Category: To-Do List

Back and Forward

When we last left off, I was rebuilding the original Carter glass fuel pump that came on Darth Haul. I did that two weekends ago but had to wait on re-installing it around work and the weather. At lunchtime last week I ran outside and put it in, filled the carb bowl with gas and started the engine, keeping an eye on the fuel pump. After three tries it wasn’t pulling any fuel.

I brought the spare from the green truck inside, tore it down, and cleaned that one up. I replaced two of the rubber valves and put it back together, and the valves worked when I tested them. On Saturday I swapped that unit in and repeated the process, but it wasn’t pulling fuel either. I brought the original back to the bench, preloaded the main valve properly, and swapped it back in the truck, but it still wasn’t pulling fuel. Frustrated, I gave up, ordered an adjustable pressure regulator on Prime, and turned to other things.

One of those included a dump run, so I loaded up the Scout and took her out for a test spin—the first long drive after replacing the rotors. This went flawlessly; the brakes feel great. They’re even and smooth, and the truck doesn’t jerk to the left anymore. And most importantly, they’re not cooking the wheel hubs like they were before. I’m going to jack up each side and tighten the bolts one more time, but I think that task is complete.

The regulator showed up Sunday morning so I pulled the hose off the mechanical pump and put the electric pump back on, followed by the regulator and a transparent filter. The engine turned right over and the idle settled down after I opened the choke up all the way. I did three test drives: one around the block, one around the neighborhood, and one to Ellicott City to get my hair cut. The truck ran perfectly, and most importantly the front brakes stayed cool and free, which means my second bleed of the system seems to have worked.

I’m not happy about having the electric system cobbled back in, but I’m tired of futzing with the mechanical system right now, so I’m going to stick with this until the spring and sort out the issues then.

Next up, I’ve got some small things to tackle and then some big ones:

  • It sounds stupid, but I’d like to have dome lights in the truck. The lead for the light exists and it does have power, but I’m unclear as to how the circuit is switched on and off. If it’s anything like the Scout, the light switch on the dash controls the dome circuit (there are no door switches) but it shouldn’t currently be live like it is. I’ve got four original IH dome lights ready to be wired in series—two for over the seats and two for over the cargo area; I just need to read up on the wiring diagram for these. Oh—and this will require…
  • Installing the headliner bows. I’ve got these etch primed and ready for paint, but don’t have a headliner solution in hand.
  • It would be nice to have a speaker wired into the dash for the radio; there’s a spot for a single 4″x10″, but I have to buy something to put in.
  • I ordered some stuff from SendCutSend last week: two pairs of lock latches for the seat box that are slightly longer than the ones that came with the locks, as well as a new improved version of the cupholder mount. The latches should be long enough to actually lock, and I can then store tools and parts in the truck securely. The cupholder is modified to have wider openings for the cups so that I can add rubber sound deadening around the openings, and narrower at the flat section so that it doesn’t collect so much dust. I also added holes for the mounting bolts. This will get welded up and prepped for install this week.
  • The rear floor is completely unbolted from the truck because I want to pull the rear springs out and have them rebuilt. Doing this with the floor out will make life much easier, but I’m going to wait until the roads get salty and I’m not driving her as much.
  • I also want to cut out the crappy floor repair on the driver’s side and replace it with new sheet metal. It’s going to take one flat sheet of 24″ x 32″ steel, with a slight bend at the front side and a gentle lip on the A-pillar. I’m going to have to pull the front bench up and drill out a couple of the spot welds on the vertical bench support to get underneath—the rot goes under the corner support I built this spring, so that’s going to take some careful surgery.

Meanwhile, there’s a good chance the stash of trucks up at Dan’s house includes a 16″ wheel with a 4.5×5 bolt pattern, which I would love to swap for the mismatched wheels on the driver’s front of the truck. There’s nothing wrong with the wheel itself other than it won’t accept a fancy IH dome hubcap like the other three, and I would like to be matchy-matchy before I paint them all white. We’re still waiting on the family to find titles for the two 800’s up there so that Brian and I can buy them and haul them off.

Build Season on YouTube has a great two-part series on reviving a D-series pickup, which is great to see:

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Back and Forward  |  Posted in Brakes, Purchasing, To-Do List, Travelall

Sunday Afternoon Success

I crossed a couple of things off the list on the Travelall while I had good weather and a clear schedule:

  1. I wired the electric fuel pump into the switched power circuit, so that I stop forgetting to turn it off when I get out of the truck
  2. I moved the vacuum advance hose to the manifold port and plugged up the port on the carburetor where it had been. I had them mixed up. The port I was using is above the throttle blades, which means it only sees vacuum at throttle and doesn’t advance the timing at idle.
  3. I pulled the small metal bracket off the dash and hooked the speedometer/odometer cable back up
  4. With that done, I took her for a ride around the neighborhood, and she ran really well! There were some stumbles at first but when she’d warmed up it smoothed out.
  5. After I got back, I dug through my bins and reinstalled the choke cable. Firing the truck back up, I noticed that she ran worse with the choke open all the way, which makes sense; I’d set the timing with the choke open 1/3 of the way, and that had an effect on the air/fuel mixture.
  6. Then I moved her in the driveway and pulled the door cards off to expose the mounting bolts. After some fussing with the driver’s door, I got it to line up and close well for the first time ever.
  7. I messed with the passenger door for a while until I realized that the top hinge pin is broken—I think jacking the door up and wrenching it back and forth must have snapped the pin. I dug the spare hinge out from the green truck, and cleaned it up.

So next up on the list:

  1. Install the used temperature sender from the green truck’s manifold and see if that works
  2. Pull the passenger fender off, remove the broken hinge, and replace it with the green one (which is now wire-wheeled, etch primed, and painted red)
  3. Put the timing light on it and text/reset the timing again with a warmed up engine and vacuum advance unplugged.
  4. Clean up the insides of the two front doors (rust converter in the channel, vacuum the bottoms out, and spray in some Rust-Stop)
  5. There’s still one dash light missing, which I need to chase down
  6. Grind out any rust on the outer edge/underside of the drip rail, treat it, and paint it
  7. Continue putting bolts in the rear bed floor
  8. Put the metal surround back on the shift boot
  9. Figure out how to wire in a dome light

If I can keep ironing out the problems, my goal is to drive it 12 miles to Brian’s house this weekend for a workday. We’ll see.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Sunday Afternoon Success  |  Posted in To-Do List, Travelall

Scout To-Do List, 2025

Coming back from Nationals, I started making a list of things I need to address on the Scout, stuff I’ve been kind of ignoring while I fixated on the Travelall. Here’s the list, in rough order of importance:

  • Fix the gas tank—it’s time to drop the tank, troubleshoot the overfilling problem, and fix the broken gauge.
  • Buy and install new seat belt stalks—Finley hulked out and broke the plastic, so the male section doesn’t go in straight.
  • Fix the turn signal indicator—It’s not locking in or canceling on the right-side indicator. I think it just needs to be re-centered, which involves pulling the steering wheel again.
  • Re-adjust the snaps around the doorframes on the soft top. They should go all the way around the metal doorframes and back into the canvas, instead of snapping into the frames.
  • Add snaps to the vertical flaps—I’ve just never done this, and they need it.
  • Buy and install a rubber grommet for the emergency brake—I can see down through to the ground.
  • Add a round mirror reflector to the side mirror—My blind spot is pretty big.
  • Buy and install new weatherstripping for the doors—Done. For what it’s worth.
  • Buy and replace the front rotors. They’re very tight, very wobbly, and pull hard to the right. They’re continually rubbing on the pads and heating up the axle bearings. Done Nov 1. Replacing them was a challenge, but I’m happy to have it done.
  • Fix the exhaust leak—it’s on the same side it was last time. This is frustrating. Done 8.25. I had to buy and install a split exhaust flange, which was stronger than the one on the truck. 
  • Fix the passenger door window crank—it’s binding up when I try to raise the window; I think this is because the assembly is only attached with three of four bolts. One of the bolts was stripped and the assembly is twisting under the torque. Turns out nothing was wrong; I just had to lube up the tracks.
  • Check the rear brake pads—I left the emergency brake on and drove 20 miles that way; the pads may be smoked. The pads look fine.
  • Find a clip for the wiper arm—the wiper works about 45% of the way. It needs a clip to work properly. There was a built-in clip on the wiper arm; I am an idiot.
Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Scout To-Do List, 2025  |  Posted in To-Do List

2025 To-Do List

Last year I made a ton of progress on the truck; more than I realized when I reviewed the list. But a man needs goals, and I’ve found that lists help me keep them organized. Here’s the plan for 2025:

Pull the leaf springs and have them rebuilt: Pickup David passed along info for a shop in Baltimore who can rebuild springs for about $230/ea. My springs are flat as a board, so this would be a good upgrade. They’ll rearch the main spring and replace the leaves, as well as press in new bushings. I just need to get them out of the truck.

Cut out the driver’s floor and replace it: it’s an unsightly patch job left over from the previous owner, and I don’t like it. Plus, they missed a section on the vertical part of the A-pillar where it meets the floor, so I want to cut this out and make it right. And the rust goes under the seat support next to the door. I have the corner section already bent and ready to go. IHPA has new floor sections I could buy off the shelf, or I can cut and bend my own.

Buy and install a C-series windshield wiper motor: Both of my wiper motors are frozen solid. Jim at Super Scouts told me about these replacements. They’re about $200 and apparently bolt right in.

Find and install some headliner: the original stuff are sheets of perforated pressboard not unlike the roof of a VW of the era. I’d really like to mimic that look in this truck if I can. This stuff looks promising; it’s a perforated vinyl shell with a foam backing. I’d have to figure out where it hits on the roof and how I’d cover the seams.

Electric Steering conversion: I’ve now got all the components I need for this: the steering motor is in hand, I’ve got a spare manual steering column, and the auxiliary fuse panel is installed. It’s just a matter of blocking out a weekend with Brian and having him help me work on this. Then I can install the refurbished steering wheel!

Air Conditioning: The truck is a greenhouse on wheels. Air conditioning is going to be a requirement pretty quickly after it’s roadworthy. Vintage Air makes some compact units that will work well; I’d like to pair that with a period-correct under-dash blower unit, but I have to keep my eye out for one.

Spray out accessories in gray. I’ve got a bunch of parts set aside that will need to be sprayed in the single-stage gray I used on the door cards:

  • The headliner bows, which have already been etch primed
  • The radio faceplate I got in the mail from Butch. I’m toying with spraying the glove box door and instrument panel to match.
  • The cupholder I welded together, which has been etch primed
  • The accessory charging bracket I made (I may have one laser-cut from SendCutSend)

Replace the rear floor. I’m just about at the point where I can put a new piece of marine plywood down to replace the old floor. All of the frame and suspension underneath is needle-scaled and painted. I do still need to sort out the parking brake, which will be easier with the floor out. I’ve got a recommendation for new rubber to put down once the floor is in permanently, and I’ve got a set of four recessed cargo hooks picked out. The final issue will be mounting seatbelts through the floor supports.

  • I still have to sand, prime, and paint the underside on both sides to rust-proof everything.
  • This will get bolted down permanently after I get the rear springs rebuilt and re-installed, as well as the rest of the frame cleaned and painted.

Steering wheel repair: My brother-in-law scored me a very old and very tired wheel from a yard up in New York State. I’ve seen other folks online effect repairs with two-part epoxy and fancy OEM-grade paint; I’m going to take a whirl at this when the snow is flying and see how well I can make it work. Done 3.25. This came out really well and I can’t wait to mount it on the truck.

Figure out the clutch situation. I know that the transmission works; starting the truck in gear will move it forwards and backwards. But the clutch pedal has no effect on the clutch itself. I have to figure out if it’s just a matter of adjusting the linkage, or if I need to have it gone through by a transmission shop. Done 7.25. I took it to a specialist and learned that I would never have been able to fix this myself. Expensive, but worth it. 

Swap in fancy seat belts. I’ve got a set of IH-branded seatbelts from the green truck that I’ve cleaned up and would like to put in. The floor bracket one one was rusty so I soaked it in Evaporust, but I might weld in some doubler steel to reinforce that. Done 3.25. I need one male side buckle for the driver’s side and I’ll probably need a full set of belts for the rear seat, but this is progress.

Fix the brake lights. I have two wires correctly connected to the master cylinder headed back in to the wiring harness, but they don’t do anything when the brake is pressed. The switch on the master cylinder may be bad; jumping the wires lights up the brake lights just fine. I’ll have to use the old one to test it. Done, 1.17

Weld up the driver’s side of the transmission tunnel. I don’t know why I didn’t tackle this when I did the other side, but it’s now bugging me. Done 1.24. This went much faster than I thought it would, which is nice.

Wire in auxiliary circuits. The truck now has a complete 1963-era fuse panel and wiring. I’d like to add a secondary fuse panel with switched power from the accessory circuit to add things like a backup camera/rearview mirror, air conditioning, charging ports, a radio, and other modern conveniences. I found a video that breaks it down to the basics, and suddenly things are a lot clearer to me. I also found a guide for adding a shunt wire from the alternator to the battery to reduce the amperage going through the bulkhead to the ammeter and back again. Done, 2.10. This went easier than I thought it would.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on 2025 To-Do List  |  Posted in To-Do List, Travelall

Holding Pattern

I’m in the middle of a couple of projects and I can’t currently make headway on most of them. First up, I’m waiting on some parts for gas tank—Summit is supposed to send me a fuel hose with a 90˚ bend, which isn’t supposed to ship until November 21. There are other fuel hoses available, but none of them are long enough to work. So when that shows up, the tank will be ready to hang back up under the truck.

I’m stalled on sheet metal repairs because my welder is down and I’m waiting for Eastwood to get back to me about warranty parts. Their help desk is backed up this week. I’ve got a couple of things I need this for:

  • The clip for the filler hose needs to be welded to the face of the firewall.
  • Three captive nuts that need to be welded to the inside of the firewall for the inner fender skirts.
  • A captive nut that needs to be replaced for the forward gas tank strap.

The mirror repair is the other thing waiting for a welder; I need to cut a couple of metal strips to weld to the threaded rod that goes inside the housing. When that’s ready I can re-assemble the bad mirror and mount it on the truck. I guess I can cut and thread a second rod to refurbish the second mirror while I’m waiting.

So this weekend I think I’ll work on the electrical system and continue troubleshooting stuff like the blinkers, high-beams and get the  license plate light working, and try to install the cabin light. There is no provision for a door-actuated dome light anywhere, so I’m going to do some research into how that might work.

Depending on weather, I might be able to touch up and clearcoat the seat box this weekend. At the very least I’d like to drill for bolts and get the mounting location dialed in.

But if it does indeed get down to 60˚, I can start scraping the insulation off the ceiling. For that I have to suit up in Tyvek and use a fan to blow the particles out as I go; fiberglas insulation is hateful in any form. I’ve got 70% of a roll of Cool It heat matting that I can start with but I’m going to have to buy a bunch more to cover the whole thing.

One other thing I might do is venture out to my local pick-and-pull and snag an electrical setting setup from a Corolla. I’ve got some instructions and details from a couple of locations as to what I need to get and from which models, and the weather is supposed to be pretty nice (and dry; there’s nothing more hateful than wandering through a swampy junkyard), so it might be a good day for an early junkyard trip.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   1 Comment on Holding Pattern  |  Posted in To-Do List, Travelall

Fall To-Do List

Now that the roof project has pretty much wrapped up, I’m turning my attention to the next tasks to tackle. Keeping a list handy will keep me focused on the right stuff. I do have a tendency to wander so I want to make sure I’m working on things in the right order and staying on task. Given that it’s September and the weather is starting to get colder, I’ve got to hustle to get some final things done before I’m unable to. So here’s a list in rough order of importance:

  • Continuing work on the wiring: I’ve got to chase down the problem with the turn signals, add a dome light, add a license plate light and see if I can rig up some reverse lights. Oh, and maybe I can scab a radio in place.
    • 10.12: the turn signals are back! One of the connections on the temp gauge came loose.
    • 11.10: License plate light is mounted and working.
  • Continuing to troubleshoot the clutch issues: I’m sure there’s more adjustment I can make to the clutch to get it to engage; I have to figure out what that might be and re-bleed the brakes again.
  • Cleaning off and painting the headliner bows: The ones I’ve got are good but covered in surface rust. I have to get them cleaned up and prepped for gray paint.
  • Steering wheel repair: My brother-in-law scored me a very old and very tired wheel from a yard up in New York State. I’ve seen other folks online effect repairs with two-part epoxy and fancy OEM-grade paint; I’m going to take a whirl at this when the snow is flying and see how well I can make it work.
  • Adjusting the front doors: Both of them have some sag. I tend to believe this is from the hinges needing work; further investigation is required. Luckily, I’ve got spare hinges from the Green truck that I can disassemble and refurbish without taking the Red truck apart.
  • Building out an aluminum roof rack: I’ve got some basic plans for how I’d like to construct a rack for the back 3/4 of the truck, but I’ve got to do some calculations for how I’d construct it to bear the weight of things like a rooftop tent, spare tire, and/or solar panels. I’m thinking that I’d rent a TIG welder and get some basic aluminum and do a bunch of practice welding before I go nuts with this, but it’s definitely on the list.
  • Send out the spare hood, 4 doors, and inner fenders for sandblasting: The hood on the red bus is covered in three thick coats of paint, but I’ve got a green hood sitting behind the garage that would swap in very easily. The passenger doors are in very rough shape outside; now that I’m more comfortable with shooting paint, I would love to get the rear passenger door broken down, stripped of paint and ready for IH Red.

Completed:

  • Building out the bench seats: This is a primary project for the winter. It’s going to take some time and effort to get both seats covered in foam and built, and I have to do some quick work to the frames to clean them up before going to fabric.
    • 11.1: Foam ordered!
    • 11.17: I’ve got all of the materials, and I’m ready to start on the upholstery process.
    • 12.1: The rear bench seat is complete.
    • 12.11: Seats are complete and mounted.
  • Removing the insulation on the roof & adding sound deadener: Now that the roof is covered, the nasty, thin fiberglas that was glued to the inside roof needs to come down. This is going to be a dirty, messy job and I’m not looking forward to it, but I’d rather do it in the fall when I can wear a Tyvek suit and stay warm as opposed to sweating out a hot July afternoon. The goal is to get things as smooth as possible so I can replace it all with sound deadener/insulator.
    • 11.17: Insulation is gone. The roof is wire-wheeled and ready for paint.
    • 11.24: Sound deadener is installed.
  • Weatherstripping: I’ve got to replace it on the front two doors now that the rears are done. And the barn doors need some love pretty quickly, too.
      • 11.1: Front doors are complete.
  • Mounting the mirrors: I’m going to weld threaded studs to the tops of the doors that I can use to mount the mirrors without drilling through them; this way none of the hardware will interfere with the weatherstripping on the other side. The bottom bolt holes still exist from the original mirror set.
    • 9.8: The mirrors are mostly mounted and just need some finishing work.
    • 9.15: Mirror brackets are mounted, but I need to fix the mounting post on one of them.
    • 11.10: Both mirrors are mounted and complete.
  • Matching paint and painting the door cards/heater: I need to get the heater re-installed pretty quickly, so this one is high on the list. There’s a place locally that can match and mix automotive enamel, so I think this will be the priority in the next couple of weeks—before the weather really gets cold.
    • 9.8: The paint is matched and shot. I still need to spray clear coat over this.
    • 9.15: Clear coat is sprayed.
  • Re-installing the heater box: this will be one of the priorities in the next couple of weeks; I want to get the whole thing put back together before it gets real cold, test it out, and make sure all the moving parts work.
    • 10.12: the heater box is finished and installed; all cables are connected and the box is wired back into the panel.
  • Rekeying the door locks: I’m going to pull the locks out of the green spare doors and see if I can get spare barrels to put inside so that I can actually lock the truck.
    • 9.15: Door locks are pulled from all four doors, and new tumblers are on their way. I do need new retainer clips though, which are very pricy. Maybe I can steal one from a spare Scout II door…
    • 10.12: Door locks are installed and working. That took some doing, but it’s done!
  • Testing out the radio: Speaking of, I’ve got a stock 1967 radio from the Green Truck that may or may not work. I’d like to put it in the Red Bus but not if it doesn’t work.
    • 9.8: this is actually a Ford product from the mid-60’s, so it’s not original. Still, it would be cool to use a period-correct radio. We’ll see.
  • Adjusting the barn doors to close properly: the passenger side door doesn’t like to latch, so I’ve got to sort this out. And it’s the one with the lock.
    • 9.15: I took a look at this and have it closing better now. It’s not perfect but it closes.
Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Fall To-Do List  |  Posted in Future Plans, To-Do List, Travelall

Preparations

We’re headed west into the heart of America next week in a truck only slightly younger than me, which means I have to pack just as many tools and medications for it as I do myself. I did a quick inventory today and made a list of stuff I’ll need:

  • A gallon of 50/50 coolant, and a gallon of distilled water
  • A gallon jug of 15/40 Rotella diesel oil, which is uniquely formulated to be nice to older flat-tappet engines like mine
  • Two spare fan belts (ordered via NAPA)
  • Power steering fluid
  • Brake fluid
  • Air filter
  • An Element fire extinguisher to supplement the bottle unit I have bolted to the seat base

In the ammo can, I’ve already got a bunch of other spare parts and tools—a fuel pump, coil, points and condenser, plug wire, bulbs, fuses, and electrical gear, plugs, assorted fasteners and zip ties. She’s running well right now, so the goal will be to get her cleaned up inside and top off the fluids to be ready to hit the road on Thursday.

I saw some trick floor mats on a build thread a few weeks ago and decided to pull the trigger on a set, figuring they would come in handy for heat abatement on this trip. They’re called CocoMats and they’re handmade and heavy-duty for cars like Porsches, but what I saw in the thread really impressed me. I ordered a set and they sent me a set of paper templates to lay in the truck and form to my specifications, which I did the night I got the package.

Looking for maximum coverage, I added material to the sides and brought them up to the edge of the vertical part of the firewall, and made a notch for the ramp under the gas pedal. The sample they sent is thick and beefy and the rubber on the bottom is covered in 1/8″ nubs that should keep it up off the metal where moisture collects. I sent the patterns back with a note and a sticker, and they’ve been super communicative with me the whole time. (The day after I placed the order I noticed they’d put an ad in my Hagerty magazine with a discount code, so I emailed them to ask if it was too late to apply that. They cheerfully sent an affirmative reply in less than an hour and refunded me the 10%. That’s some great customer service).

Unfortunately, they won’t be here in time for the trip, so we’ll just have to sweat it out like we normally do.

The other thing I did was take one of the spare horns from the green ’67 and swap it into the Scout in place of the Mercedes horn I put in a couple of years ago. I just didn’t like the half American/European sound of the two horns together and wanted to get the truck back to a true ‘Murican sound. Much better now. (fun fact: many cars use two horns tuned slightly differently, because the dissonance of two frequencies is easier to hear in high ambient noise situations).

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Preparations  |  Posted in Purchasing, To-Do List

2024 To-Do List

I spent most of my time in 2023 focused on the Travelall, but there were a couple of issues I sorted out with the Scout; the main one being the exhaust leak. That sort of sidelined her for a good chunk of the summer, but I got her fixed in August. There are a couple of small issues that need to be addressed that I’d like to tackle in the spring:

  • Fix the turn signal canceler. Left turns don’t work but right turns do. Why? Probably because I put the plastic return ring in the wrong position when I reassembled the column. At least now I’m not as afraid to tear into it as I was the first time.
  • Get the exhaust manifold fixed. One side leaking again and making lots of noise; I haven’t been able to figure out which is the culprit.
  • Replace the wing window seals and spring hinge. My wing windows are leaky and loose. The gaskets are dry and brittle, and the spring hinges inside the door are both broken. I have new rubber on the bench in the basement, and I’m trying to assemble two working replacements from the six spares I’ve got (this is more of a problem than it sounds; there are two failure points on these windows and most of mine have fallen victim to at least one of them). I’ll probably bite the bullet and pull the working windows from the truck.
  • Swap the gas tanks. I have the original steel tank Peer Pressure came with, and I’ve heard from several places that poly tanks will never seal at the sender properly. I’m inclined to believe this after eight years of suffering through gas fumes and leaks. Having looked at the inside of the tank and cleaned up the outside, there’s a new sender mounted and ready to go. The next step is grounding the tank and checking the wiring before it goes onto the truck, and then actually swapping it out.
  • Get the spare engine on a proper engine stand. I’ve been saying this for a couple of years now, but I’d really like to get it done. The problem isn’t the stand, but how I can lift the engine up onto it. My garage is in no shape to support a chain hoist or any kind of overhead block and tackle, so I’ll have to borrow an engine hoist from somewhere for a 15-minute operation.
Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on 2024 To-Do List  |  Posted in To-Do List

Recap 2023

Well, it’s been a pretty eventful year here at the Dugan IH Barn. I didn’t actually drive the Scout a lot during the summer due to the exhaust leak, and for that reason we didn’t take the truck to Nats. Looking at the main to-do list from the beginning of last year, the two accomplishments were the installation of a new battery tray and the unplanned but welcome return of working windshield wipers. I haven’t moved the mirror up the A pillar and I haven’t gotten the spare engine on a stand yet; what I’m going to have to tackle first is a new exhaust leak coming from somewhere.

Looking through the Scout fuel/mileage notebook and doing the math, I put a total of 1346 miles on her this year.

Total Yearly Miles Miles Minus Nats
2015 580 580
2016 276 276
2017 315 315
2018 1768 631
2019 1972 836
2020 1195 1195
2021 3177 2041
2022 2932 2932
2023 1346 1346

On the Travelall list, there was a lot more success. The next big items are re-upholstering the seats and installing them; in the springtime when it’s warmer I’m going to bite the bullet and have her towed down to the mechanic to sort out the clutch/engine issues that are just a bit beyond my skillset.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Recap 2023  |  Posted in To-Do List

More Future Projects

The Scout is sitting inside a garage down outside of Annapolis as terrible thunderstorms rumble overhead, waiting on a used exhaust heat riser to ship from Ohio. An exhaust heat riser is a valve that stays closed on startup and heats the manifold quickly, which is supposed to lower emissions. My truck, being a 1979 model, came with all of the emissions garbage they could think of that year to try and appease the EPA for an engine designed in the late 1950’s; there are more hoses on that engine than a garden supply store. Anyway, over time, the valve seizes up and stays closed, which is what it sounds like mine has done. This part isn’t regularly made for Scouts anymore, so Super Scout Specialists is sending us a used unit and we’ll throw that in to see if the leak disappears. I’m going to have my mechanic save the old one so I can disassemble it and weld the holes for the shaft closed: I can then use it for a replacement when this valve dies.

Because I am a dipshit and I’ve had Travelall on the brain almost exclusively lately, I completely forgot about two other Scout projects that have been sitting quietly in a box in the basement since the end of winter. I’m in a bit of a holding pattern on the Travelall until I get some stuff organized, so I thought I’d look through the box and get things sorted out.

  • I bought new wing window rubber for the Scout very soon after they started producing it. Both wing windows on Peer Pressure feature crumbling, UV-blasted rubber. Both of the mounts on each window are broken at the pivot spring underneath, which basically means the window opens and flops around in the slipstream. And the passenger wing latch fell off, so it doesn’t stay closed. In my parts stash I have a grand total of seven spare wing windows: three loose units I’ve collected from parts trucks, and four that were installed in the four spare doors I’ve got. Among all of these spares, I have a total of two that aren’t busted to shit. So I pulled a good left and right unit out of the parts doors and gave them a once-over. Both are OK except that the left unit doesn’t have a latch—but I’ve got spares of those.The lower left brace on the right unit was loose: the spot welds were giving way, so I busted out the MIG and tacked it back into place with little trouble. I brought them down to the basement workbench to be refurbished during rainy weekends in front of a football game.

  • I’d completely forgotten that I also bought a new battery pan for the Scout to replace what’s left of the factory pan in there now. It’s a beefy chunk of bare metal and needs a scuff, a coat of etching primer, and several coats of strong black paint (and maybe a layer of undercoating) before I put in in the truck. It’s got three bolts welded underneath to mount to the inner fender—I’ll have to check my spare fender a little more closely to see if this will be just a simple task of cutting the old one out and bolting the new one in (the two holes on the right side of the shelf area below).But once the truck is back I can install that, and set up a proper battery hold down situation; the battery is currently held in place with a tired bungee cord. Because that’s how I roll.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on More Future Projects  |  Posted in Future Plans, To-Do List