you can place the Jeep on its side in the bin.
You could also build a small rotisserie for the full vehicular restoration experience. 🙂
As long as no water is needed lol
We all know you’re going to do an EV conversion and take that thing to Moab.
That’s going to be outsourced to Pete so it can me remotely controlled.
Maybe Emily V. can do the EV conversion out of parts found in the trash?
https://www.theautopian.com/i-built-an-e-bike-entirely-out-of-trash/
No way that is just swapping in the motor from a Barbie jeep
I was just watching Fred’s video on the Ineos. You should get him on the site now and then.
I agree. Fred totally fits the overall ethos of this site.
Now David needs a pedal-jeep-appropriate offroad course in his backyard.
Delmar has exactly four months to pedal this thing to Moab.
Don’t let the little fella get trench foot.
This video on how to make your own evaporust may be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kBdJQMPPI
You’re the cool Dad all the parents will complain about. Way to go David!
I might even suggest seeing that hood emblem can be 3D printed, because I can foresee that getting snapped off multiple times. That way you could reprint it if it does.
Maybe make it out of TPA so it’s soft and flexible.
Break-resistant AND pedestrian impact standards compliant!
Printing out TPA bumper caps would probably save some furniture and ankles!
Something tells me you’ll start working on it in early March and have it ready around, oh, let’s just say Easter…
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