Month: February 2009
Progress on a Scout (not mine, part 2)
This morning I dropped by Mr. Soundman’s house to lend a hand in de-tubbing his Scout. He has a 1972 with relatively clean sheetmetal but a frame that’s seen better days. His plan is to add his good parts to a donor frame to make one clean Scout.
He’d gotten everything off the tub prior to this morning, and soaked the body bolts in WD-40 to make for easier removal, so we got right to work. The body bolts came off, the steering linkage was removed, various electrical connections were removed, and the tank got drained and dropped.
Then, it was Miller time.
The next step was to get it as close to its final destination as possible so as to save our lower backs from years of chiropractic reconstruction. After removing a length of fence, we angled the truck out of the carport and into the backyard within a stone’s throw of a flat concrete pad. Experimentation with 2x4s and leverage determined that we needed to lower the front of the frame to get the tub high enough to clear the transfer stick, so we removed the front wheels and lowered the body onto jackstands.
Once that was accomplished, we heaved the tub off the chassis and the four of us got it over to the concrete with only one (hopefully) minor strain. Boy, was I glad that went quickly, and surprised at how much that thing weighed. Note to self: this is a 6-man job.
Then, it was a matter of redoing what we’d undone to get the frame back on four wheels and into the carport. A little shoving, a little kicking, and the chassis was under cover for the evening.
All in all, it was a very successful day—the four of us got a lot done in five hours.
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Stick vs. MIG vs. TIG.
One of the things I’d like to (re)learn with this new truck is welding. Twenty years ago, I was given basic instruction by a guy in the sculpture department at college in exchange for a six-pack of beer, and I’ve forgotten almost everything about the lesson other than “wear a helmet”. After practicing on cast-aside strips of angle iron and flat plate, I built a guitar stand out of rebar, but that was about the limit of my hands-on experience.
Stick welding seems to be the cheapest, but from what I’m reading it’s also the hardest to master and is limiting as far as the thickness (or thinness) of the metal being welded. I don’t know if I’l be doing anything thinner than 18 gauge, but the idea that I could use it on rusty or dirty metal is interesting.
I learned on a MIG welder, so that would be the one I’d like to pick back up if possible. It’s cleaner, easier to master, and works with thinner gauges, which makes it attractive for more than just automotive applications. (What else I’d be welding I have no idea, but I’d love to find something).
TIG welding sounds great, but the cost of entry is extremely prohibitive.
The trick, it seems, is to find a MIG welder that will do longer duty cycles on a regular 110-volt circuit that isn’t over $500. I’ve read up on some of the recommended brands, and it seems that Miller and Hobart are the two most highly regarded—I’ve heard several stories about Miller’s excellent customer service.
Measurable Progress.
This afternoon, after some particularly uncomfortable time spent in the eaves of my porch installing another layer of insulation, I decided to reward myself by dropping the donor battery (Thanks, Mr. Soundman!) into the Scout and running up the engine. After attaching two 10′ lengths of dryer hose to each exhaust and venting them out the windows, I put a little gas in the carb and it cranked right over. I also replaced the nasty gas-soaked air filter with the spare Mr. Scout gave me (he went to a K&N).
While it was running, I installed two scavenged flourescent lights on the ceiling so that I can see what I’m doing in the dark—the garage has been without power or lights since we moved in in 2004.
Finally, I wanted to positively identify the transmission from the top of the casing, so I removed the nautical cupholder from the center console (it was ugly anyway), pulled the screws from the trans cover, and found the letters “T19 148″ stamped across the iron casing, which makes it identical to the unit in Chewbacca. I’m not sure if this is close or wide (geared high for driving or low for crawling) based on the one test-drive I’ve had, but it felt like my old Scout, so wide is what I’m guessing.
So I’m up in the air as to what to tackle first; $30 at Harbor Freight could buy a nice electric angle grinder; $50 could get a new water pump, and $100 could buy all three plus a torque wrench. Decisions, decisions…
Hydro-Boost.
Mr. Scout told me about his plans for installing a GM Hydro-Boost setup in place of the stock vacuum brake system on Chewbacca, and showed me a used system from an Astro van last weekend during the retub party. I decided to do some research on the subject and see what the pros and cons are all about.
Because of the demise of the Binder Bulletin, links and information are hard to come by, but I found a reprint of the original post here. Edit: Here’s another good post with some pictures.
From what I read, the benefits are:
- Better stopping power
- Better reliability vs. 30-year-old vacuum system
- Easy parts sourcing
It all sounds great, but I’ll have to hit a junkyard and find an Astro to pull from, which isn’t happening for a few cold months. So I’d have to call this a back-burner project for a day when I’ve got some time and money, but not a necessity. (I have a Jeep that needs a window regulator MUCH sooner than this!)
Appreciation.
On the heels of my earlier post about Bisio Motors up in Portland, Mr. Scout sent me this weblog post with some more information and a video interview.
Progress on a Scout (not mine).
Sunday afternoon I joined a group of guys over at Mr. Scout’s house to help him get the new fiberglas tub he’s had tucked behind his garage onto the shiny chassis.
It went very smoothly, which was surprising. For something as big and bulky as it is, four guys can move one tub very easily. After situating bushings for a 1″ lift, the tub sat down on the frame just as pretty as a peach. There was some extra space between the bottom of the tub and the middle two pucks (under the seats) but that should be easily resolved with some spacers.
After multiple measurements, some confusion over the supplied bolts, and more measurements, the front inner fenders and core support got drilled and bolted in place, and as I was leaving the second of two holes for the rear supports was being drilled.
As the day progressed, all us steel-bodied Scout guys couldn’t help but drool at the pretty fiberglas parts Mr. Scout has standing by, ready to be fitted and installed.
I’d like to report progress on the Purple Beast, but aside from a lender battery, a new air filter, and 20′ of dryer hose, I didn’t get anything accomplished. With temperatures in the mid-50’s this week, I’m hoping to get up early one morning to add new gas in the tank, swap out batteries, drop the new air filter in, rig up externally-vented hose to each exhaust, and fire it up for a little while.
From The Archives…
From my old picture archives, a shot from the late ’90’s at the wheel of my first Scout.