'72 Holy Cow!

[AndrewGnj]

Finally made the leap and bought Scout after having one as a first car 20 years ago. Purchased this west coast 1972 Scout II off of ebay last month and I couldn't be happier, now that it is home.

Ok, so..... Lets just get the jokes out of the way... Under that paint it is still a Scout! I figure, lets make it work very well then we will worry about looks! I ended up picking her up during a snow storm and drove her an hour home in 12" of snow, she is tough!!

Condition: very good.... 46k miles.
-interior is very good and body is solid except for some issues to follow.
-runs great, starts with a little choke first try, idles low and slow, used 4 wheel drive entire way home
-suspension - tired

specs
345
4 speed manual, Dana #18 transcase
Dana 30/44
holly 2bbl (rebuilt) w/manual choke
holly dist with points (rebuilt)
power steering/power breaks

my intentions are to clean it up and keep it as a weekend summer driver and beach cruiser. Probably take top off and leave it off most of the time. Will use 4x4 for hunting and fishing, but nothing serious.

I am posting pic's here and will follow up with my problems and questions. I hope this is the best way/place to start getting some suggestions.

 

[FDChappie]

Hey jersey boy, another transplanted jersey boy here. Normally I'd agree with your priorities, however in this case a few rattle cans of grey primer might be in order ;-). Or jersey brown might be a lot better than holstein. Any way congrats on the score and thanks for the smile.

 

[Robert Kenney]

Or sell it to a chick-fil-a owner.. :d
ok got that outa the way..
Looks like a nice sii.

 

[AndrewGnj]

Ha ha ha! Ok, here we go...it's on! all true though.


Here is my first problem. I want to replace the worn out body bushings as they are flat and she is sitting low. Everything looks great and I was getting ready to order the poly bushing kit from IHPA (I assume these are the best) but I see the body mounts on either side, at the front of the rockers, is rotten. Pics attached so I hope you can see, it is the parts that are attached to the body as the frame mount is fine. Rot doesn't extend to rocker or floor pan, so I am wondering if there is a way to get a piece "fabed" and cut the rot out with a grinder! Important - I'm not a mechanic or a fabricator! My welding skills are "for emergency only" but I am looking for a smart solution that I can pull together myself. I would like to do all I can myself, but will take what I cant handle to a pro so it is right!! Hopefully I do not need to strip and remove the tub for this.

Second quick question... This will be an easy one for some or you..... I have attached a 4th picture...what is it? It is under the master cylinder attached to the inside fender. It is disconnected and was wrapped in a rag, but it has two nipples that would be about the right size for vacuum hose.

I have other issues...but I know from lurking here, one or so at a time is best.

Thanks all

 

[FDChappie]

Bummer about the rot. If the mount is that bad, the floor boards are probably like swiss cheese too. You'll need to remove the floor mats to do the body bushings so that will reveal what you've really got there. On the bright side, when the floor boards are out replacing the mount is easy. I would start looking into a mig welder that will run .023 wire.

That device on the firewall was/is a deceleration module. It was designed to open a port to a diaphragm on the carb that would hold the throttle off idle above a certain mph.

I did the floor boards in my Scout, well the body shop did. They weren't that big a deal and are available at the store here for a good price.

 

[Scooter]

Got milk?

Body paint aint so bad. Moooo. But at least rattle can the bumpers and hubs. Unless your better half approves and wants it like that.

The cancer around those front body mounts is fairly common. I have replaced a few. A little 110v buzz box is good for doing the light work. I had to turn my 220v lincoln all the way down for the sheet metal. I wouldn't be surprised if a portion of the floor is heavily pitted either.

The poly bushings are good. I have two sets currently installed on two of my scouts.

 

[AndrewGnj]

Thanks guys....

Good call by the way, better half said "maybe you should leave the paint". Rattle can the bumpers and other pink parts black, black rims and maybe we can live with it for a while! "topless" always looks good anyway!

Rust and rot are my biggest fears because I have no experience repairing it. Of course, now I see IHPA has the exact parts I need to replace (front floor mount & wedge) so the job is getting more manageable. I think I forgot the first rule of IH Scout ownership that I have learned reading these forums.....dont panic!

Ok, so now I need install help and suggestions. It appears I can jack that body up enough following the instructions in other threads for bushing replacement to cut out the bad parts and slip in the new parts. Ive hunted around the floor boards from underneath and cannot find any rot so assuming there isnt any more to be found I need some direction:

1. I have original seats and floor mats which are in good shape. Should I just strip it all out entirely? I don't want to ruin the original floor mat but want to do it right!!
2. Welding in new parts - electric or mig?? I will borrow or buy the correct one if it is something I can do myself. I probably should look for help from someone with some experience but what fun is that??

Ok, that should get me going....thanks again for the help!!

 

[Scooter]

thanks guys....
.....dont panic!

2. Welding in new parts - electric or mig?? I will borrow or buy the correct one if it is something I can do myself. I probably should look for help from someone with some experience but what fun is that??

Sorry but I had a little laugh. Electric and mig go hand n hand. Sure, one could do mig welding off a generator, but electricity is still there to run the mig welder.if ya don't know much on welding, and wanna glue the new sheet metal in place, might I suggest taking a few welding courses at your local community college or adult ed.

Lots of patience goes a long way with working on the ole benders

 

[AndrewGnj]

Ya scoot...ok. Probably a good idea..will look into it or maybe just find a "volunteer" to come over and "learn while I watch".

I've only ever used a "stick welder" so that's what I meant by electric.

Quicky.... Ole yeller is a Scout I've looked at for my inspiration....what are the specs on tires and suspension?

Thanks

 

[FDChappie]

My floors looked good, until the floor mats were removed and the holy cow it looked like a colander. After doing all the replacement work the whole interior of the tub was line-x'ed. After 12 years it's still holding up well.

 

[AndrewGnj]

Chappie.

Pulling the mats now and definitely more rust around the edges than I thought. Will look at new pans.....

 

[Scooter]

Stick and mig both use electricity. Just two different ways of gluing pieces of metal together. I use both methods, and for sheet metal body work I prefer mig even though it could be done with stick if done properly and lots more patience.

Ole yeller rolls around on 33x12.50 shoes. It's still SUA but the body sits on 1-1/2" spacers and semi new poly bushings. I think I'll keep it that way for the most part. Although, I do plan on doingthe shackle reversal kit install at some point in the near future. Ole yeller won't be seeing major trail riding, maybe light duty trails. That's what my 73 beast is somewhat being built for.

 

[blue smoke]

You will probably want to by a mig welder. The advantages are they are simple to learn how to weld and they are versatile enough that you can use them for almost anything.

Be wise buy a miller or lincoln, you will pay more but you will get dependability. Get the type that you can you gas with. Flux core wire works but it is not as clean as using a 25/75 mix.

If you don't understand what I am talking about it will be worth you time to take a couple of courses so you know what to do and what not to do. T is a lot better to have some understanding of what you are trying to do.

Otherwise the 2 happiest days will be the day you bought it and the day you finally sold it.

 

[FDChappie]

I bought a hobart (owned by miller) to do repair welding on my Scout. You will need a welder that will take the .023 wire and a co2/argon gas mix. The .023 wire is not available with a flux core. A 4" angle grinder with a good selection of cut off, grinding and sandpaper flapper disks will be required too. The welder has worked very well. The major trick is getting the right voltage and wire speed. Then getting a good clean surface to weld.

 

[AndrewGnj]

I got the mats out and found the extent of the rust

looks like I will be ordering new floors, floor cab mount, mount wedges for each side. I think the rockers are good.. Probably door pillars to be safe

any thoughts are welcome....

 

[Scooter]

Yup, fairly typical cancer spots. I forgot to mention that, to my surprise, that ole yeller didn't have the cancer. Especially being parked out on the street for like ten years with out a top before I acquired it. I think I posted photos of it when I stripped the interior. My 73 beast on the other hand needed half the driver side floor replaced, along with a patch panel between door a rear wheel well.

Agreed with what others mentioned about the mig. If you actually decide to get one, a good starter lincoln or miller 110v is good for doing thin material like sheet metal body repair but fall short on anything above 3/8" to 1/4". And it's fairly portable using almost any 110v outlet. Solid wire with 75/25 mixed gas is the way to go, as long as no wind prevails. Flux cored wire is mostly for outdoor use, but creates more splatter.

Well this sure turned into a techy build thread. Mooo. Btw - thanks for the complements earlier.

 

[AndrewGnj]

I am wondering if I should start a thread for "floor boards" under general tech or just keep going here. Not really familiar with these things...

As far as welder goes, sounds like mig with gas would be the way to go. However, I hate to invest in a good one and only use it once a year.

One other option is to do all the prep work and find someone with experience to come by and lay the welds.... I will see.

Floor boards and support replacement looks fairly straight forward but I have questions.

Basic idea is to leave about 1" of overlap all the way around to weld too? I will be removing some good metal but that is the best way to get it done? Remove all the paint on the overlap to improve welds?

Thanks

 

[FDChappie]

The option to have someone else do the welding is not a bad idea. I'm sure there are lots of people doing rust repair in nj. But the skills you develop will be handy and once the welder is around you will find lots of things you can do that you could not before. Also the welder will come in handy for the inevitable frame repairs. I've welded on my frame near the front spring bracket where a crack was started and repaired a rear body mount that was almost torn off the frame in the last year.

I purchased the hobart handler 180 which is about as big as you can go with a 120v welder. It will do 1/4" steel, but if you're doing a lot of welding on full power it will blow the standard 20a circuit breaker. Don't go with a cheap mig welder the lack of adjustments and the quality of the arc really sucks. I had a cheapie for years and did build a lot of stuff with it, but in the end I was glad to give it to a nephew who is learning how to weld.

 

[AndrewGnj]

Chappie.... I do like to do it myself!

 

[Scoutboy74]

Looks like a rig lloyd Christmas and harry dunn could comfortably make a road trip to aspen in if their '84 sheep dog was in the shop. welcome!