The other 80

Well, for the first time in many weeks it's above freezing. I was amazed at how stiff the manual steering box is at -10.


I'm not very familiar with the mechanics of the 80, though Dad had one that I rode in as a kid. Does the 80 use a rag joint steering mechanism like the Scout II does? I had mine in my Scout II changed out for a Borgeson steering joint.

And, why is there only one windshield wiper motor at the top? Was it an option to have a second one for the passenger, or is it just not installed at the moment?

I'm very interested in seeing the turnout - a beautiful vehicle that I enjoyed riding in. I have a lot of memories from it.

Edit: you got my vote! Awesome story, written by the whole family! Your son's story is very similar to mine! Make sure that he is in the right mindset to treasure these trips when he is older. There is a difference between using today's vehicles and the vehicles I grew up around. Very different times, too. I remember when all we had were telephones at someone's house or a CB radio (and we rarely had one).
 
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brained

Adventurer
I'm not very familiar with the mechanics of the 80, though Dad had one that I rode in as a kid. Does the 80 use a rag joint steering mechanism like the Scout II does? I had mine in my Scout II changed out for a Borgeson steering joint.

And, why is there only one windshield wiper motor at the top? Was it an option to have a second one for the passenger, or is it just not installed at the moment?

I'm very interested in seeing the turnout - a beautiful vehicle that I enjoyed riding in. I have a lot of memories from it.

Edit: you got my vote! Awesome story, written by the whole family! Your son's story is very similar to mine! Make sure that he is in the right mindset to treasure these trips when he is older. There is a difference between using today's vehicles and the vehicles I grew up around. Very different times, too. I remember when all we had were telephones at someone's house or a CB radio (and we rarely had one).

I think the steering joint is called a rag joint but it's a little different - two prongs sticking out like the top of the letter T and it slots into a matching set of grooves.

It came with two vacuum wipers but they weren't functional while pulling a hill. Since driving up steep snowy grades is a significant portion of travel here they had to be replaced.
The PO had bought two JC Whitney wipers so I stuck one on and burnt it out in about a year, now the second one is on and nearly fried too. Two speed self parking marine wipers pending!

We try to make the trips fun for Ethan - he usually brings his bicycle and gets to pick a couple of each day's activities. This post over at Jalopnik really hit home with me and we try to slow down and enjoy the ride.
 

brained

Adventurer
Catching up

My son passed away almost two years ago now and we've gotten ourselves together enough to finish off his Scout and are nearly ready to make runs to his favorite places.


Within the next two weeks all this will be finished:
Front and rear D44's completely rebuilt, Spartan up front, rebuilt powrlok in rear
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All the hardtop glass tinted. The hardtop just finished paint and we'll be putting sound deadening and liner in this week.
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Crossover steering, cv drive shaft, and knuckles cut and turned for proper castor - all sitting on YJ military wrap springs.
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New rear bumper for towing pop up trailer and proper recovery points.
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Dual boat motor wipers set to 120 degree sweep. It doesn't sit quite that high but the lift is holding it up a few inches.
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Rebuilt 196 motor (half a 392 V8) to go in this weekend.


My son had named it Al but now we just call it Ethan's Scout. First run in a couple weeks up Hells Canyon and after that we'll be hitting all the Pacific Northwest Discovery Routes as fast as we can get to them.
 

Storm Crow

New member
I'm just a lurker here, but wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about Ethan. That's gotta be hard. It's good to see you back working on the Scout again. Hope you can post some pictures when you get out on the trail.
 

MotoDave

Explorer
Nice truck, I love seeing these old Scouts out getting used.

Your story hit home hard - my wife and I also lost our first born son. It took a lot to heal those wounds but his little brother joined our family 10 weeks ago, whose name happens to be Ethan. And since then my wife has been telling friends that I am building Ethan's Scout.
 

brained

Adventurer
Nice truck, I love seeing these old Scouts out getting used.

Your story hit home hard - my wife and I also lost our first born son. It took a lot to heal those wounds but his little brother joined our family 10 weeks ago, whose name happens to be Ethan. And since then my wife has been telling friends that I am building Ethan's Scout.

That is awesome!
 

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