Just an old Scout II

[PatrickM]

New-ish member here, but I've been into this kind of thing for quite a while. Here is the Scout II I've own for just over 30 years now. Before this I owned a little Subaru 4x4 Wagon, my first car. Wrote about it here in the 'show us your Subaru' thread.

The Scout's got a 345 V8, 4speed manual, Dana300 TC. Front locker, rear Powr-Lok LSD. Pretty standard. Good fourwheeler, great for camping. It's served me well. My only complaint about it, other than it not getting the best gas mileage, is that it's kinda noisy on the freeway. I blame that mostly on the mud terrain tires and wind noise from all the stuff I have on the roof. I have a sound-meter iPhone app and it measures ~80 dB at the 70 mph. Not great, but I still love this truck after all these years. It's more at home on secondary and dirt highways with slower speeds. Less noise, better fuel economy, on the paved roads anyway.

Main gas tank holds 20 gal. And I've set up the roof rack to carry two NATO gas cans in flip-up cages for easy siphoning of their gas into the main tank. No world traveling for me yet though. My excursions have not strayed beyond the American Southwest.

SOME PICTURES

Death Valley trip, Feb 2014, just came out of Panamint Valley here, through Goler Wash and over Megal Pass. Note the two flat mounted green gas cans on the rack plus one 5-gal plastic can. Gas stations in those parts are few and far between:



Random desert camping trip a while back:






Newer additions, traction boards plus an Ironman awning:

 

[colierar]

Cool Rig! I love those old Scouts.

 

[SDDiver5]

Love it. Welcome to the forum. I have a 1970 800 SR2 that has been a project of mine since I was 15, currently in pieces as I had a kid but I was mostly through an S2 PS swap and a larger gas tank in the rear. In high school I drove a 78 S2 with a 392.

I understand the road noise. my 78 was so loud on the freeway I couldn't even talk to my gf at the time. Ended up taking moms excursion the majority of the time.

 

[sbrown77]

What a rig! I love the old Scout IIs. I've got a 1970 800A with the 304 that's mostly on beach duty in the summer time.

Happy trails

 

[MotoDave]

Very nice! I've been picking away at a 1962 Scout 80 build forever, hoping it sees some of those same areas in the near future.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Is that a cut out for a recessed step in front of ear wheel, or some rust removal in progress?

 

[PatrickM]

Thanks everyone!

Is that a cut out for a recessed step in front of ear wheel, or some rust removal in progress?

You're half right. It was done for rust removal. Both sides. I don't know about "in progress" though. Hah. I stopped worrying about it over 10 years ago. I did think about adding some kind of step there though.

What I'd love to do is replace the rocker panels. Either with reproduction RPs or just by hacking away the existing rockers and welding in rectangular tubing. That would bring back the body stiffness this truck kinda needs.

 

[PatrickM]

The windshield frame is another issue on a truck this old. It's also pretty badly rotted out at the base. Gotten noticeably flimsy. And I've been slowly working a replacement for it over the last 10-12 years. Found a nearly rust free WSF.

It still need a little more sanding and a second coat of primer, followed by some very fine sanding. They it'll get painted (by me).

 

[toddz69]

Welcome! Nice rig - glad to see another person using an older rig (I drive an early Bronco) for their adventures.

Todd Z.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Did these all have white tops?

 

[ale]

@PatrickM can you expand on your flip - up jerry can mounts? ive been looking for something similar to those but don't know where to find them.

Thanks!

 

[PatrickM]

Did these all have white tops?

Sorry for the late reply. No, they did not. In fact, while many Scouts had white tops, I don't know that any of the Scouts had white roofs like mine has. I just liked the look so I painted it this way back in about 2007.

@PatrickM can you expand on your flip - up jerry can mounts? ive been looking for something similar to those but don't know where to find them.

Thanks!

Again, super sorry about the late replies.

To do the flip-up thing, I just bought a couple of somewhat standard NATO can carrier cages and welded small gate hinges (from Ace HW store) to them. The hinges bolt onto the roof rack, and the cans lay nice and flat most of the time. They're just held flat by heavy traps that have over-center buckles on them. Very simple, very secure.

EDIT: Here is the type of carrier I used; available from various vendors: https://swisslink.com/products/2-5-gallon-jerry-can-mounting-system-html

When I need to access some gas I just remove a strap, flip the can upright, pop it open and run a "jiggler" type siphon hose down into it. This means I don't even need to pull a can off the roof to use the gas it's carrying.

 

[PatrickM]

Out in the desert recently, trying out the new awning.

 

[J!m]

I like the old Scouts!