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]
“Some assembly required”
How heavy are the largest parts? Do you have enough friends with strong backs to do the lifting or portable crane or something? I’m thinking mounting body to frame.
I can’t see this being very difficult. Maybe holes will need elongated here and there and maybe some custom brackets fabricated, but, not having to deal with rusty bolts or rusty metal is huge…. still, I would be putting anti-seize on everything.
He has access to a veritable auto dealer shop. I bet they have the necessary equipment
I know you think it’ll be the most challenging, but I have a feeling it’s going to be easier than your previous projects purely because you’re putting together new parts, and not dealing with rounded nuts, broken fasteners, and rust in your eyeballs.
According to this video it should take less than an afternoon, lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnLZT7qovwU
Good luck man!
Well shipping time might cause a wait because while assembling it might take just a day in TV time he has to source the parts. I thought at least here people would read the article first
Just curious…how much crack do you smoke before all your posts?
Sounds like a fun project to watch. I’ve wondered about the viability (but not necessarily the feasibility) of building a late 60s muscle car from scratch.
Beware of Detroit Axle though – they will not honor their “lifetime warranty” unless the parts are installed by a “certified mechanic.” After getting burned by a bad CV joint on a new axle for my 2008 Impala SS, I will never purchase any of their products again.
And he”s back!!!
I knew it! Should be a lot of fun though. My coworker wants one but he’d probably buy a completed one if he ever decides he’s willing to spend the money.
I’m really interested in this. Keep close track of all the things you needed and where they were sourced from…..
I’ve thought about doing just this.
** problem for us Mr you live in California, you gonna need to find a donor chassis to capture a vin so you can get a title and register it.
Good luck!!
The VIN question was bugging me too, can’t wait to see what kind of legally sketchy workaround happens.
No, he just needs to register it as a kit car: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/new-registration/register-a-specially-constructed-or-modified-vehicle/
I asked Copilot how to do it in my home state of Virginia. Here is the answer verbatim:
“Registering a car without a VIN in Virginia is possible, but it requires extra steps depending on the vehicle’s origin, construction, and documentation. Here’s how to navigate it:
????️ Common Scenarios & What to Do
1. Kit Cars or Homemade Vehicles
If you’re building a vehicle from parts (like a WWII Jeep replica), you’ll likely need to register it as a specially constructed vehicle.
Apply for a VIN through the Virginia DMV using form VSA 22 (Request for Assigned Vehicle Identification Number).
Provide documentation showing ownership of major components (e.g., bills of sale for the frame, body, engine).
Submit photographs of the vehicle.
DMV may require an inspection before issuing a VIN.”
How well does that navigate emissions? Seems like that could be a fantastic option if he doesn’t need to buy a wasted Jeep and have more junk around lol
Apparently the state has specific persons/shops you take your kit car to and they’ll assign emissions requirements. It looks like they then figure out what level of emissions requirements the vehicle has to meet based on the engine configuration rather than the manufactured date. So a new engine based on an old design would have similar requirements to an original engine of that vintage. So David shouldn’t have too high of a hurdle, assuming his eBay engine is an accurate enough reproduction.
This is cool as hell, can’t wait to see how it comes together.
Great project when you go to paint it. This military paint worked great on my M715 jeep. https://www.armyjeepparts.com/c-211-gci-paint.aspx
Called it! – https://autopian.memberful.com/posts/47384 – I knew that David couldn’t resist a new MB!
This is great, David! I can’t wait for the forthcoming articles! You’ve got resources, and you should use them, get help when you need to. Maybe fly in Laurence from Project Cactus?
What a fun project! Can cobbling something like this together be made road legal?
He just needs to register it as a kit car: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/new-registration/register-a-specially-constructed-or-modified-vehicle/
If there’s not a hockey puck and some zip ties in the final product I will be sorely disappointed
You got the body, the engine and frame. What else takes 7 months? Order from a comic book.
I hope to see your friend Fred Williams making a guest appearance in this series!
So I’m just going to mention I’d be willing to build a brand new Ferrari 250GT…..
Awesome! This will be like the old David Tracy Get-all-the-wrenching-done-so-I-can-make-it-to-MOAB-by-the-deadline articles but without any rust.
Looking forward to reading about the adventure. Keep up the great articles!
This is great stuff.
What about the VIN and gummint stickers or is it display only?
Most Western countries have soldiers that can take one from KND to demo driving in hours. We expect the same kind of performance from you and Baby Delmo (NNHN).
We will be cheering you on on the live feed.
Even with running The Autopian and looking after Delmar(not his real name), this should be a simple build for you.
No rust and all new parts. The biggest challenge will be waiting for delivery of that part you forgot to order that blocks you from moving to the next component.
I built an entire kit airplane in two weeks with just a few factory reps helping me.
This is magnificent! It’s going to be odd seeing David wrench on new stuff though. Instead of a vial of rust, will RCL members get a little piece of the packing material from the frame?
Finally a build with all new parts and no dirty grease to go with the wrenching and annoy the missus. You shall hereby henceforth be known as David “Radar” Tracey. MASH 4077 lives. Some old farts like me will know what I am talking about.
David is gonna be like “where’s all the rust?” like a Hostess commercial from the 90s.
OK I’m here for this!
And yeah, eBay is a goddamn godsend. I recently had to replace the entire swing-arm on a new to me 2020 KX450. Nobody had ever bothered to put grease or anti-seize on the chain adjusters. The steel bolts were literally galvanized into the aluminum swing-arm. Despite soaking in Pblaster and using heat, they were a lost cause. One sheared off flush with most of the bolt still inside and the other took all the threads with it when it came out. Shops wanted a minimum of $200 to fix the damage and they couldn’t guarantee they could remove the sheared off bolt without getting debris permanently stuck inside. No thanks.
Found a brand new swing arm off a parted out never ridden 2024 for $199 + $45 tax and shipping. It got here in 2 days. Bike is as good as new now.
I like it. It makes sense for your current situation. Nice new clean parts. No rust or grease, just click buy it now and some assembly required.
Be aware the MD Juan Jeep bodies can have fitment problems including misplaced holes, alignment problems, and things in the wrong place. Don’t spend much money on paint until you’ve 100% asssembled the whole Jeep, made the required modifications and fabrications, and put 200 test miles on it. Then take off the body and paint it.
Oh no doubt; it’s pretty much a given with these that you have to have to tweak the body to get it all right. That is actually already baked into my build-plan.
I love that this is like 2 days after David’s most recent “I have too many cars, so here’s my plan to have less” article that he posts nearly monthly.
The article you’re referring to alluded to this one heavily?