My 79' Scout II "Orange Crush"

[Mark160]

Well I really don't have a heartfelt intersting story as to why I wanted a Scout. I am turning this 40 this year and I know if I left it up to my wife she would have bought something nice, but I wanted a little more control. I knew I wanted something classic, but more importantly, something different. Then I was watching an episode of "overhaulin" with my kids (6 & 8) where they restored a 68' 0r 69' Bronco. Then my son turns to me and says that he wanted to buy me one of those for my birthday.it just made sense because I have never had a car as my primary driver, and friends with muscle cars complain how they never really drive them because of the winters (connecticut). So a classic truck was the choice. So I did some research and realized that not many people in the area have them, unlike out west where they seem to fall off the trees. So I found and lost many of them on craigslist, becuase I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. Finally I found one in pa, called him and and basically bought it from looking at one picture and talkingto the po for about 10 minutes. Rented a car the next day, drove it out to mechanicburg and drove the Scout home. That was 12/1/2009 and I really haven't had time/money/temps above 20 degrees to really get into it. Just did valve covers, fuel filter, tires/rims, but she runs strong and I drive her every chance I get. The kids love it and it is going to make a great family project and they can't wait to take the top off...so here is what I know so far...1979 Scout II, 345/ manual choke (did they all have them?), auto..that's it..for a mechanic I make a pretty good fireman lol..just ordered the service manual and reading lots and lots of forums so I'm learning. If the pics work you can see she does have some cancer, but probably a lot more once I get digging...

 

[Michael Mayben]

That is a good story Mark! Any story about this junk is good!

So ya work on the ride during your shift??? Or just keep it warm?

I think nearly every firefighter out on the cape is a cousin or uncle to my wife! One uncle was chief in hyannis for years, family name is "fairinkopf".

Here's a shot of a kinda unusual firewagon. It'sa Scout 800 built by hahn. It is part of the emergency response team at a nook plant back east and must start and roll within 30 seconds of the driver hitting the switch! It actually "patrols" on occasion inside some of the facilities so I'm told and is drilled twice a day...I guess you know what all that means!!

This rig had been "downed" by whatever inspection authority handles stuff like that. The carburetion had been butchered years ago. So their maintenance director asked us to do a carb for them that would allow the rig to be brought back online...a "legal" replacement unit was gonna run in the $50k+ range, this one had served in nook planets all over since it was purchased new.

So we built 'em a fresh carb that was correct for the 152 motor and shipped it with complete instructions for installation and tuning. The next time it was inspected, it met the criteria and is in service still after nearly two years.

When I received their core back, it was badly butchered and I was told they had pumped well over $1500 into it in the previous two years in order to keep it going.

 

[Scoutboy74]

Hey Mark, you May or May not know this, but a po has swapped a grille from a '72 or perhaps late '71 810 in place of the original '79 plastic grille. It's common practice for folks to swap an all metal grille from an earlier model '72-'75 in favor of the later plastic pieces which are prone to breakage.
Yeah, you've got some cancer to deal with, but not too bad for a right-coast rig. Famblee bonding with these clunkers is always a plus!

 

[Mark160]

Well I'm glad you liked the story, when I re-read it I thought it was pretty good myself. That fire wagon is the coolest thing ever. If they ever ever think of getting rid of it and it doesn't get snatched up by you or someone at the plant please please let me know since it's turned cold I haven't driven it much becuase the po removed the manual choke and I need carb spray to get it going. But the biggest reason is she is really squirelly on the highyway. I believe it's not the ps pump I think it's in the linkage somewhere, but until I can get it on a lift I really won't know. I e-mailed our mechanic here at work to see if I can use one of the lifts on the weekend or something. I can work on it a little while on duty. My shifts range from 8hrs-48hrs (depending on overtime and swaps) it depends what I need to do. I just started this in December and I suck as a mechanic, it took me a whole 8hr shift just to change the valve cover gaskets I need to be done and cleaned up and out of the bays by the time my relief comes in. I actually taught a search & rescue rapid response dive rescue class up in plymouth ma last year. All those guys and some guys from sicuate (sp?) were really really cool guys.

 

[Mark160]

Hey michael is there anyway you can get any more pics of that firewagon? I think I just found my new screensaver at work lol.

 

[Mark160]

Trever one thing you will learn very quickly about me is I have no idea what I'm doing. I still can't fugure out what SOA stands for! I have only owned "rexie", the name my kids gave her since December 1st. The knowledge and passion that I have found Scout owners (IH trucks in general) have for their trucks is absolutely mind bottling, and a little un-nerving for me. It took me a while to even post a question for fear of massive public ridicule. But then I found that their knowledge and passion were also equaled by patience and understanding, and you haven't been able t shut me up since.lol...so what your saying is my 79' May have a metal grill from a 72-75? Because someone had mentioned in a previous post that they thought it wasn't the original grill.

 

[Scoutboy74]

Well, more specifically from a '72, but '71 was a mid-year platform change from the previous "baby Scout" 800 b to the slighly larger 810. After a fashion, IH dropped the 810 designation and simply called it Scout II. Model years '73-'75 also have all metal grilles, but those are vertical bars instead of the horizontal like rexie has.

 

[ronmc1954]

Hey Mark welcome to the insanity
SOA means spring over axle, Scout came from the factory SUA, spring under axle.
SOA will give you a 4 to 5 inch lift.

Ron

 

[Michael Mayben]

Here's three more shots of the rig, the rest of the pics I have are closeups of the botched carb.

These guys know we all want that rig if it ever comes up for disposal!

If you can't right click these images and do a "save as", then send me yore email addy and I'll ship right out! I've already cleaned 'em up, they were cellcam shots to begin with.

 

[Mark160]

See what I mean? You guys are the best. Thanks for the pics michael. So if my grill is metal I can chrome it? Or no?

 

[Scoutboy74]

No reason why you couldn't. I'm sure it's been done before.
If'n yawl git bored and wanna immerse yerself in sum trulee intristing, no-bs larnin' about the early 810 sii, there's a thread called Mike and Mike Monday report in the member clubs - IHSTO sub-forum, which chronicles a year in the life of a pristine little 810 which touched the lives of the fat white boys, the binder university, the International Harvester chop shop (ihcs) and wasted wages off road in a very special and intimate way.

I'd link ya to it mysef, but I'm to stoopid tuh kno how tuh do it raht, even after all this time. Papa mayben's gunna hav tuh lern me. Hez used to lernin' me stuff. 'course most of it don't take 'til he lerns me up real gud 3 or 4 times with his lernin' stick (2 foot chunk uh stud 2x4).

 

[Mark160]

So is the only benefit in doing a SOA is for the lift? I plan on putting in new poly body mounts. From what I've read that should give me about another 1" and help the squeaking and rattling.. I plan on using mine for a daily driver ( I forgot to mention the truck just turned 73,ooo mi). So four wheeling May never happen because 1. I have no roll bar as of yet and 2. I wouldn't even know where to legally go off road around here. It would be nice to get 31-33" tires on it though.

 

[Michael Mayben]

see what I mean? You guys are the best. Thanks for the pics michael. So if my grill is metal I can chrome it? Or no?

Chrome away man!

But...I'd only use an oldtime/nasty plating shop...you know..the one's you guys visit when you do those fire inspections and sometimes have to shut down since they are so hazardous!!!! Those are the real deal! Same for radiator shops!

That grille will need to be chemically stripped and properly prepped. Then it will receive a dip in the copper tank and get a slight polish, then it goes into the nickel bath and gets a nice polish, then onto the final chrome (which is nearly transparent, what you see is actually the nickel). Then the quality of the final product is based upon the care with which the final polish work is done. That's how all that shiny fire rig stuff you polish on in downtime is done, the brass stuff doesn't get copper, just the nickel and then chrome.

Also, check around in your area for someone doing ceramic coating and /or power coating (usually the same shops). Some of the ceramic and powder stuff today is near indistinguishable from a chrome job.

If ya haven't figgrd it out already, in the IH world of "forums", we are significantly different! We are a business and this is our customer service operation! No question is insignificant, otherwise folks wouldn't ask if they knew the answer!

There are times when we don't have an answer right away, but someone from the team will always acknowledge you. Then we will find the answer, if we can't help ya right away it's because we have to research ourselves amongst our various resources, and we're spread over multiple bases. And every time we have to dig for information, then that helps us much more than it helps the customer, many times that is the only stimulus we have to dig up a new product offering or find out what we May have is simply not the best answer!

You will not be intimidated on this site. You have seen a few "outbreaks" these past few weeks (must be the moon phase or the post-holiday traumatic stress syndrome??), but we handle that in some manner asap. Otherwise, we can be rude and crude, fun and games, other-worldly, whatever it takes to work through your issue! And if ya don't check yore ego at the door, then you will not be given the time of day!

We're here for two reasons...we wanna help folks learn the right stuff regarding playing with this old iron,...and to sell parts and service! If we don't sell, then we ain't gonna be able to stay here! Obviously we're doing something right, other wise the new digs would not be under construction down in Grass Valley, CA! And...that location is fully-equipped with it's own fire protection system, an IH bc-160 4x4 back country fire wagon! Fully functional apparatus-wise with a donkey pump that comes in real handy for fillin' swimming pools!

Check it out:

http://www.forums.IHPartsAmerica.com/chit-chat/800-future-iho-north-headquarters.html

And here's one more screensaver/wallpaper.

 

[Scoutboy74]

This will likely be a race betwixt 3 or 4 people to answer, but for the usage you plan on, going SOA would not be worth the effort. A 4" spring lift will allow you to clear 33" tires provided you keep them narrow and don't get into extreme articulation scenario's. Stock height with good body mounts and bushings will clear 31" narrow tires on the street or mild off road.

 

[Michael Mayben]

so is the only benefit in doing a SOA is for the lift? I plan on putting in new poly body mounts. From what I've read that should give me about another 1" and help the squeaking and rattling.. I plan on using mine for a daily driver ( I forgot to mention the truck just turned 73,ooo mi). So four wheeling May never happen because 1. I have no roll bar as of yet and 2. I wouldn't even know where to legally go off road around here. It would be nice to get 31-33" tires on it though.

Hook up with caperodder here on the forum, he and fambly unit are out on the cape and he plays with both Scout II and street rods. His rig is a primary tool for ambushing the stripers and blues hit and run style from the beaches! That is a very specialized form of "off-roading" that is an acquired skill (and ya May need help from a local in getting the right kinda paperwork!).

33" tires aired down would do just fine on the beach where access is allowed (yes it is somewhat limited compared to what we have up here for coastal play in the northwest!).

 

[Scoutboy74]

Mark, meet hooty. Hooty...Mark. Hiz vituls be in my sig below. I just went out and braved the 46 degree weather with a badly dinged up camra arm tuh snap these freshies.

Hez sittin on a 4" Rough Country spring lift with 32x10.5x15 radial super swamper tsl's in the azz end and 33x10.5x15 radial super swamper tsl's up front. Sitting on my level gee-rodg floor, the measured compressed distance from the floor to a straight edge on the rears is exactly 31", while upfront it is 31.5". This is with 35 psi in the front and 40 in the rear. I used to have a matched set of 4 32's but I had one git badly demolished on the way up to the ihcs this past fall to have Mike roth, (member ss2 'round these parts) proprietor of said establishment, do some pounding on both rear quarters which explains the odd color patches. I quickly found out that good, used 32x15 off road tyrz iz dam hard to come by. I felt very blessed to find the matched pair of 33's which I don't believe had ever hit the ground fer a sweet price. Yeah, they're marginally taller, but all it does is level out the rake from front to back.

Now I've only been off-road a cuppul tymz with this setup, and none of it would qualify as extreme. I think I could prolly stuff 'em in the wells if I tried hard enough.

While hooty ain't purdee to luk at, he iz purdy dam tuff. The reason he looks like a rainbow-mobile iz onna count of a week 'afore xmas '08 he decided tuh take an unauthorized deetoor off a perfectly gud iced over road down a 25 foot embankment which is here-2-4 known as "hooty's holler". He didnit wind up scratchin' hiz top, but he dam shore made hard impact on both sides 'afore he lit on all 4's with the engine still idling nicely. He managed tuh yard hissef outta purgatoree about 3 hours later. Then I limped 'im home under power the next day. I had to replace mucho sheet metal including the hood, p-side f-fender, windshield glass and frame plus those rear quarter tree smooches...oh and the driver's seat too. Functionally, there wuz nothing wrong with it, but...well do I have to spell it out? it wuz quite a ride.

That's yerz truly standing where he came to rest with summa thee other fwbeez looking on. The tree iz wun whut dun the qp smoochin'. The fresh limb breaks top out about 8 feet off the ground, so scouts akshulee can fly momentarily. That tree wuz my best friend. Without the pinball bumper action, hooty shorely wudda rolled x times over ground with a metal fence post stickin' up...and yeah that iz a vinyl soft top. Paints a purdee pitcher, don't it?

 

[Mark160]

Damn brother that is def meant for off roadin. The one thing I love about these scouts is they are so darn beautiful in their ugliness..now that I look at your pics it reminds me that I have no emblems on my rig..need to fix that asap.