Mocha Mike's Scout 80

[Mochamike]

I have a build thread elsewhere (another bb), but decided to start a duplicate "just in case".

Lisa (my wife) bought it for me for fathers day in 2002 for $500.
It was her cousins.... Around 1981 he traded a bone stock 80 for this one.
He got it with a low mileage sbc 350 (from a camero), muncie m22 (2.72:1 ) & d20.
Stock SOA d27s. It was an unfinished swap.
He then got married, & it sat in storage for 20+ years.

This is what it looked like when I brought it home:

Here is how I got... D27s that were SOA: : coco :

 

[Mochamike]

To get it running/road worthy, I replaced, rebuilt, or removed almost everything accept for some of the body or frame.
I've rebuilt the 350 top end, new gaskets and machine work, new exhaust, added hei, rebuilt the carb (rochester 2b carb).
I've got an edelbrock 600 w/offroad jets & a 4 b edelbrock intake... But I like the way the rochester works (only stalls at extreme angles).

Dual tanks were rusted, so I added a 33 gallon fuel cell in the bed.
Aluminum radiator for cooling.
Chevy column w/gussetted steering box.

The bench seat went, along with the seat mounts.
Po glued astro-turf to the entire bed in the back. (2 days of wire-wheeling that crap out).

I replace the rusted out floor boards & part of the tranny tunnel.

Here is the sheetmetal afterwards:

Bed after it was wire wheeled:

Then I herculined the cab & bed:

 

[Mochamike]

Here is the cab when I got it:

I cleaned up the dash, swapped in a Chevy column (along with a new centech wiring harness) & added some autometer gauges:

Here they are after the I painted the dash & herculined the cab:

 

[Mochamike]

I bought a cage from joel kelsey (Scout dude on por) which he had in his 80, that was just tacked together.
I added lots of crossbars, triangulation, and seat mounts.

This is 1/2 way there... Seat mounts, but no triagulation.

 

[Mochamike]

As for suspension & drive train:
I initially swapped in waggy d44s with 4.88s, detroit up front, spool in the rear, discs all the way around.
Came with spare front shafts & rims.

Tires were 35 pro comp muds, then switched to bfgs after 2 seasons of wheeling.
Also added high-steer w/hd tierod/draglink.

Springs are 2.5" bds yj springs with military wrap at both ends.

Drivetrain behind the 350 was a sm465, novak adapter & a d18 (pin removed for 2wd low).

Here is the power steering bracket I fabbed up:

 

[Mochamike]

Crossmember/bumper made out of 1/4" 2x8.
Also did 1/4" 2x2 on the ends.

I cut a good portion of the body out in the rear corners:

I removed the stock rear crossmember (flimsy) & welded in some 3/16" c-channel.
Rear bumper is made out of either 1/4" or 3/16" 2x4 box tube.
It wraps around protecting the rear fenders.

I cut about 4-6" out of each rear corner to allow the bumper to wrap around & protect the body.
Future plans call some 1" tube to wrap around just above the bumper to help protect the corners.

These were my first serious welding projects on the Scout.
A friend did the suspension, and another friend helped do the cage.

 

[Mochamike]

In 2005 I added a spare tire carrier.
I had a spare d44 hub flange turned down.

I then fabbed up a bracket to mount a spindle on the rear bumper.

Here is the end result:

The hinge/hub doubles as a trail spare hub.
Hi-lift also mounts on the inside of the carrier.

Eventually I added reverse lights I got at the bargain bin at the local ace hardware. I also had to move the license plate.
Here it is in action summer 05 (before paint).

 

[Mochamike]

I did minor surgery on my Scout in April 06.
I used to have full rockers w/2x4 rocker guards underneath connecting to the frame.
I cut out about 4 inches of rockers so that the rocker guards are almost flush with the floor.
The rocker guards are no longer attached to the sides of the frame rails.
Now they are on top.* it turned out to be a bit more work than I thought it would be.
After I plasma'd the excess sheetmetal, I had to replace several chunks due to rust. (see 2nd pic... It's from the gap to about 4 inches left).
I tacked angle iron to the sheetmetal to re-enforce it.* the front fenders are bolted to the angle iron.
This weekend I tied the rockers to the a & b pillars of the cage.

Only thing left to do is tie the c pillar to the frame.

I finished it all off with some rattle can ace paint.* *(International green no less...:d)
this was from the beginning of the summer, I have since painted the hood, windshield & tailgate... Plus made lots of dents.

Springs have settled a bit as well.

 

[Mochamike]

Here are some pix from this summer of 2006 (fordyce trail):

Most recent mod was a warn 8000 that was placed behind the front bumper.

 

[Mochamike]

In sept of 06 I got a winch & mounted it in the front bumper:

 

[Mochamike]

In April/May (07) I added a back seat...

I added a halo during the spring of 2010 (keep reading).

 

[Mochamike]

In June 06 I upgraded from the rochester 2bbl to an edelbrock 600cfm carb. I got it from a friend who ran it for several years on his early Bronco with a 302. It had off-road springs to help with flooding on off camber angles... It works a bit better than the old one, but still wasn't as good as fuel injection.

Also changed from a mechanical throttle linkage to cable (was scary last year when a motor mount let go & the engine torqued & engine hit 6000 rpm without my foot on the gas.... : bonk :

 

[Mochamike]

I bent all four springs during 06-07 (hyper-extended).

So in July/August 07 I swapped in the new warrantied springs, added an extra 1/2 internal extra leaf in the front & an anti-wrap bar in the rear:

The old front spring hangers were a little too far back, so I welded some new ones in... I think I moved them a bit too far forward.... It now rubs on the front fender & has created a nasty case of death wobble...
However, my approach angle is was awesome... But I kept hitting the front fenders with my tires.

 

[Mochamike]

Here are some pix on the rubicon (7/07) before I changed the springs....

Some of the guys I was wheeling with (contra costa jeepers).

Bob's killer flatty:

This is Matt & erin's tj on volvo portals.... It's a pretty sweet set up. There is a write up on him & his Jeep in an issue of crawl magazine (sept/oct 07).

 

[Mochamike]

In August 07, I went on the ramsey trail (private property) with the contra costa jeepers.... It resulted in a lot of body damage...

That labor day I took my sister-in-law's boyfriend out for the day to slickrock trail:

Here is brent just after he finished the actual "slick rock" portion of the trail.
It was at this point we discovered that he was in high & the hubs weren't locked. : innocent (it's a lot steaper than the picture looks)

 

[Mochamike]

In October of 07 I went to fordyce to help on trail maintenance.
Broke the front short side inner cleanly at the splines. (front right was stuck in deep hole/drop off).
Took forever to get it out with a magnet.

In feb 08 I installed the redneck fuel injection (propane) from the j/y.
Fired up immediately & sounded pretty good (after I saved up some $$$ I rebuilt the whole system... Read on).

 

[Mochamike]

Here is the shelf I made:

It took a while because I kept changing my mind as to how it would work.
Started as a metal hinged shelf. Then a hinged wooden shelf. Followed by a removable shelf that was secured at all 4 corners.
I ended up going with the wooden shelf, which slides in only when the tailgate is down.

By doing it this way, I can lock either the tailgate or the tire carrier shut & don't have to worry about stuff in storage or the tank.

I had to move the tank brackets toward the tailgate due to the hinges on not being able to clear the cross bar for the shelf.

In this fashion, I can remove the shelf & then swap or remove the tank.
There is room for either my 2nd tank (longer trips) or regular storage.

Speaking of storage, I decided to get creative....
Last year I picked up an old tool box at a garage sale.
I really didn't want it, but it was full of torch attachments & had to take it all as a package. I was going to throw it out when I realized I could bolt on top of the fender well in the bed.

I also made two brackets for straps for ammo cans.

The shelf brackets were all made from scrap steel I had in the shed (old bed frames).

Here is the bracket before & after paint:

The shelf I covered with indoor/outdoor carpet I got at homedepot for $15.

Locking tool box for spares:

Shelf mounted:

Ammo can storage:

 

[Mochamike]

I welded on some chain links to attach straps too.
Definitely redneck, but I went to 3 hardware stores looking for a store bought bracket, but couldn't find one.

There is also enough room by the tanks to store a few axle shafts & ds, and a few other small parts...

Shelf installed:

Cooler & camping gear secured:

 

[Mochamike]

July of 08 I added on board air.... Well, almost...

I mounted up a 10lb co2 tank on my Scout.

I picked up a bracket online for a fire extinguisher for $40.
Then I cut a hole in the inner fender well of the rear bed with a hole saw & mounted the bracket where my old saddle tank used to be...
This allows me to reach into the bed & attach my hose & turn the co2 tank on & off. Future plans include plumbing a line to the front & rear of my rig.

Anyone want guess what I used as a cover/seal on the neck where the tank goes through the bed?

Also did a shovel bracket on my tire carrier.

Pvc pipe held with two hose clamps that were screwed into the tire carrier.

Future plans are a york compressor.

 

[Mochamike]

Summer of 08 hit the rubicon with my friend tony in his Jeep....

Met a guy named Mike in a sii (friends had jeeps)....
He was stuck at buck island with a destroyed detroit e-locker in the rear & a broken stub shaft (no other scouts on the trail this weekend).

Trip details & pix
Friday almost to spider (3am)
Saturday to buck island.
Back out to loon lake on Sunday.

Old sluice:

View from camp Saturday:

Heading out Sunday: