Cost of "NEW" WWII "Jeep"

[cyberspace_7]

Ok I'm not sure if this has come up before...

First my disclaimer: I do not mean to offend any die-hard "Jeep" persons here. I am going to lump all traditional WWII "Jeeps" together! I DO KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM!!!! I'm just being hypothetical here...

I've been looking at MV magazines and the Internet and it seems you can get any aftermarket part for the WWII Jeep. My question is... Has anyone ever calculated the cost of buying a completely new Jeep? I'm sure it is ALOT and to me defeats the purpose...but it seems plausible. I also know the problem would be titling it. Anyway just a thought...

 

[redcoat54th]

Reminds me of a Jonny Cash song.

 

[cyberspace_7]

That is super weird you would say that...had one of his songs going over and over in my head at work today!

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

You could not legally title it if you built a "WWII" jeep completely out of new parts. However, if you had an rust bucket ready for the scrap yard.....

 

[redcoat54th]

Too funny Mike. Hope you get some replies as this is something interesting. Depending on which year rust bucket you can find it would vary the NEW parts you would have to buy. The older the better and the least parts you would have to retro fit. Your right though, from what I see you could build a "new" one from all the parts now being made worldwide. The next Powerball is Saturday, good luck. Dad

 

[stampy]

Seems to me you could buy a rust bucket remove the vin and weld on to the new body. As long as you have the title and go by the DMV to get it checked out I don't think there would be a problem. Figure the body would set you back 2000$, running gear maybe 2000$. Crate 4 cylinder (can't get a new flat head 4 can you?) around 1800. I'd be willing to bet under 10K and you could have a totally "new" jeep.

 

[papabear]

You can indeed construct a new jeep cyberspace...well you might need a few parts from real jeeps.
You can get a complete "tub" for 2-4K depending on where and what. Then ya gotta get all the rest.
Some of the stuff can be found NOS (rare for WWII stuff) and engine/drivetrain I haven't seen NOS.
At one time you could get a Ford Script tub from the Phillipines...but I guess Ford Motor Co put a stop to that several years ago.

Anyway...here's my point...and we have had this discussion at length among our group...

If you by a "kit car jeep" or make one...it has no history...or collectable value and you will have somewhere between 15-20K easily invested. It can be titled (in GA/AL anyway) as assembled from parts. You can buy data plates and have a serial # assigned by the state.

I know aftermarket parts are used on real jeeps etc...and I'm OK with that...I'm not a "purist" but there are those who will challenge every nut and bolt.

Anyway...my answer is can it be done?.....well...sorta... but I think you would be better off taking the biggest POS you can find and bringing it back to life.

 

[CatMan]

Cost of New Jeep from Parts

My friends that restore vintage aircraft have a saying, "If you have an original data plate and one rivet hole, you can call it original."

I guess you could say the same with building a Jeep from parts.

Cat Man

 

[jesusgatos]

I've done it. Not a WWII Jeep, but a scratch-built CJ7. Custom frame, kevlar tub, etc. ALL new. The tailgate was literally the only real Jeep parts left of my original Jeep. If you're building something that is going to be so highly modified that there's nothing left of the original Jeep (or whatever), then it's a good approach. What's the point in tearing a perfectly good vehicle apart? Don't really see the point if it's just a restoration project though.

 

[ETBaals]

Hi
I did it with a 1942 GPW
the only original parts are the drive line.
perchase/rebuild of the driveline , $7500 , Axels, tranny, transfer, engine all accessories.
Body kit 2500
Chassis 1000.
Springs 400.
Tires and wheels 1000.
Radiator 400.
Gas tank 275.
Canvas 450.
wire harness 250.
Fuels and brake lines 225.
Guages 250.
Seats frames 500.
all other mics bolt on items, bracketts etc add another 1500.
this was about 5 years ago
Plus time and effort, I thought it would be easier than restoring a rust bucket, boy was i wrong, jeeps have more little sh$% bolted on them everywhere
For title, i had scrapped a 1942 GPW that was toast, kept the title and data plate.
It is not the one you see next to my name, that is a fairly original 1942 GPW
Ernie

 

[mkcoen]

Carrol Shelby is selling new "A/C Cobras" complete minus the engine/tranny out of his shop in Las Vegas. He gets around the safety requirements by shipping them to a Ford dealer who then installs the engine/transmission. Since it is not a "complete" car it doesn't have to meet all the gov't manufacturers hooha. I don't see any reason you couldn't do the same thing with a military vehicle. I would think you could then title it as a kit car. It would have the current model year instead of '42 or whatever but shoud be doable.

 

[paulfarber]

Actually it WAS DONE. About 3-4 years ago I think Brent Mullins from Texas made 2 MBs and did sell them. The asking price was almost $20,000 and since the frames were SN'd to a 194x MB that's what they were titled as.

If you search the g503.com forum it was highly debated as the the correctness of titling them as a 194X's MB when just about every major part was made in the Philippines decades after the war or were CJ parts.

I believe one reason he picked the MBs was to not pee off the GPW guys who love the little F marks.

To my knowledge it never happened again.

 

[Scarecrow1]

I was in the state farm office a number of years ago and noticed a poster that had the following on it ............New Jeep Cherokee 52 thousand dollars ..... The poster went on to explain that at the time the cost of the jeep was no where near that price , if you added up the replacement of each of the stock parts it was almost double the original cost of the Jeep.... Thats what you call a profiet

 

[saddamsnightmare]

December 10th, 2009.

Gentlemen:

Your discussion about building a new WWII jeep is not without precedent, and you could title it in many states as it would be no different then a kit car. Back before the
2003 or 2008 Centennial of the Ford Motor Company's birth, company executives contracted to have 6 new 1914 Ford Model "T" Tourings built to commemorate the advent of the moving assembly line. They had to have new bodies and much tooling made up in and out of house, and they cat scanned an original block to make correct castings, but when it was all said and done, 6 new 1914's were ready and operated at the Centennial celebration.
I don't know what that set Ford Motor Company back, but there were more then a few Model"T" collectors willing to step up and ante up to get one. The cars went to museums and several are operating daily at Greenfield Village offering Model "T" rides. Apparently some of the ills ascribed to Model "T"'s of the brass era didn't always show up on the new cars, such as tendency to overheat due to insifficient radiator capacity, apparently a lot of the ills are the result of aging and hard use, not part of the design.
A GPW would be nice, a "SEEP" would be better from my viewpoint, then you could run in two elements.....land & Water. If I hit the lotto I don't know whether I would upgrade Saddam's Nightmare from a M35A2 to an M35A3, or just blow the bucks on a restored DUKW........!

Cheers and happy debating how many Steel Soldiers members can dance on the head of a pin.....

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[cyberspace_7]

Thanks to everyone's responses. Sorry I was away from the computer a few days after I posted this. A special thanks to ETBaals for a detailed breakdown of the cost of his jeep. This is not something I am considering, but was curious if it was possible. I have to admit it would bring up a bit of a historical "moral" question. You may know it is a fake, and I sure would tell anyone I would sell it to in the future. But who is to say the person you sell it to would tell the next owner, or if someone dies and the family dosn't know it is fake...it could continue on as a "real" jeep. That is what I would be afraid of! Sure makes you think... I agree with papabear that someday I will find my own POS to restore!!! I look forward to it! Thanks again everyone.

 

[Skip]

Thanks

I enjoyed this thread, I too have been thinking about building a WWII jeep from scratch. Good info

Thanks

 

[NDT]

Wrapping up this thread, remember that nobody is manufacturing axle housings, transfer case housings, engine blocks, or steering gear housings for WWII or other flat fender jeeps. You have to start with some original parts.

 

[paulfarber]

Between MD Juan and OMIX ADA you are almost at a jeep.

Some parts are no longer produced (engines, axles etc) but there still is a good supply of cores. It would be expensive, but even casting parts is not unrealistic.

I think most of the jeep drawings are out there... and if the MVPA ever lets go of their strangle hold on the documents they have (and what the higher ups have not pilfered) it should become a golden age of jeep-goodness.

I will not hold my breath on the latter, though.

 

[Screamin' Metal]

Yup, the best thing if your gonna build on is buy a old rusted out hulk thats just barely driveable but still runs, you can pick one of these old 'farmers' for about 1500, yank it all down, rebuild the driveline then slap a new body on the ole soldier, with the old # tags and just get re retitled.......

Usually these old gals have had crude up in the frame holes.....so if your gonna seriously think about this, and keeping the old origional frame.....have it sandblasted really good, so you can see if it got rusted out and needs replacement.......

 

[frank8003]

Thread revival after seven years
but just had to.....
no price

is this like the car dealer
says ----=-
"how much do you want to pay"?

We ALL will be right over
want

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?164321-SUPER-CLEAN-UNCUT-1967-M151A1-with-TITLE