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.

Before, take 1

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.

Before, take 2

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.

Moved into the yard

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.

Success!

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.

Chassis ready to move

All in all, it was a very successful day—the four of us got a lot done in five hours.

Date posted: February 21, 2009 | Filed under Friends, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

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