Not much to write about around here, but I finally decided I’d mount up my jack to see how it fits. I added the missing four bolts to the frame mount and cut some pieces of silicone matting for the jack cradle. Then it was as simple as spinning wingnuts onto the post bolts. I need to strap the handle down with some velcro and find a way to lock the jack down, but it looks good!

I had a fellow Scouter drop in this afternoon, who goes by Scorp1us on the Binder Planet. He’s got a body lift kit for his Traveler and has been trying to figure out how it should install, considering he currently has no hardware on his front body mounts. I had to spend most of my weekend around the house working and watching my girl, but offered Peer Pressure up to eyeball a proper installation. He just got done installing fuel injection on his 345, and showed me the whole setup, including a laptop on his passenger seat with real-time readouts from the ECU. Pretty sweet.

He’s got a bit of bodywork to do next, starting with his body mounts, and then some rear quarter and fender work. His rig is very similar to my roommate Pat’s Traveler, which was also Tahitian Red with a 1980 grille.

I didn’t get to to much of anything with my Scout other than take her to the store and to pick up breakfast, but it sure was nice to have the top rolled up. Tomorrow will be 84° and sunny, so she’s coming into work with me.

The assemblies are back from the welder, and they look great. Only a few minor spots of burn-through here and there, stuff that can be fixed with a small amount of bondo and some sandpaper.

We pulled the stock bumper off, put the new one on, and did some test-fitting for the jack mounts. With some silicon padding down on the cradles, we marked off holes for mounting bolts and drilled them through. Then we revisited the spare tire mount, drilling holes for mounting bolts on the plate, then mocking up the arm and re-measuring vertical distance. Both sets of bolts I’d bought from Fastenal were too long, so we had to hit the local True Value to find stock in the proper length.

Once that was sorted out, we noticed the standoff was 2″ too long, so that got chopped down to size. Then the plate was marked and tacked onto the standoff, and we tacked mounting bolts in place on everything.

After lunch, we were still waiting for the welder to get back to us, so we busted out the grinders and cleaned up the welds a bit. Once I smooth it out with a flap wheel it’ll be ready for bondo, and then some etching primer.

The welder was AWOL until the late afternoon, which screwed up our timetable, so we dicked around with some other stuff before calling it a day. First up was drilling holes for seatbelt bungs, which look real pretty and will be even prettier when they’re welded and painted.

Then we thought about tracing the power lead from the fuel sender back to the dashboard, and got as far as pulling the dashboard valance panel off and mucking around with the gauge when I came to my senses and realized I needed to be on the road in an hour. This job can wait.

So, after a quick ride in Chewbacca, I packed up my gear and hit the road for home. As I was approaching the bridge, I hit the first in a series of rainshowers and found the wipers were dead, to my great dismay. They have been working reliably up until now, so maybe our wiggling the BHC made them angry or something. I stopped in to the local K-Mart and found some Rain-X, applied that liberally to the windshield, and continued home. That shit is awesome.

The backstory: I was putting something like fifteen gallons in the new tank and heard the sound of fuel spattering on the pavement. The original vapor line was two pieces of ancient hose spliced with a length of copper tubing, and the leaks were coming from somewhere around the splice. Pressed for time, I wrapped the leak with a sock to keep dripping gas from hitting the hot exhaust pipe and torching the back of the truck.

Finn helped me by finding the proper 9/16 socket and removing four bolts which held the spare tire assembly to the sidewall. I marked it and stored it in one of the bins, then put the four bolts back into the sidewall. It’ll be nice to drive without that thing clanking around.

They’re actually longer than 2″–they’re meant to go through the rollbar, out the other side, and get welded on both ends. I’m going to ask Mr. Scout to bring his set of steel bits to get it started, and if I need to buy a large-diameter bit, I will. This is a link to the set he bought for Chewbacca, and I like the way they fit his rig. I also like the way the female side is mounted to a flexible pole so that the clip is always right next to the seat (instead of laying on the floor, like my current belts do).

I’m looking forward to the weekend—this time I’m going to be on the road as early as I can so that we can get as much of a full day in as possible.

Next week, it’s back to Chestertown for a fabrication party.

Also, I think I solved the issue of the chattering transfer case: Some genius (not me) spun the front hubs to 4×4. On a hunch the other day, I hopped out, spun them back to 4×2, and did another lap around the block: the chattering was gone.

This Saturday she hauled 60 cubic feet of mulch from the Middle School to our lawn with no complaints. Finn spent half the afternoon playing in the driver’s seat while I raked and mulched next to the driveway. Finn has declared the rear bed is her dance party room.

I got a call late Sunday from a guy I’ve bought parts from before; he needs a pair of Terra windows for his son’s project and it just so happens I’ve got a pair sitting in the garage. His son is going to convert a full travel top Scout to a Terra, will most likely be getting rid of his top, and would I be interested in it if he does?

Sure, I would.

Finn helped me in the yard on Saturday. Her favorite part was playing in the Scout.