Sitting in my driveway is a car-sized box from the Philippines containing a brand new World War II Jeep body. In the back of my Chevy pickup is a brand new frame, also from the Philippines. The next big package to arrive will be a brand new Go-Devil engine. Yes, I mean “brand new” — these parts, and darn near any part of a World War II Jeep — are still in production, a fact that led me to a crazy idea that I casually mentioned to my friends at eBay: “What if I tried building an entire World War II Jeep… from scratch.” The idea faded away, and I continued focusing on my work here at The Autopian… until I got an email from eBay.
This all began last summer, when eBay invited me to drive some off-road vehicles in Colorado. I fell in love with a Lexus GX, and began missing my Jeep XJ; it was a great trip. After getting to know the eBay team, I was later invited to Las Vegas, where I got to see my very first Formula One race. It was during this race, in the swanky viewing lounge where journalists got to eat endless food while watching the action, that I chatted with eBay about just how much stuff I buy from their site.
Seriously, let me go to eBay right now and just pull down my latest orders. Here is some diff oil and a badge+adhesive for my BMW i3:
Here’s a charging cable for my i3, plus suspension parts and a timing cover for a Nissan NV200 taxi:
Here’s an oil pan for that NV200 taxi, plus another charger for my i3, and there’s a special hub puller tool for my 1954 Willys CJ-3B:
Here’s an exhaust for the aforementioned taxi, plus some parts for a Jeep YJ whose gas smell I was desperately trying to mend before the Jeep starred at my wedding ceremony:
I could keep going, but then it would become too apparent that I clearly have a problem.
Anyway, after showing eBay just how much car-stuff I buy on their site, I mentioned, semi-jokingly: “I bet I could build an entire World War II Jeep from scratch using parts from eBay; boy that’d be fun.” I then showed the team the Willys Overland MB body listed on their site. We all agreed it’s extremely cool:
After watching the exciting Formula One race, I drove my Rivian R1S loaner car back home to LA,and continued writing stories and managing the website you’re now reading. To my surprise, a few weeks later, eBay got in touch with me. Remember that comment I’d made about building a World War II Jeep from scratch? Well, eBay wanted to know if I was interested in actually doing it, and if I was, they were going to support it.
“YEEEHAWWWWW!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, calling Jason and Matt right away to tell them the news.
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You see, ever since starting The Autopian, wrenching has had to take a back seat as I built up the website, hired writers, edited, set editorial standards, helped grow membership, help grow our social media following, tried writing whenever I could, managed who went to which media events, handled various crises, and on and on. Running a company, even a small one, is a lot. Between that and the birth of my baby boy, I’ve simply had no time to work on cars.
But now things are different. With eBay’s support, working on cars is now a significant part of my job. I now have a great excuse to delegate tasks while I build an entire World War II Jeep from scratch.
Wow that makes me a bit anxious writing that. Building a brand new WWII Jeep from the ground up is going to be, without question, the hardest wrenching task I’ve ever taken on, and believe me, I’ve done some challenging projects in my day. Just look at these:
The last two videos above were of my Moab Easter Jeep Safari projects, which I used to do annually, but haven’t since… 2019. Now, after such a long absence, I’m bringing it back in the ultimate way.
But I have to be honest: I’m anxious and nervous and excited and full of all sorts of other feelings. I have until April 1 to pull off the most challenging build of my life, and not in a shop, not with a giant team of technicians, and not with a huge amount of time.
During the peak of production, World War II Jeeps came out of the Willys Overland factory every couple of minutes. But those vehicles were built using specialized tools, their engines came in fully assembled, and there was a huge team of workers. This is going to be me and my hand tools in my driveway, and I’ve got to build it all. From scratch. All while keeping an eye on the website for which I am the editor-in-chief.
I’ll be describing my full plan in a subsequent article, because pulling this off is going to require extreme planning. This is a massive, massive undertaking. And as nervous and anxious as I am, I’m also extremely excited and grateful that eBay is supporting something so beautifully ridiculous. Here at The Autopian it’s super important that the brands we do business with are ones we believe in, and I know that, were it not for eBay, many of us enthusiasts would have a really, really hard time finishing our car projects. As you saw in my screenshots above, I use eBay all the time, not just because the really hard-to-find-stuff is there, but also because I can get white-hot deals on things like suspension bits (like from the Detroit Axle brand I mentioned before); it helps that, if I buy a part that’s covered by eBay’s “Guaranteed Fit” program, it either fits my car or I can send it back for free.
This is about the most perfect wrenching situation I could possibly imagine; I get to spend months working on the iconic Jeep that started it all, I’m being supported by a brand that does a lot for car enthusiasts like you and me, and above all: I get to give many of you, dear readers, the greasy, oily, wrenchy content that brought many of you here in the first place.
Expect updates on this build… pretty much constantly between now and April.
[Ed note: David mentioned the idea of building a brand new WWII Jeep to the team at eBay, and they loved the idea so much they said, “How can we help?” Their support and David’s Jeep-obsession are the fuel behind this crazy build. – MH]
Looking forward to this! My daughter discovered that it was possible to build an air-cooled VW Beetle from the ground up via the internet before getting into sports cars. Didn’t think about limiting it to eBay, but I suppose that still could be possible.
I think an eBay “Bucket-T” build would be fun. Or just a Rat Rod, Ebay-only edition as an excuse to look for various cool parts to add to it.
I can’t wait to read about it, and I’ll believe it’s tough for you if step one is you spend a few weeks hosing down the whole pile of parts with gritty salt water every day.
I have an MB that I restored in high school using a tub from the Philippines! Hot tip – that red primer is garbage and your paint will chip immediately. Reprime it with something higher quality for better paint.
I can’t wait to watch (read about) this as it happens. My dad was a dreamer, a car nut and a wrencher. In the 70’s, when I was a kid, he locked into the recurring “I know a guy who says” about surplus Jeeps in crates that just needed to be assembled. I don’t remember the price – but really cheap (200 – 500 bucks each). The catch was that you had to buy a whole lot (don’t remember how many) at once. He assembled cash with his buddys, but when he tried to track them down, surprise – they didn’t actually exist. No money was lost, but it sparked life long ideas. In 1979 (I was in high school), my dad found a rusted out 1960 CJ that he bought for $700. It had never had a top, and was never stored inside – a complete rust bucket. We removed all the rusted metal, welded new steel, bought new fenders and fully restored the thing. I have such fond memories of that time with my dad, and fond memories of the Jeep. I currently daily drive a 21 Wrangler, because – well David understands. During the 70’s era, we had the JC Whitney catalog. We bought everything that we couldn’t fabricate from the catalog. I would spend hours looking at stuff and making fantasy shopping lists. We often discussed how we could probably build a Jeep from scratch out of the catalog. I am glad to see that eBay has stepped in to fill the shoes of the old catalog!
I remember a Red Green Show episode about almost exactly this. The running joke was that it was just 50 bucks
I have an odd question which has been burbling around my brain for years.
How do projects like this work for you folks in terms of money and time? DT, clearly you have loved Jeeps for a long time and have spent plenty of your own money and personal time on various cars and trucks and projects and it seems like the majority of these have been Jeeps. But also, these projects are clearly tied to your career of being and automotive journalist whose MO has often been “Watch me dive into this ridiculous DIY project! Let’s hope I don’t get tetanus!”
I’ve always been curious how this works in terms of time and money. Since it generates content, do you spend work days wrenching as long as you are also recording or writing about the project? Do you spend your own personal money on projects like this? Is that then something you can deduct as business expenses? Are these projects spending The Autopian’s money? Maybe it depends on whether you plan on keeping the project yourself after it is finished?
Anyway, not expecting a deep dive into your personal finances, but I am curious on the gist of it when the projects are so clearly personal and professional.
Getting all the parts together will be harder than putting it all together. These are intentionally dead simple vehicles with minimum wiring etc.
DT is the man for this job and, finally, some wrenching content! Nice too see.
Cactus just rolled over in its grave … er, barn. Glad it’s a new vehicle project since Alec Baldwin has given rust such a bad connotation.
I’m curious about the emissions situation for California in regards to this vehicle.
I’d seriously make sure that checks out before going forward with the build, unless your intention is to sell it to someone outside of California.
Good question. Since it doesn’t have a VIN I’m guessing this would be treated like a kit car.
Don’t forget to have ebay pay for all the tools you’ll need, especially the
expensiveimportant ones like a laser welder/cutter/rust remover and CNC plasma table…I’m reading this on my work computer between meetings, and it’s telling that the fist build video is listed as “Unavailable in restricted mode”
DT content is so brutally rusted that it’s got age restrictions on YouTube 😀
Will this be registered as a home build? Can we name it
Neat. I’m curious what you’ll do for hardware. It’s probably not hard to get all of the major components, but I doubt you’re finding NOS nuts and bolts from Willys. I’m guessing most of the hardware used on this is pretty basic and could be sourced from a hardware store but that can add up quickly.
Yes, this is likely going to be a $50K build.
I cannot fully express the joy a rust free project for David brings me. I’m sure there will be some confusion at first, but we’re here for you buddy!
Since you’re buying a whole long block engine, you’re really building it from “assemblies”, not from parts. I bet you can find complete front and rear axle assemblies (from brake-to-brake) as well. Jeeps were designed for expedient field repairs. I imagine if you find enough pre-built assemblies, you could build a Jeep in 2-300 person-hours.
I’m not buying a whole longblock! I’m buying a shortblock with pistons. I have to assembly it entirely myself. I truly will be building this from parts, with only certain bits being brought in as assemblies (axles, but only if they’re in good shape).
Your version of this might be something I could do. I think David’s version is probably beyond my patience.
This should be your easiest build ever, no rust to deal with and nothing to fight taking apart because of it.
would it be cheating to use Roxor parts? Specifically the Diesel motor and manual trans?
I’m sure David will want the Go-Devil for historical accuracy. If you got him off the record and a little drunk though he’d probably admit the Roxor’s diesel is a better engine.
Cool project! I don’t know about having the time, but the thing I’d like about a project like that is the ability to do some things, like wiring, better than the usual way people do things. How would this be registered? Would this be a home built and you’d get an assigned VIN or does the frame some with a VIN/CoO that could be used as such? What about emissions—does it fall under a replica emission allowance?
Drive On.
David, this is huge! Congrats on the sponsorship for what is going to be an amazing opportunity and project.
I know people are going to give you grief about fleet reductions (some already are), but don’t listen to them. This is a once in a lifetime experience and, once done, will be a massively satisfying accomplishment. Anybody who can’t see that, doesn’t get it…and that’s not just a Jeep thing.
I know people that got the body shells from the Philippines but they had a frame with a title. Most of that stuff comes from the Philippines because they still use the parts for their jeepnies. Could be interesting in itself because of the current shipping woes. Importing engines can be a big headache too. But I guess there are people who have already imported them.
Oh, this reminds me. An in depth Mercedes Streeter article on Filipino Jeepneys and the culture would be AMAZING.