Here in the US we find many Jeeps that were altered in interesting ways to keep them on the road. We call Jeeps with odd customization “Bubbafied”, a sort of joke about the man in the backwoods with a welder and a bunch of broken parts trying to keep his Jeep going. Last year I picked up the ultimate Bubbafied Jeep in Virginia.
This 1942 Willys MB had seen some tough times and Bubba did his best to keep it going. My first and favorite repair was a wrench welded to the frame. This was to hold a broken spring in place. Look closely in the photo below.
The interior was a bit of a shambles as can be expected.
Another interesting Bubbafication was the garden hose wrapped around the homemade spare tire holder. My friend, Bill, and I stared at the hose for a while trying to figure it out. Finally I realized that there was an air valve in the hose held in place with zip ties. The garden hose ran to the rear shocks which were pressurized. I wonder if this ever worked?
The final and most glorious Bubbafication was the Ford Pinto engine. Apparently this was a somewhat common conversion. It seemed to fit nicely without needing to raise the hood.
I will finish off with “An Ode to Bubba” by Jon of Jeepdraw.com
“Just remember Bubba in your Prayers. …Bubba (Earl or Fred… he goes by many names) stands just behind the guy who stored his old jeep in a nice dry spot in some far flung shed, ready for some aspiring restorer to come along and fall in love and bring the “old girl” back to original……On the other hand, you have those who left the “old girl” out in the rain, snow, dust and mud, and she slowly rusted away so no one could restore it…..Then you have Bubba, a giant of a man, he kept the jeep going all those years with bits of wire, angle iron, do-hickeys, and “add on’s”, modifications, slap happy welds, and the good Lord only knows what else. BUT!!….what he did was save it for the adventurous restorer to remove all those things….so next time you pick up an old wreck Bubba has played with, be thankful. it could have been far worse….Raise a glass of frothy stuff to Bubba, the unsung hero of the jeep….no matter how much we loath his handiwork…without him, half of us wouldn’t have a jeep today. ‘
So “Thank You Bubba“…you saved a jeep for me.
Jon “
Hanson Mechanical 