Jeepster Commando Build - A Different Sort of Jeep Thing - Stoffregen Motorsports

[givemethewillys]

This is a great build, thanks for sharing! I was stationed at Beale AFB from 2003-2005, and lived in Yuba City and Marysville during that time. I wish I had been conscious of the overlanding possibilities while I was out there, but at the time I was into street motorcycles, so lots of day trips through the Sierra Nevadas. It's a beautiful area though, Grass Valley was my favorite!

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Fantastic. The car, the story on its reclamation, and the racer.

Is the red car a Mk IV? 1275 originally? 100hp from a 3 main A series is ambitious.

We have a '67 Mk IV in the family for the last 35 years or so. My son is taking over stewardship of it soon.

I road raced from the early 80s through the early 2000s here in the east. I miss it a lot. I went to Daytona for the HSR races a couple weeks ago.

Apologies for the thread hijack.

The red car is a '65 MK III, removable top, not convertible top. It originally had a 1098, which was blown up when I bought the car. I did not get the parts back with the car when I took ownership again two years ago. Ironically, the guy I bought the donor 1275 from back in 199? is the same guy that sold me the '62 racer last fall.

In a former life, I worked for Dave Rebello, building road racing engines, so when it came time to build the 1275, I knew how to do it right. The 110 hp is estimated, as it has never been on a dyno.

My family raced Datsun 510s and Mazda RX7s back in the '90s and my last race was in about 1997, but I still hit the track from time to time. Going back racing, though vintage this time, will be a lot of fun. Thanks for letting me share the story with you.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

This is a great build, thanks for sharing! I was stationed at Beale AFB from 2003-2005, and lived in Yuba City and Marysville during that time. I wish I had been conscious of the overlanding possibilities while I was out there, but at the time I was into street motorcycles, so lots of day trips through the Sierra Nevadas. It's a beautiful area though, Grass Valley was my favorite!

Grass Valley is not far from me, as I live in Cool, just south of Auburn. This is a tough elevation to live in, with water shortages and fire danger being the chief concerns. I do love it up here, but life could be easier somewhere else.

Thanks for watching. I'll have an update soon. More of the firewall area and shot of the new parts and hopefully trans tunnel and dash metal work coming up next.

 

[Dances with Wolves]

Dave Rebello! That's a name I haven't heard in years. I used to source parts from them when I was building and racing my Nissan 240sx's. Great company!
Vintage racing is where it's at. I used to be on a Porsche team for HSR. Nothing better than the HSR races at Sebring in February. Sebring & Racing are the only things I miss about living in Florida.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Dave Rebello! That's a name I haven't heard in years. I used to source parts from them when I was building and racing my Nissan 240sx's. Great company!
Vintage racing is where it's at. I used to be on a Porsche team for HSR. Nothing better than the HSR races at Sebring in February. Sebring & Racing are the only things I miss about living in Florida.

If you were racing a GT3 240SX in Nasport or SCCA with a carbureted KA24, then I probably built your engine. I might even still have one of your build sheets in my files.

 

[Todd780]

That red Sprite? It's a very long story, but the short version is that I bought the car when I was in my late teens, early twenties. Sold it after we bought our first house. Two years ago I had a dream that I was back building race cars again (not trucks) and it appeared in my dream. The next morning, I woke up and typed "Sprite" into the LA Craigslist search bar, because I heard it ended up down there somewhere. Lo and behold, the first search result was my actual car. 14 hours later it was back in my shop.

The seller did not believe my story about the dream, and it had already sold, but the buyer had not yet taken delivery. I offered the seller an additional $200 to tell the other guy to pound sand and that I was ready to hit the road and come get it post haste. When I arrived, it was in a garage with other cool classics, with Matt Dillon's Porsche 550 next to it. When I got it home, I took a day to get it running and realized the motor had to come out, It's a driver now, but needs paint and some mechanical stuff. It's got just over 25k on it and other than the paint, it's in beautiful shape. I just recently found the original plates (which I kept) and re-registered the car with its original black plates.

The plan was to turn it into a vintage racer, but then a '62 Sprite with log books going all the way back to the mid '60s fell into my lap, so I am building that one instead. Not really sure what to do with the red car yet.

Here's a pic of the two Sprites side by side.

That is a crazy story! So neat that you got your old car back.

 

[Jim K in PA]

The red car is a '65 MK III, removable top, not convertible top. It originally had a 1098, which was blown up when I bought the car. I did not get the parts back with the car when I took ownership again two years ago. Ironically, the guy I bought the donor 1275 from back in 199? is the same guy that sold me the '62 racer last fall.

In a former life, I worked for Dave Rebello, building road racing engines, so when it came time to build the 1275, I knew how to do it right. The 110 hp is estimated, as it has never been on a dyno.

My family raced Datsun 510s and Mazda RX7s back in the '90s and my last race was in about 1997, but I still hit the track from time to time. Going back racing, though vintage this time, will be a lot of fun. Thanks for letting me share the story with you.

Funny small world. I remember Rebello. I raced Datsun 510s in the early-mid 80s. Eventually wound up racing an RX-3sp. I raced through the late 90s and then got sucked into managing the sanctioning organization. I was COB of EMRA from 98-2001.

I noticed the rib-case 4 speed, and figured you had built a 1275+. The Sprite should be a hoot.

Carry on with the Jeepster.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That is a crazy story! So neat that you got your old car back.

It is a crazy story. I've learned in life to recognize these crazy happy accidents and jump on them. As far as vehicles are concerned, this one was obviously meant to be here.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Funny small world. I remember Rebello. I raced Datsun 510s in the early-mid 80s. Eventually wound up racing an RX-3sp. I raced through the late 90s and then got sucked into managing the sanctioning organization. I was COB of EMRA from 98-2001.

I noticed the rib-case 4 speed, and figured you had built a 1275+. The Sprite should be a hoot.

Carry on with the Jeepster.

It is a small world. Every time I get into a conversation about past careers or places visited or people known, a common thread appears.

So you raced on the east coast? I raced here in the SF region, but traveled for work with Dave and the crew. Been to Road Atlanta a couple of times, but mostly Portland, Seattle, Laguna, SPIR, Thunderhill, Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, etc. West coast tracks. Everyone has a favorite track, and Sears Point is mine. I love that track. I can't count how many hundreds of hours I've spent there.

 

[Jim K in PA]

It is a small world. Every time I get into a conversation about past careers or places visited or people known, a common thread appears.

So you raced on the east coast? I raced here in the SF region, but traveled for work with Dave and the crew. Been to Road Atlanta a couple of times, but mostly Portland, Seattle, Laguna, SPIR, Thunderhill, Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, etc. West coast tracks. Everyone has a favorite track, and Sears Point is mine. I love that track. I can't count how many hundreds of hours I've spent there.

LOL - it comes with age . . .

Yes, all my RR-ing was east coast with EMRA. Bridgehampton, Limerock, Pocono, Summit Pt. Watkins Glen, Shannonville (Canada). The Glen is my favorite. Bridge was the toughest until it closed and became another golf course in the Hamptons

Now I play with bikes (old air cooled Beemers) and my Jeep, and my old Pontiacs. I have a 190E 2.6 that my sons and I keep threatening to build up for the eastern hill climb series, but have not yet.

 

[toddz69]

Such a cool thread - the amount of custom work you're doing on this rig is amazing! Looking forward to the progress reports! It's been too long since we've had one of your build threads here.

Todd Z.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

LOL - it comes with age . . .

Yes, all my RR-ing was east coast with EMRA. Bridgehampton, Limerock, Pocono, Summit Pt. Watkins Glen, Shannonville (Canada). The Glen is my favorite. Bridge was the toughest until it closed and became another golf course in the Hamptons

Now I play with bikes (old air cooled Beemers) and my Jeep, and my old Pontiacs. I have a 190E 2.6 that my sons and I keep threatening to build up for the eastern hill climb series, but have not yet.

I've always wanted to drive Watkins Glen. I think that comes from my appreciation for Nascar road racing tracks. Right and left turns...?

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Such a cool thread - the amount of custom work you're doing on this rig is amazing! Looking forward to the progress reports! It's been too long since we've had one of your build threads here.

Todd Z.

Todd, Resto-mods have a way of taking their own direction and this turned out to be more like a hotrod build than an offroad build. That's not to say it won't be capable off road though.

I'm working on the dash now. Can't wait until it starts taking shape so I can show you guys. We're not changing too much, but the entire center section is getting cut out and a new trapeziod shaped insert is being fabbed up and will hang slightly under the dash, to make room for a stereo, two A/C vents and the HVAC controls, hopefully with room to spare for a couple other future switches or whatever. One other detail in the works is the switch bezel to the left of the steering wheel. I'm having my dad machine a custom rectangular housing out of aluminum, which will look identical to the factory unit, but since none of the factory switches are being used, it made sense to ditch the original housing. The new housing will snap into place, just like the original.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Here are a couple pics I just took. The dash switch bezel, old vs new, and the new steering wheel.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Just like all your other projects it’s more like your watching a piece of art being created not just a vehicle