Way back in the fall of 1991, my college roommate Pat returned from summer break behind the wheel of a 1979 Scout Traveller, and had it for the next two years until the body mounts rotted away. Having driven it quite a bit (all the way down to Sarasota, Florida) I really enjoyed the feel of a larger truck-I was driving a Mazda B2000 pickup at the time. He moved to New Mexico after we finished school and I kept the thought of buying a Scout in the back of my head.

In March of 1998, after a few months of research, I bought a bone-stock 1978 Scout II from a nice fellow up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The truck had 92,000 miles on the odometer and a very mild case of Scout rot. Apart from the usual creep around the rear fenders by the bed seams and on the bottoms of the doors, the truck was straight as a pin. The truck came with a T-19 wide 4-speed manual, 304a V-8, hi-back buckets, the original AM radio, and a Chilton's. For the asking price, I got a Kayline soft top as well as the factory hard top; the original hubcaps, a spare set of manual hubs, new halogen headlamps and a set of Hella foglamps mounted and keyed to the dimmer switch.

Within a month, I had Erick Foor of East Coast Scout Parts install a rollbar and later a Tuffy console for between the seats. I'm very happy with it, and would recommend it to anyone. (Mine is the Series 2.) Erick is moving his business to York, PA in the summer of 2003, and I recommend him highly.

In 2000, I had the rear floor cut out and replaced; it helped immensely with the ride, noise, exaust, and handling. Here's a quick set of before and after shots.

In the spring of 2002 I had Erick work on the front brakes and do some maintenance around the truck, including replacing the driver's window, put sliders in the hardtop and other small things. I've given up on attempting to save the body on this truck, and focused on buying a house with a garage so that I can re-tub it with fiberglas.

In the meantime, the B-pillars are really beginning to fall apart, so I've left the roof on indefinitely. The windshield is also on its last legs, but luckily I have a spare in the basement that I may need to install this summer, depending on when I can rent a sandblaster.

I'm still looking for:
A spare tire cover—my upholstery is green
The steel spare tire plate and wingnut, as well as the L-shaped rod that bolts to the sidewall
A Rallye steering wheel I'm kind of attached to the larger wheel
A set of stock Scout II mirrors

©2003 bill dugan (finally updated 3.26.03) email: bill at billdugan dot com