Pads and Inserts.

I took a little downtime before the snow flew the other day to run up the Scout, do a few errands, and slip my rollbar pads on. They fit really well! So well, in fact, that I dusted off a pair of inserts I had up in the rafters of the garage and put them in for old time’s sake. These are the originals from Chewbacca so the passenger’s side is cracked where a protruding bolt head made it impossible to slide between the bar and the window. Luckily, I’ve got another good set covered in red river dust waiting to be cleaned up.

Pads and inserts

On the Binder Planet, a member called 540fan built a bumper based on the plans Brian and I developed, and it turned out really well. One thing I really like about his setup is how he handled the swingarm stop—an elegant and simple plate welded to the top right side prevents the swingarm from going past 180°. He also mounted his Hi-Lift on the backside of the triangle below the spare instead of the face of the bumper, so he was able to add a couple of clevis mounts to the face. It looks like his hinge pin mount is different as well; I think he may have welded it directly to the face of the bumper instead of adding standoffs. Overall, it looks great and I’m happy I was able to help lay some groundwork.

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Wake Up…

Peer Pressure hit the road today for the first time in weeks. It’s been raining, snowing, or I’ve been too occupied to get her out on the road. This afternoon I jumped the battery and ran her up in the driveway for a while, then decided to make a quick dump run. She ran really well for having sat so long. Stay tuned for an update here, though– I think I’ve got a line on a hardtop for sale.

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Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning

I found this Johnny Lightning Scout at the Wal-Mart last week. I’m told there’s a topless model in black out there that’s not lifted and I’d like that one for my collection, but I haven’t seen it yet. Instead I found one of these, the color of which approximates Peer Pressure before she was painted purple.

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Thoughts on Paint.

Colorado Mike has been feeding me steady updates on his resto project via text. The other day he asked me for paint advice, and I sent him my collection of IH paint codes for the entire Scout II run. He’s leaning towards Lexington Blue, a bright shade offered in 1979. It got me thinking about the distant future, when I can strip Peer Pressure down to the metal, POR-15 everything, and paint it in a more pleasing color. Originally I wanted a shade of English green, but Mr. Scout has that one covered. My second choice is a color from the Scout in a movie called “Fools Rush In”. Based on the grille pattern, it’s a ’75 or a ’76, which could only make the color Glacier Blue (it’s the only light blue offered in the ’74-’77 timespan). Looking at the paint chip, it’s a light, flat blue which looks too powdery at first glance.

It could be the film transfer, the lighting, or wear and tear on the truck, but the blue here looks darker to me.

The other candidate is a shade called Bimini Blue Poly, which is a darker blue with candyflake. I can’t find a good example online, but I’ll keep looking.

The End To A Good Workday.

I drove the girl into work today dressed in a three-piece suit for a big client presentation. Everything went great; at 5:45 I rolled up my sleeves and drove home through throngs of Ravens fans on the way to tonight’s exhibition game. Pulling on to 695 a guy on a pretty green KLR thumper pulled alongside and gave me the thumbs-up. Back at you, brother!

Change in Plans?

So thinking about some of the issues we’ve seen with Brian’s bumper and the sag in the hinge has us thinking. In my post on the Binder Planet, I put out the call for other hinge alternatives, and we got some information about this hinge setup. It’s meant for a top-mount system, but Brian and I talked over an alternative that would work if we can find someone with a metal brake to fab it up for us:

It’s a C-shaped piece with two holes drilled for the hinge sleeve, and a third tab added in the center for extra rigidity. It gets mounted to the face of the bumper, then the sleeve is welded inside the holes, and none of the geometry of the bumper needs to be altered.

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