Here a video that Tom took of the seller discussing the FC’s underbody:

Jeep FC

If I’m listening to this video correctly, the seller is describing the condition of the vehicle’s frame, saying the passenger’s side is solid. As for the driver’s side? “I mean...the column ain’t gonna fall through.”

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Oh boy.

Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
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The vehicle has sat on Tom’s property for over six months now. Tom, a long-time wrencher excited about the project (and also a saint for storing this car so long), has been impatiently asking me if he can wrench on the Jeep. He recently dumped some automatic transmission into the vehicle’s flathead inline-six “Super Hurricane” engine, and turned the motor over by hand (he forgot to put rags in front of the spark plug holes—see mess above). It’s not seized! Even though I’ll replace the engine with an electric motor, this is great news. I’ll explain why later.

Until then, here are some other photos Tom took of my new off-road project:

Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
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Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
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Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom

And here are some more recent photos of the FC in snow:

Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
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Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom
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Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Tom

How can a vehicle look that cute? I just don’t understand.

The Jeep’s overall condition is still not clear to me. Tom will be writing a post soon including more detailed photos and descriptions. I’m a little scared; the Jeep can’t be that bad, right?

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An Engineering Project, Not Just A Wrenching Project

Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: OfferUp (Other)
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This EV project has potential to to be unlike anything you’ve seen before on a mainstream media site. The FC will be different than my previous crap-cans in that it’s going to be a true engineering endeavor, and it’s going to bring readers real insight into how automotive engineers do their jobs.

My past undertakings involved fixing mechanical and electric problems on some of the most worn-out vehicles I’d ever seen. While my friends and I did often have to come up with ingenious solutions to these problems, aside from maybe a few instances like when I had to design a safe frame repair, I wasn’t really engineering. I was repairing and assembling. Things are going to be different with this FC.

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Over a year ago, I assembled a team of electric vehicle engineers, and started a monthly meeting at a bar in Royal Oak, near Detroit. We discussed electric cars broadly — the challenges the technology faces and where we see it going in the coming years. But the main focus of our meetings was to build out a plan for an electric vehicle build at Jalopnik. We talked about automobiles to use as platforms, and how to convert those vehicles to EVs in a way that made sense, and — critically — on a budget. That last part is tricky, because EV components are relatively expensive.

COVID-19 and resulting stresses brought those meetings to an end, but not before I had some idea of how I wanted to proceed. It was clear I needed a body-on-frame vehicle that would allow me to easily customize the chassis to accept batteries. If I could find a machine that had the space to accept an entire battery pack, then I could use the cooling system integrated into that pack instead of having to build something custom for individual modules. I ultimately chose the Willys FC-170.

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Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Willys

The FC-170 is similar to early CJ Jeeps in that it used a three-speed “T90" manual transmission, Dana 18 transfer case, body-on-frame construction, leaf spring suspension all the way around, and ridiculously short gearing in the solid axles axles.

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It was also a utility vehicle, meant for hard duty on the farm and in a factory setting. Unlike CJs, though, the FC was specifically designed to maximize payload while keeping the overall vehicle length to a minimum thanks to a Forward Control design that put the driver’s feet ahead of the front axle (the engine sits between the driver and passenger). It’s an incredible machine, and it should offer plenty of space and modification potential to allow for an EV conversion.

Image for article titled I'm Converting This Rusty 1958 Jeep FC-170 Into An Electric Off-Roader But It's Going To Be Brutal
Photo: Willys
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There’s so much more to discuss about this project in addition to what condition the Jeep is in. How will I even get the Jeep from Seattle to Detroit?Which components will I use in my EV conversion? How will I get all of those components to work together in a system? How will I set up the four-wheel drive system? How long will this take? More on that and the seemingly endless list of other challenges soon.

For now, I’ll just reiterate that this project’s goal is to not only provide insight into how electric cars work, but also to show readers how the automotive engineering process works.

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Obviously, I’m not building a car from scratch, but I am installing an entirely new powertrain into an old chassis. To do this properly will require CAD modeling, powertrain calibration, cooling system design and integration, electrical system design and integration, and on and on. I aim to build a team of volunteer enginerds, to meet regularly in “Chunk Teams” (This is how many automakers break up vehicle programs — into groups such as body, chassis, electrical, interior, etc.) over Zoom, with locals eventually joining me in the shop to actually spin some wrenches.

This is going to be automotive engineering for the world to see, and it’s going to be epic. If you are an engineer in the auto industry (especially an EV engineer), and you want to contribute your skills to this project, email me at david.tracy@jalopnik.com. You will receive payment of zero dollars, to be dispersed biweekly, with a holiday bonus of f%&k all. Surprisingly, 401K matching is offered, though the only amount that we’ll match is the limit as x approaches infinity of e^(-x).

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If that’s not compelling enough, just know that, if this overly-ambitious venture works out as I have envisioned, you’ll be interacting with engineers from around the world, all offering your two cents on how this rusty Jeep FC can most optimally be converted into an EV.

Luckily, unlike with my previous projects, we’re actually going to have a budget beyond what I can shake out of my couch cushions thanks to an ad deal with Ford Motor Company, who is Jalopnik’s partner for our new EV/AV initiative, Jalopnik Tech.

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Still, I get the feeling that the budget — whose exact details are still being ironed out — is going to be tight given how expensive EV components are. Doing such a build without overspending is my biggest worry.

Expect exciting times ahead.