day by day:

day 17 - brakes and such.

day 16 - cannibalism.

day 15 - transmission rebuilds and cadavers.

day 14 - transmission and tires.

day 13 - exhaust and ignition.

day 12 - paint and blades.

day 11 - back from hiatus.

day 10 - engine pictures.

day 9 - of leaks and such.

day 8 - gas switch problems.

day 7 - tank sealed. plate painted. ready to move (video clip).

day 6 - driver side gas tank sealed?

day 5 - first stage repairs to driver side gas tank shield.

day 4 - accessed driver side gas tank.

day 3 - finished the headlamp, painted the air cleaner, swapped seat belts...

day 2 - headlamp, air cleaner...

Lewin's Scout - Day 17

This page is intended to be a sort of diary. To see entries on a (work-) day by day basis, click the links on the left-hand side of this page. Or start at Day 2 and keep clicking the links at the bottom of each day's page to read everything in chronological order.

What I've Done So Far

• New battery.
• New gas filter.
• Bought, but not installed/rebuilt, a replacement transmission.
• Four new tires.
• Replaced old rusty white pinstriped rims with NOS black rims.
• Replaced exhaust system from the manifold all the way to the tailpipe; removed old aftermarket headers.
• Replaced ignition rotor.
• Fixed gasoline leak at carburetor intake point.
• Bought truckloads of parts I may never use but simply couldn't resist.
• Patched star in windshield.

To-Do List

• Get a spare tire holder.
• Complete transmission and t-case rebuild.
• Replace all brake lines and hoses.
• Replace gas tanks with plastic. Note, passenger side tank is totally rusted out, as is the metalwork surrounding it. Complete transmission and t-case rebuild.
• Replace all brake lines and hoses. (It's in the shop right now for this).
• Replace gas tanks with plastic. Note, passenger side tank is totally rusted out, as is the metalwork surrounding it.
• Per owner, the driver side rear brake engages before the other three; needs adjustment. (I have not observed this).
• Rebuild transmission. Leaks oil from bell housing, and I'm SURE my learning activities have worn the synchros.
• Clutch very (very!!) stiff, maybe rebuild slave cylinder. Per owner, the driver side rear brake engages before the other three; needs adjustment. (Turns out this is because the driver side rear brake had a broken shoe and a loose piece of facing material was sticking in the drum!).
• Rebuild transmission. Leaks oil from bell housing, and I'm SURE my learning activities have worn the synchros.
• side motor has some rust. These are not available as NOS and are generally quite rare - they're vacuum-powered.

Quick Maintenance Reference

Nobody seems to maintain a fully accurate list of what you need to maintain this animal. Here's a quick list of maintenance supplies (note: only correct for the 152cid engine):

Why a Scout?

I had been talking for at least a year about wanting a Jeep Wrangler to drive occasionally for fun. Gradually, this idea evolved into wanting an old (pre-1970) Jeep. One reason for this is that gas prices preclude using this car as a daily driver. If I buy a certifiably vintage car, I can insure it as a collectible, which makes the on-road cost practically nothing compared to the $1,900 per year that my regular insurance company wants for "normal" auto insurance.

While searching for this or a similar vehicle on eBay, I kind of fell into a romance with the Scout from International Harvester; one of the first SUV-type vehicles. The first (model year 1965) Ford Bronco was virtually a copy of the Scout; it even looks the same. The Scout 80, which is the model illustrated here, is an amazingly versatile beast; with the top off, it's like a Wrangler, with the half-cab installed and rear seat removed it's a pickup, and with the full "travel top" it's an SUV with seating for at least five, probably six people - PLUS cargo space!

Steven King wrote these cars into several of his stories, and so my wife isn't opposed to the idea of my acquiring one, which is an important factor :) So I started trawling eBay and visiting dozens of IH collector sites to learn about these machines.

It happens that there's a person two or three streets away who owns two Scouts, so I left a note in his windshield asking if he'd mind sharing useful info like where to get expert Scout service, how much it costs to keep one on the road, etc. After a few emails back and forth, it transpired that he wants to sell his 1965 Scout 80 4x4 with hard and soft tops included (and the back seat, which looks more like a couch than a back seat to me). I'm kind of curious about what actual mileage this vehicle has seen; I'd bet it's half a million or more. Talk about serendipity - his vehicle was in good order (good enough to pass state inspection, anyway), it's a few hundred feet away, the vintage is right and the price was in my range. Any car I bought on eBay would have similar quirks and would cost a lot more to transport.

Here are some pictures of the vehicle in my driveway shortly after the previous owner dropped it off (click any picture for a larger version):