Need Advice

scoutpappa · Nov 11, 2010

So here is the deal. My wife has decided that she wants to lower our monthly bills. Here is her plan. Sell her 2008 Ford expedition, keep my 2010 dodge. Take the money from the sell and invest in my 1979 Scout II to make it a daily driver (grocery gettter and kids to school mobile). Now for the realities of the situation. This Scout is basically stock:
304 rebuilt bored .030 over w/ 2 barrell intake and according to mayben the only wrong Holley carb application.
It is in excellent condition-no rust all body mounts still factory undercoated and all that.
The electrical is in working condition down to the blinkers etc.
The suspension is tight no body roll.
The transmission is a 727. It shifts well no slippage. Upshifts and downshifts corectly.
It had a/c and will have to have a/c in houston texas.
It has factory lapbelts. She will have three children, two of whom will be in car seats.
Tires/rims and brakes perform well (for this type of vehicle)

so here is what I think I need to do to accomplish this task. I would appreciate any tips or suggestions (with tips if possible) to make me feel better about this. She averages about 20 miles a week basically in a circle.

I have a mallory distributor. Mayben has walked me through troubleshooting some po and mechanic mistakes. It works now
I need to install the correct carb with the correct needles and seats for this elevation/climate etc.
I feel I need to replace the tie rod ends and ball joints to complete the steering upgrades (have a borgeson kit installed)
I want three point seat belts for the front seats and at least the two edges of the back seat with a middle lap belt.
I need suggestions on an a/c system. I do not have the original compressor but I have other scouts I can get this part from. I would rather a 134a newer type system.
Basically any tips for bringing this vehicle in a back to service daily driver status would be great. I can drive this vehicle as is (do need to change the carb though it's Rich). It's carpeted. There are no tears in the seats. No holes in the floors or in the body. The front and rear ends feel tight. No posi systems installed so none of the wear and tear associated with a locked axle driving in town. I will replace all the gaskets and install the windshield wiper kit to bring it back to weather condition. It rains a lot here.

And lastly, does anyone think I am crazy considering this. I mean we are not in financial straits. She is just tired of paying for a three year old vehicle that she has just managed to get 20 k miles on. I mean my whole family drove scouts. I was a new born with my mother driving one and I am still around. In some ways I trust the strength of old iron vs. Engineered crush zones and air bags and on and on. Plastic and air. Any thoughts?

Michael Mayben · Nov 11, 2010

What you have proposed is a 100% solution!

We also have forsaken any "modern" vehicle for the rest of our driving days, nothing newer than 1980 model year anything will ever have our names on the title again. I'm done with throwaway vehicles no matter what the country of assembly origin is.

Simply doing the math for what it takes to support a typical $25k modern ride as far as total cost per mile (most folks have to finance or lease that throwaway stuff) will show that you can put a ton of cash into an older ride that you can work on regarding any repair or maintenance needed will be a real eye-opener.

We can buy an awful lot of $4 gasoline at 10mpg for what the total "per month" nut is for a throwaway. And at the end of the finance term or lease, whata ya got?...nothing that has any residual value at all, and just having a modern transmission, in-tank electric fuel pump, cam drive belt, etc. Replaced will simply mean ya gotta borrow more dinero just to fix a throwaway pos.

An IH vehicle is by far the least expensive "old ride" vehicle anyone can daily drive. You are a gearhead anyway, why not just drive old while playing with old?

Having grown up in the era before seat belts, before government intervention, before dual channel brake systems, before....I take full responsibility for my actions, I don't need congress for any dam thang. Most especially to control what I drive!

Driving a vehicle like this when new in '79 is no different than driving an '08 Ford new in 2010. If everything works correctly it still does the same thing, takes ya there and back.

Maintaining/repairing the suspension components on these old dogs is a simple maintenance task compared to what has to be done continuously on the "new" stuff once it's out of warranty. Howabout those throwaway rack and pinion systems, those throwaway struts, those throwaway unit bearing hubs with throwaway shift-on-the -fly vac/electro servos controlled by the computer? How about throwaway disc brake rotors that warp if ya just look at 'em cross-eyed? Howabout those sealed throwaway driveshafts on those fords and chryslers when all ya need is a u-joint??

Setting up a very "modern" ac system on these rigs is no big deal at all.

Spend the time and bucks for a full cage if ya wanna set up harnesses. Pull the lid off in the springtime, strap the rugrats in, and let all them other soccermommies spend their time at the chryfordrolethondota dealer trying to keep their convertible tops goin' up and down when the computer gets stoopid.

Once ya get the Scout under control, then go the next step...do a Travelall and set up the ultimate urban assault weapon.

MarkO · Nov 11, 2010

I would agree with mm about the value of driving old iron around. Our mini-van just hiccupped yesterday and I still don't know what is wrong yet.

While a Scout makes a pretty nice dd for short trips around town, I would save your $$$ and not do the a/c in it. The $$$ saved could go towards a traveler or a t-all which are a lot more passenger friendly. I have seen some really nice t-all's on craigslist recently that had working a/c for under $3k.

I would also not get in a big hurry on installing 3-point belts. As long as the little ones are in car seats or boosters they really don't need the 3-point belts. And once they are out of the boosters you will most likely need the larger interior volume of the t-all to handle your kids and all of their friends.

scoutpappa · Nov 11, 2010

The Travelall will have to wait. One of the reasons she likes the Scout is because of the size and mobility. Houston is a congested area. It is also a racetrack. If the sign says 45 you're lucky to be alive if you try to do under 70. And a/c when its 112 with 100% humidity is a must. My youngest is two and though I have had plenty of vehicles without I really don't care to anymore. 31 and getting soft. So. I can replace the lap belts in the back with a parts store off the shelf item, but for a/c I'm gonna need the whole shooting match. I have a fan rack in a garage in la but I see Jeff and a few others have used a vintage air system. I'm assuming less robbing from the engine output and also replacement parts if necessary. Since I will need a fan and ducting and a compressor outside of the condensor I'm missing some pretty important componants. So as for advice (and yes guys I have purchased almost all my parts from Jeff) what can I get from Jeff to make this happen. Luckily I don't need any real body work right now. Paint would be nice but not necessary. Any ideas on costs for estimating purposes. I came back to start a new project so time is going to be a little tight. I'm sure Jeff has off the shelf fabricated roll bars available (maybe). I have a factory rollbar but outside of being an original IH part it doesn't have much going on. I'm actually starting to think in the planning stages. Ehh that means I will probably do it. I wish I could have all old vehicles but man driving the loops in houston requires handling and get up I just don't think I could ring out of an IH vehicle for myself. My wife can do it around our part of town.

scoutpappa · Nov 11, 2010

Oh and Mike we bought the expedition. Luckily we are at the point where we can sell to a re-max, etc and realize 5-7k back. The Scout fund. She even used the "you can do all the things you want to the truck" argument. Now the game plan will have to entail what I think is absoltely necessary. Get rid of the "race" carb. Get a 350cfm bolted on and get the tie rod ends ball joints changed just cause. I want tight steering (as tight as feasible anyway) then I have to plan work. Weekends only type projects or in shop projects on a schedule.

scoutpappa · Nov 15, 2010

Well, getting the last quote for the expedition. I think this sell is a go. Now my wife will be driving a Scout :shocked:

. So on to business. I thought I would have a little more input as to other members' thoughts on this. Trying to get my game plan together for the immediate need.

Correct carb
seat belts for the back seats
windshield wiper conversion kit
door tailgate and top gaskets

it rains alot in houston

in jan or feb vintage air a/c system. (pretty much summer by then anyway).

As I said before any other thoughts or suggestions will be great.

scoutpappa · Nov 20, 2010

So we sold the expedition. Got new seatbelts...so tear apart the whole back bed, sand down rust treat fill a few po added holes...starting the roll in rustoleum bedliner after a few bondo metal fill patches. I see the trend already. Start a 20 minute job and turn it into a two day fun for the whole family activity. Since this is my wife's truck now :sad: