Oh god. This is going to be bad. After my “budget build” 1948 Willys Jeep, dubbed Project Slow Devil, turned from a project into an all-consuming obsession, I basically handed over my credit card and wept in the corner. Here’s the damage.
Okay, so the 2017 Ford Raptor showed its compromises when I used it as a long-distance towing vehicle. But the compromises all seem worth it when your lazy butt only has 30 minutes to get down a rocky, dirty trail that Google Maps says should take an entire hour.
From day one, all cards were all stacked against this idea. Pretty much every major mechanical part on this 1948 Willys CJ-2A was broken in some way, I had little money and even less time, and the weather in Michigan made repairing anything in my garage total misery. The prospect of getting the Willys worthy for a…
Upon my arrival in Michigan yesterday, I poured myself out of the driver’s seat of the 2017 Ford Raptor tow vehicle after 48 straight hours of travel. I was dead tired, but at the same time, thrilled with what was a genuinely epic journey. We did it. My insane Jeep project actually did it.
After the tragic incident in rural Kansas that claimed my fiber camshaft timing gear, I had to tow the little CJ-2A the final 500 miles of the trip from Detroit to Moab. But now, I’ve swapped in a new timing gear, and oh my, she runs perfectly.
My 1948 Willys—nicknamed Project Slow Devil—has been dead since its engine lost all compression on a rural Kansas road. Time of death: Saturday morning, 1 a.m. Ever since, I’ve struggled to get even a wink of sleep as I tried diagnosing the problem. But on Monday, after having a second look at the innards of the…
As darkness fell on the Walmart parking lot in Goodland, Kansas, my coworker Freddy and I couldn’t stop scratching our heads. “What’s wrong with this little Jeep?” we asked ourselves. Eventually, we packed up and drove to our motel, where I struggled to get a single moment of sleep. My mind was—and remains—focused…
I never expected my 1948 Willys CJ-2A to make it 1,300 miles; the thing started out as a pile of rusty garbage, and if I’m honest, remains in that state on the back of a trailer after losing its engine last night near Sharon Springs, Kansas at 1 a.m.
No, David, no! After 1,300 miles, this can’t be!
My Willys CJ-2A farm Jeep—a junker whose rust brought me to the brink of insanity, and arguably beyond—continues to blow my mind. At 40 miles per hour, the 1,800 mile trot from Detroit to Moab, Utah is set to be a long one. The good thing is: I’m over halfway there.
With its seemingly endless mechanical and electrical faults, I was convinced my 1948 Willys CJ-2A off-road project had lost all will to live. But apparently, there’s some life in the little Jeep yet, because Project Slow Devil just drove 300 miles in a single day in the first leg of my 1,800 mile journey to Moab.
Here’s David’s Project Slow Devil, having made it 300 miles from Detroit to West Lafayette, Indiana. He might just pull this off.
A few minutes after writing this post about the commencement of my 1,800 mile journey to Moab, my 1948 Willys CJ-2A Jeep broke down. Ten miles from my house.
We were all rooting for you, David.
I’m tired. More tired than I’ve ever been. Turning a rusty hulk of poorly maintained metal into a running, driving vehicle without breaking the bank has worn me out both physically and mentally. Half of my body is covered in oil, my hands are pierced with metal shavings, I’ve gotten more chunks of rust in my eyes than…
You’ve seen the first road test of my 1948 Willys CJ-2A already, but that wasn’t truly the very first time this Willys drove under its own power post-rebuild, because before that, I romped through the mudpit in my backyard. Talk about an engine break-in procedure.
God. Just look at that thing. It looks like an actual vehicle, and not just a rotten carcass about to return back to earth. This overly ambitious off-road project is coming down to the wire; here’s what happened on my first road test with #ProjectSlowDevil.
I never thought I’d say this, but my dilapidated 1948 Willys CJ-2A is going to actually propel itself down a road.
Posting yesterday’s episode of David Dissects made me recall an incident during our week of filming at the junkyard: a dude threatened to fight me over a pair of old used tires. If my rusty Jeep project doesn’t kill me, junkyard tire hoarders might.
If you’ve been following the tragedy that is my 1948 Willys CJ-2A off-road project, you’ve likely concluded that it’s a total basket case and that I should have given up ages ago. Well, you’re right. And the project is still in peril. But there’s good news: my stubbornness has borne some fruit finally, and the Jeep is…
