terracottascoutii
New member
Pur yourself a glass before reading this one. I have a 77 Scout 2, 304 standard. It's been sitting for ten years. It only has less than 5K on a rebuild. Moved it cross-country and have started to get it back on the road. The last time I drove it, I was moving it to a storage and the short, fat hose to the thermostat burst while backing it into the storage unit. A big mess. I replaced that hose and decided to also get the carb rebuilt by a shop in Vegas. A death happened in the family, and the carb got forgotten, and the shop gave it away or something. Some of the things that I did may not be in the right order to get it so. A few years ago, I pulled the plugs and fogged the cylinders. I drained the cooling system and the oil, but only changed the oil. I added a bit of water to the radiator, thinking I wouldn't need coolant until I started it up. Bought a new carb (Holley 2210), probably a mistake. Replaced the steering pump, but have not filled or bled it. I read some posts about priming the oil pump, which should be done before it is started. It took me days to get everything out of the way of the valve covers so I could prime it. Then I started thinking and noticing things. On the driver's side head with the valve cover off, I noticed a tiny pooling of what may have been coolant. Maybe smaller than a dime. I drained some more of the coolant into a clear bottle and noticed what looked like oil floating at the top, maybe 1/16th". Wondering if these are signs of a blown head gasket, and with a history of the top radiator hose swelling before. My dilemma is that in its current state, so many things are taken apart, and it is not running to be able to run tests. What steps should I take? Should I assume that a gasket(s) is blown and just tear into it and just replace them? I appreciate your time.
