Modernizing a 65 Scout 800

[Michael Dimock]

Picked up a 65 Scout 800 a while ago and figured it was time to post up on the progress... Purists, read no further as this is not a thread for you. after rebuilding all the stock drivetrain (196, t-18, d-18) in my 62 Scout I was slightly disappointed in the driveability, but it is what it is. I can get from point a to point b, but not in a timely fashion. I have been acquiring parts for a while now which include: 86 s10 pickup for the TBI 4.3 and 700r4, np 241 w/ sye (need to swap out the 32 spline input for a 27), 73 sii Dana 44 and disc Dana 30 front, and a 73 sii for some misc parts and included nib kwikwire 14 circuit wiring harness. my plans for the Scout are 2.5" wide springs front and rear, reverse shackle, upgrading to a disc brake front end, 31-33" tires, rear fuel tank behind axle, TBI 4.3, 700r4, np241, and sound deadening applied throughout! I'm looking for a quiet dd Scout that can get 20 mpg on the highway and have readily available parts. Hopefully with some tlc (time, labor, and cash) it will be a reality. Pics below show the early stages of acquiring the scouts and s10. Oh, and what do you do when your 152's cam bearings go out? Simple, haul it off to the scrap yard!

 

[Michael Dimock]

Overall, the body is in pretty good shape rust wise, but there are a few spots. Floors will need to be replaced, as well as some work on the inner rockers. Under the windshield frame/inner fender area is toast on the passenger side and "soft" on the drivers side, so it will need to be replaced. I wire wheeled the bed floor and coated it with some rust converter and then topped with some epoxy primer. Repeated for the drivers side inner quarter area. The Scout had been in an accident and the quarter was already removed/just sitting there. obviously the po's didin't get around to it, which makes it easier for me.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Continuing on, took some time off of body work and applied it to the rear axle. Since 95% of sii Dana 44 axles are bent, trussing was in order. I threw the axle up on the table at work and checked it. Not to my surprise, it was bent 3/16" up on one side and an 1/8" back on the other. After some time with my cad system (cardboard aided design) I had come up with some templates and cut them out of some diamondplate I had lying around. Then some metal glue was applied and I had a functional truss which was burned in for good later.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Last weekend, I drained the trans/tcase of oil and yanked it out so I had a rust free place to stand in. then I got started on the inner fender/below windshield frame area. After some time with the cutting tools and cad, I had all the pieces gathered to begin the assembly process. My sheetmetal brake consisted of a 10" I-beam, some c clamps, and a 3 lb sledge. It didn't turn out half bad surprisingly. after each piece had been welded in and weld-thru primer liberally applied, my task was finished and the drivers side was done! On to the next side...

 

[Mochamike]

Nice work.

 

[Robert Kenney]

I agree with mm... Nice work. The IH world needs more guys like you who have the patience to do it right....

subscribed.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Not much to report for progress as of late. Wheeled the other Scout in the snow this weekend on Saturday w/ Jeff and did a little sheetmetal removal on Sunday. The passenger side is going to need a bit more work than the drivers side did. I also doused the firewall and inner fender area w/ aircraft stripper to remove the factory applied undercoating. This just softens it up enough so I can scrape it off w/ a putty knife. Slow work but it is necessary to get all the metal clean enough for primer.:sleepy:

 

[bindermike]

Looking good. I would think one of the hardest jobs would be maintaining an adequate supply of template material.

I'd be willing to sacrifice for the cause if you need help!

later, Mike

 

[chico]

Coming along. Looking good.

 

[Michael Dimock]

A couple weekends ago I continued with some sheet metal work on the passenger side... I am going to install a/c into the Scout, kind of like george womack's write up over on the bp Scout 800 a/c install - binder planet forums. Except that since I'm doing some rust repair I figured that I would give the passenger some more leg room and use up some engine compartment space. Cad struck again and I got the sheet metal cut, bent, and welded in.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Last weekend I did some piddly stuff like cleaning the firewall of most of the original undercoating and organizing some of the parts that I have accumulated. This weekend I welded up a start to the transmission crossmember, installed new body mounts in preparation for the engine install, and started stripping down the s10 so I could remove the engine/trans. Man everything is shoe horned in that s10 and metric/torx besides! Tools that aren't common in my usual arsenal...

 

[Michael Dimock]

Spent a long weekend with a ton of help from Darren and Chad at the shop working on the Scout. a big thanks goes out to Jeff for letting us use it! Put about 40 man hours into the thing and got the 4.3, 700r4, and np241 swapped in. Everything is in the mockup stage and is either still tacked or just barely bolted together. The engine didn't just slide right in there as I had to do a little clearance work to the firewall and right foot area... this was most of saturdays work.

 

[chico]

Looks like its coming along nicely michael. What made you want to use that s-10 motor?

 

[Michael Dimock]

The 4.3 weighs in at about 400 lbs, it is making around 150 hp as a stock TBI motor, and is fuel injected right out of the box or s10 in this case... basically, I wanted a small light weight modern engine and the 4.3 fit the bill, not to mention almost limitless trans options.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Sunday involved a lot of grinding, welding, and cutting to get the suspension done. All three of us were working consistently throughout the day. The trans crossmember was welded in to finish up the engine/trans section in the morning. Then the angle grinders came out as we cut off all the original spring hangers to make way for a CPT reverse shackle kit CPT universal reverse shackle kit - International Scout parts In the front and some new hangers in the back. This involved a lot of measuring but the axles are all mounted in their new homes. I'm using a sii Dana 30 in the front and a Dana 44 in the rear. Some finish welding is still needed but that is something I can get done during the week.

 

[FDChappie]

That's coming along nice. Some good looking fab and welding work there!

I've got this wild idea that's stuck in my brain to build an 800 with a subaru outback engine and running gear. It would be a major undertaking, but the end result would be a Scout with 4 wheel independent suspension, 4 wheel disk brakes and full time all wheel drive. It wouldn't be a serious off road vehicle, but a great daily driver on the dirt road I live on. With a good set of jigs the suspension geometry could be maintained.

 

[Michael Dimock]

Over the last few weekends I have gotten a little bit of stuff done. Fabbed up a power steering box mount for the s10 box and got it burned into the frame. It is as far forward as I could go to get a good draglink angle which puts it ahead of the frame by about an inch... Still need to weld in some sleeves so the frame doesn't crush when the bolts are tightened down. Yesterday I played around with the s10's FI wiring and labeled everything coming off of the ECM so I have a better idea of what will stay and what will go. After getting tired of tracing wires I brought out the welder and cut up some more old Scout sheetmetal to weld into the "new" Scout. I then yanked the gas pedal and cable out of the s10, modified it, and bolted it into the new location. Right foot room looks to be more than I anticipated since I had to chop the floor for engine clearance!

 

[Michael Dimock]

My other Scout and Ford have both gone through transmission swaps and that has kind of burnt me out towards working on the 800... I have gotten some stuff done here and there. I welded in the sleeves for the power steering, relocated the fresh air duct and installed a cold air intake in it's original location. Then I fabbed up a radiator mount using 4 shock bushings that still needs to be finished welded and modified the clutch/brake pedal assy to brake only. The next thing that got crossed off of my list was the mounting of the coolant/washer reservoirs and charcoal canister. Cleaning and straightening a few parts sums up the rest of it to catch everyone up to the present.

 

[chico]

Michael!!!!!! The shity thing about being a mechanic is you never wanna work on your own stuff after work. I haven't touched my 75 in 3 weeks. Its lookin good for that daily driver though. Slow and steady will get you home. At least thats what I tell myself. Looking good though. I look forward to the future updates. Kcco!

 

[Michael Dimock]

So, I took a long hiatus from this project and finally got a burst of motivation to start up again. Filled in the gaping hole of an upper hinge mount on the passenger side which took a bit of creativity to get the patch pieces built correctly. Then popped the drivers rocker off to replace it and inevitably fix the inner as well. Coated the inner rocker and endcap area in rust converter after straightening/patching and will be hopefully reassembling their outer compenents tomorrow. Will need to get everything within easy reach painted before I weld the quarter back on. so unlike the factory it won't start rusting immediately... I've been trying to coat all the welded seams in weld through primer to further limit the rust intrusion as well.