| The Restoration of my 1980 Scout II |
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| Tub on jacks, replacing the floors |
| Well, I didn't get a digital camera quick enough, so I don't have any pics of what it looked like when I trailered it home, but it is still early enough to prove that this was truely a body-off restoration job. Actually, it has been in my garage torn down like this for more than 6 months, but I figured that it would make a good fall to winter to spring project -- (I plan on being in it and 4 wheelin' by this next summer!) I got the 1980 Scout II from a friend at work, it had been sitting outside at the back of a paint and body shop (with the engine in the shape you see here), for about 5-6 years. He passed on the deal to me because he's a good guy and he really didn't have time to mess with it. Well, come to find out, it turned out to be the more sought after 1980 with the Dana 300 in it in perfect shape. Lucky me. But considering that it had been in the weather for a number of years, it didn't have horrible rust in the floor boards, just bad enough for me to get the urge to replace them. So I have you up to date now...enjoy the progress and the pictures. |
| I stripped the engine of everything that I thought I might need, and it is now resting at my local trash dump....believe me, it was rusted throughout. The TF727 I had overhauled at my local transmission shop just to be on the safe side. |
| I tore it down further than I wanted to, my wife and friends are actually the ones that talked me into a body-off frame project. So here is where I stopped tearing down, the floors are about to be cut out. |
| Nice new floors!! It was a pain to rip the old ones out, but well worth it, the new floors really look good. The plan is to "Herculine" them..underneath and on top. I ended up using about 300 rivets in all, along with some tack welding around the bed. The black strips of sheet metal on either side of transmission mound, were ones I had to fabricate on my own. I made a pattern out of paper, traced it onto the sheet metal, then cut out the existing floor. After I cut out the pattern, I rust proofed it on the bottom side because it was not galvanized. Now all I need to do is Herculine everything. |
| This is how I cut out the front floor boards...a little cheesy but it was the only way I could do it. I cut out between the floor supports. By the time I cut all of them out, I had very little floor left, and I ground down the little strips that were left between the square holes with a 7" grinder. After I ground down as far as I thought was acceptable, I brushed on a thick layer rust proofing before I layed in the new floors. |
| This is my donor vehicle. It is a 1976 model, and has a fresh overhaul on the 345, brand new SS Flowmaster exhaust, brand new Kayline soft top, and alot of the misc. parts that I was needing for my 1980, such as: Rear bench seat, radiator overflow container, and extra everthing.....fenders, hood, power steering pump, extra D44's, and a better hard top. But it did have a bad TF727 in it, which was OK because I had just had mine overhauled, and as far as the tub goes.....I don't know if it could even be repaired....it is ate up completely with the cancer. So, I will probibly just rob everything I can, and trash the tub or let my 12 yr. old son do something with it....I don't know yet. |
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| Nice painted frame and engine. I sandblasted the frame myself right where it sits, and for the bottom of the frame, I had some neighbors come down and help me turn it up on its side (of course the engine and tranny weren't in it at the time). I am not going to do anything with the suspension right now, since as soon as I get it back together to see if everything works correctly, I will be wheeling it back into the garage to do a SOA along with 2" springs. So, I didn't see a point in wasting time on that part of it right now. Of couse you can tell that the theme will be black and yellow (not too original) and also that my 2 yellows don't match too well, but that is not as critical as what the exact color of the outside body will be (kinda leaning toward yellow rhino lining) But the frame will at least be easy to see and also easy to touch up if need be, plus it looks very clean. |
| Here is the exhaust that came out of the donor Scout. I got it out all in 1 piece. The only thing I need to do is to support it and to spread the Flowmasters apart a bit... I will be having a major clearance problem with my driveshaft after the lift is complete so I need to fix that problem now. But they are in perfect shape. |
| Here is my first attempt at herculing the underside of the tub and firewall. It could probibly be better, but it looks much better than it did and now you can't see where the new floor is because it all looks the same now. By the way, I don't recommend doing the the underneath side yourself. I have that black crap all over me; it soaked through my clothes and it is all over my arms. But the final product looks more than acceptable for just being an under-tub coating.. The inside of the tub will be a cake walk, gravity will be on my side. |
| Here is the engine that came out of the '76 Scout. Of course it did not look this good. I painted it and painted it with that 500 degree paint. My Son and I took all the accessories off and painted them black, then put everything back on it. It is all clean and painted now....very nice to work with when it is like that. And there is my TF727 tranny that I had overhauled. |
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| I started this project around the spring of 2001, but all that consisted of was tearing it down completely. Now I have been more motivated to do something with it, especially since fall is here now and the days aren't quite so hot anymore. The Plan: I will be combining 2 Scouts to make one. Taking all good and spare parts off a Scout that has horrible rust and a bad transmission, and matching it with a 1980 Scout with a fairly good body, straight frame, and a Dana 300. After I get a complete stock Scout back together, I will be doing my lift and lockers. The lift will consist of stock springs with new poly, combined with a Spring Over Axle conversion, along with a shackle reverse with HD extended shackles. Tire choice will probibly be TSL Super Swampers in the 35x15.5x15 flavor, but that is not set in stone. After new CV driveshafts are made and the knuckles turned, I will be taking it down to 4 wheel Parts wholesaler and let them do the Full Detroit Lockers- front and rear. So sit back and enjoy the progress, hopefully I can pull this off, since I'm not really known for actually working on my own vehicles. |
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| New E-mail: kevtamus@dtnspeed.net |
| Exhaust installed; Wiring installed; Tub mated to frame; 1st test drive; Pulling front and rear axles out. |
| Grinding perch on front axle; Shackle reverse installed; rear axle install and rear brakes; Rear fender trim. |
| Herculing the tub; TSL mudders arrive, rear CV driveshaft arrives; Obtain bucket seats; Received rollbar shipment |
| Front CV driveshaft arrives; Notching the transmission; Rollbar installation; Fabricate seat bases; Front driveshaft install with notch |
| Complete teardown of Scout #1; Entire floor replacement; Installation of engine from Scout #2 into frame #1; Frame sandblasting and paint. |
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| 2" body lift; First rear flex test; Soft top installed. First front flex test. Front Winch Bumper |
| Updated 5-05-02 |
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| This was my first 4x4. I was in my early 20's in this picture (and much thinner). I did the complete build-up myself, and never took it off road....it was just built to look cool. It had 13" of lift and 39x18x15 M/T Baja Belted Tires. With me here is my late Dad. He would have loved helping me with the Scout build-up, too bad he isn't with us anymore. |
| Front Winch Bumper primed and installed |
| Started 5-07-02 |