All-Purpose Scout 80 build

[rayra]

Have you considered a small inexpensive sandblasting rig for stripping the body? A little bit of work and an improvised booth in the driveway for a few days would control the mess and it goes very quick.

 

[MotoDave]

Have you considered a small inexpensive sandblasting rig for stripping the body? A little bit of work and an improvised booth in the driveway for a few days would control the mess and it goes very quick.

I've thought about it, few things keeping me from trying:
- I don't think I can contain the mess enough not to affect the neighbors, whose driveway is separated from mine only by a low block wall. Yay tract housing!
- I don't think my compressor would like running a large enough blaster setup to make blasting a whole body time-effective. I have a small balst cabinet that it runs pretty well, but it would take ages to do something the size of a truck body with this small of a blasting gun.
- I don't want to buy a setup like this for a 1 time job, and then have to keep it around. I'm doing all of this out of a 2 car garage in typical socal suburbia, so space is at a premium. I've already got more tools than I can actually fit in the garage, don't want to add a big pressure pot blaster that gets used once every 10 years to that.

In hindsight, the 'right way' would probably be to find a business who can media blast the body and drag it over there and just pay to get it done. I'm sure its not cheap, I don't have any good way of fully lifting the body off the frame, and i was worried I'd find too much hidden rust that then becomes more work to fix. This is a off road toy, and I want 'functional' rather than 'cosmetic' finishes.

The current way has been going OK, i'm a few solid working days away from calling the underside 'good enough' and bolting everything back together.

 

[MotoDave]

Well, bit of a break in the action while we replaced all of the flooring in our house, but I'm back to work now.

I finally got a solid day in the garage yesterday, it was one of those where nothing really looks different at the end of the day but my arms and back are telling me work got done

After lots of practicing I finally burned in all of the suspension brackets that will be inaccessible once the body is back down on the frame. Won't be winning accolades in the 'pretty welds' thread but I did some bend testing on practice pieces and they're plenty strong. And if anyone wants to poke at my welds you're welcome to come do it yourself

Front shock tower & back side of motor mount

Another view

Rear shock mounts

Rear spring hanger - i wish this had come out a bit nicer, but this is really pushing my vertical & overhead welding skill level

Also got the rest of the holes filled in in the back of the tub and got about 1/2 of the underside cleaned up for paint. Too tired to care about taking a picture at that point, but its not exciting anyways. I'll keep plugging away at paint prep and hope to shoot the underside soon, then I'll drop the body back on the frame and have a roller again.

 

[superbuickguy]

I wonder why you're worried about the weld nazis :sombrero: sheesh, your welds look great. Only thing extra I'd do is weld the backside of the brackets where you can get at them; but even so, if you didn't, something else will break long before those welds as they are.

I solved the welding nazi problem by refusing to post anything where the nazis live... did I tell you that I finally came up with a name for my FJ40? Shipwreck

 

[MotoDave]

I wonder why you're worried about the weld nazis :sombrero: sheesh, your welds look great. Only thing extra I'd do is weld the backside of the brackets where you can get at them; but even so, if you didn't, something else will break long before those welds as they are.

I solved the welding nazi problem by refusing to post anything where the nazis live... did I tell you that I finally came up with a name for my FJ40? Shipwreck

Not worried about it, I convinced myself the welds are structurally OK, even if not pretty - and I think I can be my harshest critic with this stuff.

Main goal here was to weld up everything that will be hard to get to when the body is back on the frame. I have some more welding to go back and do later on, but it'll be easier to get to when the truck is back at ride height.

I've gotten useful suggestions and ideas way more than criticism across my build threads, plus I like to think it might motivate someone else to build a Scout instead of another boring Jeep (or FJ40), so i still feel its worth while posting up progress. keeps me motivated as well.

 

[Arktikos]

I've gotten useful suggestions and ideas way more than criticism across my build threads, plus I like to think it might motivate someone else to build a Scout instead of another boring Jeep (or FJ40), so i still feel its worth while posting up progress. keeps me motivated as well.

Subscribed. Very cool!

 

[superbuickguy]

Not worried about it, I convinced myself the welds are structurally OK, even if not pretty - and I think I can be my harshest critic with this stuff.

Main goal here was to weld up everything that will be hard to get to when the body is back on the frame. I have some more welding to go back and do later on, but it'll be easier to get to when the truck is back at ride height.

I've gotten useful suggestions and ideas way more than criticism across my build threads, plus I like to think it might motivate someone else to build a Scout instead of another boring Jeep (or FJ40), so i still feel its worth while posting up progress. keeps me motivated as well.

Your experience was different than mine, I honestly could count the number of helpful hints on one hand and that's even counting the ones that give and take (advice followed by yet another baseless personal attack) - all because someone couldn't read (wheelbase)... but still, you're simply jealous - I got the title (by a forum owner, no less - and someone who I've both met in person and wheeled with) of the dumbest build ever and trainwreck - given the shear number of people there - that's a pretty lofty title... even got a mod into the game by telling me that it was boring (which makes sense because I didn't do a Scout - but I'm simply not enough of a glutton for punishment to do a Scout, even after the forum experience). To me it's actually pretty funny - after all, websites get their money by people who click and they get even more through Amazon dollars when someone clicks through to Amazon. My builds all get more than 150,000 looks and this is my 3rd build on the way to that level, 2 other builds get 100,000 looks. What it means in real life is IH8 gets the clicks and the other site doesn't - and I get peace, which really is priceless. Not only that, but people I like and respect can make a living off my hobby (now, if only I could swing that).

anyway, sorry for the derail and it won't come up again on my end.

 

[Wilbah]

Great build! Everything looks very well thought out. Guys like you with your fab skills constantly amaze me. Thanks for sharing it! The old Scouts are really great. They were the workhorses for an uncle of mine on his farm for years. Gotta love the old tractor iron!

 

[MotoDave]

Thanks all, the comments and encouragement are good motivation to keep going. This is really my first project of this magnitude, and as to fab skills well pretty much everything has been learned during the course of working on this truck, other then a set of rock sliders I built for my old T100. So if I can learn it, anyone can

Hmm, looks like someone shot holes in the bottom of my truck, I'm picturing the scene from the Top Gear Africa special where the guide shoots the floors of the cars to drain out water after a stream crossing

That one looks about 9mm, there have got to be a half dozen .22 sized holes. All in the floor, my work today is going to be patching all of them

edit: No, that jack isn't holding up the body, just acting as a stabilizer.

The last few weekends have been spent getting the floors cleaned up, holes welded and generally prepped as well as I can for paint. Lots of time with these, as well as some air tools. You can never have too many grinders.

You can see the 'before' condition above, here's the after (with more bullet holes):

I made up a little tool to make welding up holes easier, its a switchable magnet that holds a 1/4" thick piece of copper against the panel. Worked out really well, it is strong enough I could stick it under the bed and do my welding from above. I'm doing all of this solo so this worked way easier than one of those welding spoons you have to hold.

Same process under the bed, then a few coats of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator

And the end result of all this work, 2 coats of Lizardskin Sound Control sprayed under the bed.

I used a generic undercoating (schutz) gun, my buddy gave it to me after he sprayed bedliner with it. Took a little adjusting to get the air pressure and nozzle settings right but it worked out pretty well. The Lizardskin stuff is nice to work with, cleans up with water and doesn't really have a smell to it. Painting under the truck sucks, I was glad I bought a tyvek bunny suit with a hood to keep the spatter mostly off of me.

I'll re-mask and spray the floorboards this week, then the body goes back on the frame this weekend.

 

[superbuickguy]

Nice work, I like that you used a lighter color underneath - it sure makes working under your rig a lot nicer since it helps you see.

I'm planning on using Lizard skin on top and durabak underneath. I was concerned that the lizard skin wouldn't be permanent if I used it under the car. With that said, I may also have the underside and inside bedlined so all of this could be moot.

Since you're going to be done first, I'll be very interested to see how yours holds up.

 

[MotoDave]

Nice work, I like that you used a lighter color underneath - it sure makes working under your rig a lot nicer since it helps you see.

I'm planning on using Lizard skin on top and durabak underneath. I was concerned that the lizard skin wouldn't be permanent if I used it under the car. With that said, I may also have the underside and inside bedlined so all of this could be moot.

Since you're going to be done first, I'll be very interested to see how yours holds up.

I obviously don't have any long term feedback, but lizardskin cures rock hard when compared to most bedliner type coatings. I will be doing bedliner on the inside of the cab as well. Hoping the combination of both helps with NVH in this old truck.

I'm going to spray a top coat on the lizardskin, I figure it can't hurt and will add some UV protection even though its underneath the truck. Leaning towards a machine grey for the reasons you mentioned, downside is it'll make any leaks painfully obvious. There's something to be said for satin black too

 

[superbuickguy]

I'm glad you're trying something new, there are some advantages to having a hard surface - I hope it works (cause I'll do the same process too).

 

[Scrapdaddy]

MotoDave,

I've been following a long with you, doing great! I used the Lizard Skin products on my FJ55, inside and out, in the doors, under hood and it really deadens the sound. Also used the LZ ceramic coating to cut down heat. The company doesn't recommend using their products as a bedliner, so I sprayed Monstaliner over it, black underneath and color tinted inside the interior. Both products work well together.

Keep up the good work!

Ron

 

[superbuickguy]

MotoDave,

I've been following a long with you, doing great! I used the Lizard Skin products on my FJ55, inside and out, in the doors, under hood and it really deadens the sound. Also used the LZ ceramic coating to cut down heat. The company doesn't recommend using their products as a bedliner, so I sprayed Monstaliner over it, black underneath and color tinted inside the interior. Both products work well together.

Keep up the good work!

Ron

how long has your FJ been on the road?

 

[Scrapdaddy]

That's a good one, you must of looked at my build. Still in the garage, but getting close. 4 years now so far.