Some of the braver car enthusiasts among us go beyond just modifying our cars to actually building the things. Why drive something off an assembly line when you can have something you made with your own two hands? The thrill of building your own car is amazing – except for when it goes wrong.
David is building an entire WWII Jeep from piles of parts that he bought from eBay. Sid Bridge makes a hilarious point:
Definitely enjoying this build. It also dawned on me that the best thing about building a car from scratch is that if something goes wrong, you can easily pinpoint whose fault it is.
A lot of you are excited that David is even crazy enough to build his own Jeep from the ground up with not even two months of time remaining. Lizardman in a human suit:
Yay! Dave “Last Minute Finish” Tracy is back!
LTDScott:
He’s gonna lose the shop!
NC Miata NA:
But this is a different kind of build: A battle against time.
AKA a regular DT Jeep build
Jason Torchinsky
Meanwhile, Jason has endured the stares and conversations of his haters to get you sweet Toyota Highlander content. Lori Hille:
So glad you took a “fuck you” for the team to give us this report.
Matt wrote a Morning Dump that contained a story about Ford getting charged tariffs and Jony Ive designing a Ferrari interior. Username Loading….:
It is the 2010 earnings call and Ford says warranty costs are high but are expected to improve.
It is the 2018 earnings call and Ford says warranty costs are high but are expected to improve.
It is the 2025 earnings call and Ford says warranty costs are high but are expected to improve.
…
Mechjaz:
Comment of the I Just Spent Another Afternoon Changing Out High Temperature Coolant Parts Made From Plastic in a Ford.
Finally, we asked you about a car feature that will seem weird in 30 years. Sid Bridge:
We’ll be so far removed from physical, metal-bladed keys that people will be weirded out seeing them in action.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Top graphic image: David Tracy
Whoa – was out for a weekend and come back to a two-fer COTD? Is that a first?
The best part about building your own car?
I built it
The worst part about building my own car?
I built it.
How is this a question?
My girlfriend takes credit for the COTD nod, noting “You wouldn’t be there without my car”
Well it is based on favoritism
Thanks for the COTD, but to be honest I voiced what everyone was thinking.
The key thing is already happening with kids.
I literally just watched a video of a kid whose parents gave him an old square-bodied Ford pickup for Christmas. The dad had to show him where to put the key, and mom (who was filming) said “there’s two keys”… then after the first failed attempt, said sarcastically; “It’s the one that says Ford on it”…
They then had to teach him to “pump the gas” while starting, which will likely be forgotten by this generation.
My AWD “bicycle” car I’m building from the frame up to troll Hellcats with:
https://i.imgur.com/XYVaABO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Xjt5KVo.jpg
Can you spot the motors?
https://i.imgur.com/H11TfDq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/g9Phn4I.jpg
With body, roll cage, safety harness, and ready to ride, expected weight is around 120 lbs. Targeting at least 18 kW peak(6 kW per front hub motor and 6 kW for the middrive powering the rear wheels, for 6-6-6), and 666 Nm torque at 0 rpm launch. This thing is going to be so beast!
That’s a lot of power. Are you going to be able to actually keep traction?
Contact patch size to weight ratio on that rig might be better than you think. Hard to tell, though. Im no mathematician. Im more of the only way to find out is do it kind of guy. But knowing Toecutter, it will be scary fun.
Not entirely sure at full power. But if I cannot, I will be peeling out with all four wheels at once! That said, I can set my controllers to do instantaneous slip detection on the front motors and have a posi-trac + solid axle in the rear.
Nice! I just have a wee little 500W motor I added to the front of my bakfiets for some help up hills.
That is satanic torque
Good grief, please document this on YT instead of grainy Imgur photos!
I don’t even have a youtube account. Or have a camera that can record video. I plan to get a GoPro at some point and get video of me hooning it around my city. With the body shell I am planning for it, the expectation is that I’ll be able to hold 100 mph on only 6 kW draw from the battery. The previous body was so aerodynamically slippery, I could turn the motor off and pedal it to over 35 mph on flat ground using nothing but my leg muscles, and this new body will be much more slippery.
This might be a helpful reference in regards to power/speed
https://electricscooterparts.com/motor-power-calculator.html
Without a body on it, sure. If I plug the values in for the electric mountainbike conversion I did, it’s within 1-2 mph.
With an aerodynamic body on my quad, the numbers provided by the above calculator will be way off. The last iteration when it was still a three wheeler with a body shell and outboard front wheels had a CdA of 0.20 m^2, which is maybe 1/4 the aero drag typical of a 2-wheeled scooter. It was able to cruise 40 mph using 750W with no pedaling, 30 mph on about 200W with ~150W of moderate pedaling. My next one is going to be substantially more slippery, aiming for a CdA of under 0.10 m^2.
This new body shell is going to make it look like a cross between an Auto Union Type C Streamliner, and a Stanguellini Colibri, except miniature, with the aerodynamic drag reduction that will come accordingly. The front wheels will be partially fared(ala Alfa Romeo Disco Volante Coupe), and the rear wheels will be fully skirted(like a Honda Insight or GM EV1). There will be a longtail with a rear diffuser, and full underbody paneling. It will be so slippery that I might be able to pedal it to 40+ mph on flat ground with the motors fully disabled in a full-effort sprint. Turn the motors on, and maybe I’m cruising 70 mph on 2 kW plus 100-200W of pedaling effort, or if I want to race fast cars at stoplights, use full power and blow their doors off until about 80-100 mph before they finally catch up, and be able to corner with perhaps 1.5G lateral.
I love your name by the way.
If I had the time, I’d fly to LA and paint those axles for free. Just last month, I helped a friend prep and paint a pair of axles from a K5 Blazer; it only took a couple of hours, and they were even rustier than these.
Has time to drive thousands of miles to pick up parts, and even parts that aren’t necessary, but not time to clean and paint axles. Classic.
Dang Vice Grip Garage sells the rust inhibitor spray. “REE-BUILDING”
New brakes, new bearings,… Rebuilding…