Power Wheels are an important part of any car enthusiast’s childhood. I had one, and I’m sure you had one too, but every now and then they need a little sprucing up. That’s exactly what’s going on with this Power Wheels Jeep project I stumbled across on Instagram.
According to thedadsocial, AKA Mason Smith, an Instagram dad, his daughter wanted her old pink and purple Jeep spruced up to look more like the real thing. Smith transformed the old, faded Jeep into a greenish-blue masterpiece — complete with working lights, stickers and an upgraded battery — that even I am jealous of. I mean, this thing just looks great. Anyway, here’s exactly what Smith did to make his daughter’s Power Wheels Jeep the envy of the cul-de-sac.
The video starts with him taking a fairly nasty spill in his driveway, which Smith says “looked worse than it was,” but after that the build got underway. First, he stripped the Jeep all the way down and cleaned it, removing everything that was screwed to the main body. From there, Smith sprayed a primer on all the pieces, getting them ready for a custom paint job. He then cut holes in the front and back for working lights (hell yeah), and he printed out Jeep labels to make the whole thing look even more authentic. Next, Smith spray-painted the body in a nice greenish-blue color, the trim gray and the seats beige.
Now, we move on to the electronics. Smith redid the whole motor and battery setup, and he set up those functional lights. Actually, while we’re on the topic of lights, that is where my one gripe lays with this build. Smith didn’t make the spotlights on top of the Jeep’s rollbar functional. Huge missed opportunity there, even if they’d only illuminate the back of his kid’s head. It’s a small thing, though, and I will forgive it.
Smith’s video has already wracked up 4.4 million likes in the two days since it was posted on Instagram, and you should go check it out as long as you don’t mind the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing in the background.