kyleandhisIH
Member
My main project as I found it was a 1977 ss Scout II, 304/auto/3.56, converted into a hard top/hard door model and painted over black. I have the original ss top that came with the vehicle, but my oldest brother happened to throw it up like a sail once, and it just didn't work out so well. All the material is still there, though.
This "project" is a $200 investment towards parts. My Dad was close friends with the owner of a local campground, who obtained the vehicle when some kids drove it back from a mudding experience. The story was that they bottomed it out, walked back to the nearest residence, and had the guy push them out of their situation with a cat d-9. All I know is that I have two 3-4" dips that accurately represent the flat edge of a sharp dozer blade, as well as a crushed corner. It has the same axle setup and gearing as the Scout I can drive, as well as many other auxiliary parts that interchange between these vehicles, not to mention the (now former) park owner said he put a new starter on it, plumbed the fuel pump into a tank, and ran the motor for 15 minutes once, achieving a smooth idle. Then again, how many years ago was that?
I never figured out a number, mostly because I was too busy getting the vehicle in shape to roll onto a trailer, after hiking through the woods to find all four wheels still mounted to the rim and aired down. We outlaw'd back home with a suspicious trailer and a load that was sure to turn some heads, and we set it in the yard and mostly abused it internally, robbing seats, headliner & sidewalls, dash pieces, gauges, etc.
Note: no shovels were harmed, etc.
When we got into the main project, we noticed a distinct lack of any seals under the hard top, and many failed seals elsewhere. That's when we first broke into this donor '79, and we literally tuna-canned the hard top with a crow bar/hammer dance (it was rusted to death anyway) and robbed the seals.
The hood was basically open since we bought it, and I'd never tried to shut it all the way. So naturally one day I've got it propped open and I let it drop without thinking. Mistake! The cable was frozen in place next time I got in to check something out. I tore apart the entire dash one day in pursuit of a way to get to the hood latch, but no luck.
So today, I went and dug up our immense crowbar that separated track from ties when the railway left my township (long before I was born) and snuck it into a small gap in the hood. Before long, I had a big enough gap to see through, and the weight of this pin puller was more than enough to jack the hood latch. Success, and now this thread.
Point of interest #1 - ac compressor:
Since these things are apparently rebuildable, I think I'll save this piece.
Point of interest #2 - water brakes?!:
Obvious water contamination, which I'm sure could be serviced... If I absolutely had to. Also noticed that the vacuum line from #8 intake runner to the brake booster fitting was missing entirely, as well as the threaded plug vacuum fitting. I fear for the internal condition of the manifold.
Point of interest #3 - distributor:
I don't know much about this distributor, but I guess it's always an option if it ends up being in usable condition. If anyone could identify, that'd be helpful.
Now for getting to work: first thing I noticed were these small tubes running parallel and near the bottom edge of the valve covers. These are collectors that plug into the exhaust manifolds at front and rear, and I assume this is the advanced egr system the smog pump supplants.
Here's me supporting the idea of a smog pump:
Free doorstop! I won't pay shipping.
After I got that out of the way, I found out what happened to most all of the hair I scraped off of the last deerskin I tanned:
Looks like someone had a cozy hideaway.
And for the thread's sake, here's pictures of the carburetor.
Driver's side:
I noticed that the actuation of the throttle was sloppy - the mechanical secondary actuator kicked in long before the metal tab (whose purpose is to actuate the secondaries) made contact. I'm assuming varnish/rust/ratpiss/ghosts could be the issue there.
Passenger's side:
While I don't entirely understand how the two-plate choke works on this vehicle, I can appreciate the heated choke stove. This 345 is looking real appetizing, but of course, at this point I'm not holding my breath for a happy discovery since we found it beneath leaves.
After digging around the carburetor and checking out its layout, I decided to probe deeper into the unknown. Finding an appropriate 1/2" socket (and then his shorter 1/2" brother), I went to town on the driver's side valve cover. The smog pump collectors I mentioned before are directly in line with the lower valve cover bolts.
Having no universal makes this a little challenging, especially since taiwanese tool makers conspired to create extensions that are the perfect length for interference. However, I beat it around enough that all the bolts came out on their own accord, and this is what I found:
imagine my surprise when I popped open the valve covers and found minimal (read: less than 1/32") sludge built up on the cover itself. and right before I spilled ages of peeled paint, dust, whitetail hair, and engine boogers all over the rocker assembly, I noticed it was near sterile and just beautiful! Of course, then I had to ruin it with a rain of slow-motion binder trash.
Then I went to town with a grease rag, a toothbrush, and some other items (a professional set of mulberry twigs & long honey locust thorns) to remove as much of the debris as possible. I tried to pay careful attention to keep from getting anything down into the pushrod holes/oil drains. I felt awfully down about all of the trash, and some still exists between the stamped rockers and rocker shaft, but I guess that's what a thorough tear-down and cleanup is for, later on.
Also important to note: I ran a small rifle-barrel brush into the rear oil passage, and brought out surprisingly little buildup. Suddenly the bits of trash still trapped in the rockers didn't worry me so much - I need to get my hands on cleaning out a rocker shaft anyhow.
Regardless of the problem of cost, this supposed 76k mile setup isn't looking so bad. I'm going to try and figure a harbor freight 1/2 ton engine stand into my budget (and look up the IH modification), and perhaps a good load balancer for pulling the motor/tranny. And maybe I'll finally break down for a reproduction IH service manual. Even if I can't afford to rebuild it now, I could still sterilize/clean out the transmission (after finding an appropriate service manual of some sort) and get my hands dirty cleaning up this motor in general. I May only have one coil, but if this motor looks this good all the way through, I might have a good deal on my hands.
I always wanted a 3-speed with granny low anyhow. Who knows, maybe this thread will develop some time in the near future! I'm definitely crossing my fingers.
This "project" is a $200 investment towards parts. My Dad was close friends with the owner of a local campground, who obtained the vehicle when some kids drove it back from a mudding experience. The story was that they bottomed it out, walked back to the nearest residence, and had the guy push them out of their situation with a cat d-9. All I know is that I have two 3-4" dips that accurately represent the flat edge of a sharp dozer blade, as well as a crushed corner. It has the same axle setup and gearing as the Scout I can drive, as well as many other auxiliary parts that interchange between these vehicles, not to mention the (now former) park owner said he put a new starter on it, plumbed the fuel pump into a tank, and ran the motor for 15 minutes once, achieving a smooth idle. Then again, how many years ago was that?
I never figured out a number, mostly because I was too busy getting the vehicle in shape to roll onto a trailer, after hiking through the woods to find all four wheels still mounted to the rim and aired down. We outlaw'd back home with a suspicious trailer and a load that was sure to turn some heads, and we set it in the yard and mostly abused it internally, robbing seats, headliner & sidewalls, dash pieces, gauges, etc.
Note: no shovels were harmed, etc.
When we got into the main project, we noticed a distinct lack of any seals under the hard top, and many failed seals elsewhere. That's when we first broke into this donor '79, and we literally tuna-canned the hard top with a crow bar/hammer dance (it was rusted to death anyway) and robbed the seals.
The hood was basically open since we bought it, and I'd never tried to shut it all the way. So naturally one day I've got it propped open and I let it drop without thinking. Mistake! The cable was frozen in place next time I got in to check something out. I tore apart the entire dash one day in pursuit of a way to get to the hood latch, but no luck.
So today, I went and dug up our immense crowbar that separated track from ties when the railway left my township (long before I was born) and snuck it into a small gap in the hood. Before long, I had a big enough gap to see through, and the weight of this pin puller was more than enough to jack the hood latch. Success, and now this thread.
Point of interest #1 - ac compressor:
Since these things are apparently rebuildable, I think I'll save this piece.
Point of interest #2 - water brakes?!:
Obvious water contamination, which I'm sure could be serviced... If I absolutely had to. Also noticed that the vacuum line from #8 intake runner to the brake booster fitting was missing entirely, as well as the threaded plug vacuum fitting. I fear for the internal condition of the manifold.
Point of interest #3 - distributor:
I don't know much about this distributor, but I guess it's always an option if it ends up being in usable condition. If anyone could identify, that'd be helpful.
Now for getting to work: first thing I noticed were these small tubes running parallel and near the bottom edge of the valve covers. These are collectors that plug into the exhaust manifolds at front and rear, and I assume this is the advanced egr system the smog pump supplants.
Here's me supporting the idea of a smog pump:
Free doorstop! I won't pay shipping.
After I got that out of the way, I found out what happened to most all of the hair I scraped off of the last deerskin I tanned:
Looks like someone had a cozy hideaway.
And for the thread's sake, here's pictures of the carburetor.
Driver's side:
I noticed that the actuation of the throttle was sloppy - the mechanical secondary actuator kicked in long before the metal tab (whose purpose is to actuate the secondaries) made contact. I'm assuming varnish/rust/ratpiss/ghosts could be the issue there.
Passenger's side:
While I don't entirely understand how the two-plate choke works on this vehicle, I can appreciate the heated choke stove. This 345 is looking real appetizing, but of course, at this point I'm not holding my breath for a happy discovery since we found it beneath leaves.
After digging around the carburetor and checking out its layout, I decided to probe deeper into the unknown. Finding an appropriate 1/2" socket (and then his shorter 1/2" brother), I went to town on the driver's side valve cover. The smog pump collectors I mentioned before are directly in line with the lower valve cover bolts.
Having no universal makes this a little challenging, especially since taiwanese tool makers conspired to create extensions that are the perfect length for interference. However, I beat it around enough that all the bolts came out on their own accord, and this is what I found:
imagine my surprise when I popped open the valve covers and found minimal (read: less than 1/32") sludge built up on the cover itself. and right before I spilled ages of peeled paint, dust, whitetail hair, and engine boogers all over the rocker assembly, I noticed it was near sterile and just beautiful! Of course, then I had to ruin it with a rain of slow-motion binder trash.Then I went to town with a grease rag, a toothbrush, and some other items (a professional set of mulberry twigs & long honey locust thorns) to remove as much of the debris as possible. I tried to pay careful attention to keep from getting anything down into the pushrod holes/oil drains. I felt awfully down about all of the trash, and some still exists between the stamped rockers and rocker shaft, but I guess that's what a thorough tear-down and cleanup is for, later on.
Also important to note: I ran a small rifle-barrel brush into the rear oil passage, and brought out surprisingly little buildup. Suddenly the bits of trash still trapped in the rockers didn't worry me so much - I need to get my hands on cleaning out a rocker shaft anyhow.
Regardless of the problem of cost, this supposed 76k mile setup isn't looking so bad. I'm going to try and figure a harbor freight 1/2 ton engine stand into my budget (and look up the IH modification), and perhaps a good load balancer for pulling the motor/tranny. And maybe I'll finally break down for a reproduction IH service manual. Even if I can't afford to rebuild it now, I could still sterilize/clean out the transmission (after finding an appropriate service manual of some sort) and get my hands dirty cleaning up this motor in general. I May only have one coil, but if this motor looks this good all the way through, I might have a good deal on my hands.
I always wanted a 3-speed with granny low anyhow. Who knows, maybe this thread will develop some time in the near future! I'm definitely crossing my fingers.
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