78 Scout II Selective Edition Build

TheJoshSay

TheJoshSay

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Staff member
To start off i have a 1978 Selective Edition. I picked it up in 2015 as my first car for a whooping 300$. Didn't Run drive or anything. came with an IH304,T19 Close, Dana 20, 3.54s Open, D44s. To get it running i first cleaned the tank, made sure i wasn't going to catch anything on fire, changed the oil etc. I got it running but it had a fat lifter tick. I ran it until 2018 and that's when the camshaft finally let go. From here is when i started actually doing things. while it was my Senior Year of High school that is when i tore the engine (IH304) and started rebuilding it. Got the block honed out, magna-fluxed, cleaned from a machine shop. i then got the heads cleaned up and rebuilt, put a Comp Cams 252H cam in it and basically gave her hell. as of Today we are at 35,000 miles and still running strong. since then i have had a Cut-n-Turn, HD steering, ARB Front with 4.88s, Chromoly shafts, T19 Wide Ratio, Dana 20 Twin sticked with the 3.15 gears, Truetrac Rear (Soon to be ARB) with chromoly shafts, 4.88s, HD retaining plates, Hydro boost, PSC pump and cooler, 4 core Radiator, rebuilt the Power steering box, straight steer, borgesen joint, 2.5in lift on 35s with bead locks. all i have left to do is to get fuel injection and then hydro assist. Its been a super fun project and i have learned a lot from it. I Built it to be Low and Slow. I mainly play in the spring snow up in Washington State so i don't need crazy suspension travel. I'm still planning on cutting out the rear fender wells and making them more 35in friendly.
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To Fit the 35s with a 2.5 SUA i had to drop the Bump stops 4in in the rear and 3in in the front. i then had to trim a tiny amount in the Rear Fender. To Fix the Rubbing on the leaf spring problem i installed a pitman arm off of a Waggy. This in turn helped me steer the bigger tires and made it so i didn't rub lock to lock. i did loose some turning radius bit even with a stock arm i would've lost the Radius. with these changes i can fully flex the suspension and not rub on any sheet metal. i still have the same amount of flex that i had with my 32s so i call that a win in my book.
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I am extremely happy overall with the look as well as the performance. Its purpose built as it is no hard core rock crawler but with the 97:1 Crawl Ratio and the cut and turn, i can go hit the trails then Cruise on the Highway at 65mph and steer with one finger. when i had 32s and 3.54s i could go all the way to 110 mph and still drive with one finger on the wheel. In a nutshell that is my 78 Scout! thanks for reading
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1975IH200 said:
Great build for a young IH enthusiast !!
Lots of great mods.
I like your Scout II.
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its been a very fun platform to learn and build from these 5 years and pretty easy to work with. just wish there was more of an aftermarket for them.
 
After a while of finally able to go out and enjoy driving the scout and not having to worry about it breaking down i have an update. For starters, Its great just hoping in, starting it up, and going into the woods. no more thoughts of what if i break down. I finally have fuel injection and front and rear Air-lockers. Both front and rear wheel openings have been trimmed a tiny bit to help with tire clearance. So far i am very pleased with the gearing i chose. Now days i spend most time in high range 1st gear (30:1) and if i need a little extra i put it into low range 2nd gear (47:1) i have found that unless i am doing something technical, in some deep spring snow, or just showing off, low range 1st gear (97:1) is just to low. As far as lift vs tire size, i am very pleased with how the 35s change the game in terms of traction. Even if i don't have tons of articulation with the 2.5in lift, i have yet to find myself in a place where i wished i had more. There isn't really anything that i would change about it other then some wiring. I wish i added a constant power for my radio but it is what it is. Here are some pictures from this past year.

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Well after years of wheelin, flexing and driving. I finally ripped both my front shackle mounts off. At this point I found it would be a great time to fix my shackle angle with the longer shackles.
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after i patched the frame i plated it with some 3/16 steel for a solid mounting point for the new hangers from ruff stuff
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way smoother ride with mounts moved back 1in
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TheJoshSay said:
Well after years of wheelin, flexing and driving. I finally ripped both my front shackle mounts off. At this point I found it would be a great time to fix my shackle angle with the longer shackles.View attachment 38329View attachment 38316View attachment 38317View attachment 38318View attachment 38319after i patched the frame i plated it with some 3/16 steel for a solid mounting point for the new hangers from ruff stuffView attachment 38320View attachment 38328
way smoother ride with mounts moved back 1in
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Have you ever considered upgrading to reverse shackle? You may benefit from doing so.
 
Zaedster said:
Have you ever considered upgrading to reverse shackle? You may benefit from doing so.
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I've thought about it alot and it's still definitely on the table. I've decided that once I redo the whole suspension with different springs I will swap over to reverse shackle. I eventually want to have a similar setup to Hideous. That is setup awesome
 
While the scouts been down for some repairs, I figured I should Finally put my fancy steering stuff on. Only got to the reservoir today. Still need to drain the system install the pump, and I should probably buy the ram now. Winter is coming fast!
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Had to remove the factory coolant reservoir but this Amazon one fits perfectly. My PSC ram just arrived so almost time to get this all buttoned up.
 
Had a friend let me use his lift. Make things so much easier
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Got the PSC ram mocked up. I used a 1.75 bore × 6.3/4 stroke. With stock knuckles, 35s, and a wagoneer pitman arm I was maxed out at 7 1/4in of total steering travel. With the ram shorter I won't have to worry about it pushing farther than the steering box.

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Got the PSC pump and reservoir installed and plumbed up. Tomorrow I will make the lines to the ram. Ran out of daylight and warmth. The pump itself needed some spacers and washers to fit correctly which made it take a few hours. Overall pretty happy with how it's coming together


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Update on how everything is going. The ram has been installed for a few weeks now. Drives really nice but different and is taking some time to get used to it, especially on snowy roads. The Skyjacker springs are made differently than my ranchos so i am having to redo some geometry things. Had to take my 4° shims out (picking up the pinion) to gain some caster back. Once the springs have settled down a bit i will re-evaluate and put shims in where needed. The new springs also flex way easier so i will need to adjust my front bumpstops. Rubs slightly, but enough to where I want to fix it. Crazy how much flatter my Ranchos sat compared to new springs.
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