Impulse buy. '80 Scout II, Turbo Diesel.

[T Bone]

It seemed like a good idea at the time!

I just happened to look at the classified ads on the right day and was the first one there. Uncut, unboogered, all orginal, almost a virgin?

36k original miles. Nissan Turbo Diesel. Runs like a top. Will need new floor boards along with passenger side rocker. Put some new shocks and tires on and it should be good to go.

Can anyone recommend a good 110V wire feed welder withou breaking the bank? With a gasless setup can clean welds be done or is gas required?

 

[elk_hunter]

Nice! I have a 1975 FJ40 LandCruiser project and I've been restoring it from the ground up. It had a ton of rust so I cut it all out and welded in new steel -- wire feed did the trick and I would guess your experience would be similar. In short, gas is not required for clean, strong welds. I'll be damned if I can't remember the brand of the welder I used...

 

[indian larry]

not a bad rig at all. i do body work and restos for a living and if your just putting in floor boards and rockers alot of the smaller welders you can get will do the trick for you($300-500 ish i would say). your not doing anything major your going to need to ton of heat for. are you going to be doing it inside or outside? makes a difference on what wire you wanna use, you use a different wire if your not running gas but like said above its not required. also may wanna look into some spot weld cutters they will make things come apart alot better if you have any questions let me know ill help where i can

 

[noharleyyet]

Nice find T.

 

[cjcj]

Cool, T-Bone you gona tell us how much you paid?

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Pretty rare find now days, I had a 74 Scout II and it would run as long as I could afford the 8 MPG on the road and 1 1/2 at best in 4x4. They are a well balanced vehicle. My buddies always said you don't buy one, you buy two. One to drive and one for parts.
I have a small Lincoln Wire welder I bought from Home Depot that I really like...because I was never taught how to weld, but it is such a simple welder I taught myself, real handy. Good Luck on your project! John

 

[T Bone]

Indian Larry,

Glad to hear you do this stuff professionally. The spot weld cutter, is that the drill bit kind that has a pilot with a concave bit around it (kinda like a miniature hole saw)? Or is a drill bit or a whole seperate tool?

Welding will be inside a garage. Gas migs look to be $200 more, plus the local welding shop wants $150 for a gas bottle contract.

I'm hoping to get a Lincoln or a Hobart for around $300. There are some real cheapo's out there, but I'll stear clear of them.

I've always liked the Scouts, always wanted to learn how to weld, it'll be a fun driver. The two oldest boys have already laid claim to it for their school car.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Check your craigslist for a welder also. Some good deals on things these days. Good luck and have fun.

 

[MarvB]

Sweeeeet Tyson! Brings back memories....my first ride was a '64 Scout like this one....cost a whopping $750!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Sweeeeet Tyson! Brings back memories....my first ride was a '64 Scout like this one....cost a whopping $750!

Marv,

Your Scout seems to be leaking more oil than T-Bone's..... Can you share your secrets so his can leak that much oil???


Congrats T-Bone...

Did you ever hear of the "Martian Man" who lived in Nampa? He was the crazy guy who had Martians take him one time, and after that he started chaining his house down. Then put dirt over his house, more chains, 12ft barbwire around it, etc.. etc... He had a Scout that he would sleep in because he didn't think the Martians could lift it.

Some friends with a excavation company had to knock his house down after he died and they ended up with the Scout for partial payment. Almost brand new, hardly any miles, stunk so bad from him sleeping in it for years they could never drive the damn thing....

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

A cheap Lift Kit is to get a spring place re-arch the springs 2" over! John

 

[MarvB]

JC- That's not my ride...just the same model, mine was tan and as a starving teen at the time, I couldn't have popped for the ovesized grabbers that one sports. I don't know if that's an oil change gone bad or the result of a recent car wash...toss a flare and we'd find out in a hurry!

 

[indian larry]

10-4 t bone they make life alot easier. your headed the right direction on welders, the gas ones are nice and i think will be able to buy a Lincoln or Hobart in that range that will do the job just fine. even if you just use it for this and sell it you will get your money out of them. .023 is what we use on most body stuff so maybe you will get lucky and it will come with some. good luck

 

[Washington Hunter]

Sweet deal T Bone! How much did you get it for? When I was a kid my dad had two Scout II's and then a Scout Traveler. I tested for my driver's license when I was 16 with the Traveler. That thing was like a tank and would go anywhere.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I hunted a clear cut one Morning about 2 miles off the Blacktop in my Scout, pulled up to the place I usually park and the bottom drops out....Rained for 3 Friggin hours. After it let up I looked at my watch and it was time for me to get home as it was my weekend with my daughter. As I am driving out I get to a dip in the road or where the road was, it was now a pond slowly moving through the woods. I eased through there and I swear my headlights were under water! That old Scout like Wash. Hunter said would go through anything but a gas station. John (I have a zillion stories about that Scout and more busted knuckles that you would believe!)

 

[T Bone]

Hmmm....I posted more thorough pics over on binderbulletin.org and it appears the turbo diesels vehicles in good condition are few and far between.

New dilema: I've an offer to trade me straight up for very clean gas engine Scout that is in real good shape.....No need to fix anything, just gas and go. I'll figure out an answer by tomorrow.

 

[T Bone]

I've been farting around with this over the last month and I'm starting to see some progress....

Workspace is tight in the garage so I parked it close to some shelves and can work on one side at a time.

I took off the doors and hood, and removed the seats, belts, etc.

Changing out the body mounts to polyurethane ordered from SSS was the first task. A 2-3 hour job for most people, it took me 6! I'm special. I replaced all hardware with grade 8. I gained almost an inch of body lift compared to the mashed originals.

Next step was to remove the floors. I looked it over from underneath, drilled a few marker holes and drew the cut lines. I then used the grinder grinding off the remaining spotwelds off the top of the supports.

I found the inner rocker C channel and subfloor in great shape. very clean.

After the floor was removed, I cut out the cabmount and wedge and clamped the new replacements. I measured and tweaked about 32 times.

 

[T Bone]

My lovely wife finds it interesting that I have taken to the new hobby so well. Her interest waned as I let her know a welder would need to be purchased, as duct tape and hot glue are less effective. I found a miraculous bargain on a Hobart 125 on the clearance shelf at the local hardware store, along with 2 10 pound rolls of flux-core wire. What joy.

I brought it home practiced some and welded the wedge and cab mount in.

Next was the rocker. I thought I could save the original but after a few stabbings with a screwdriver, it became clear that replacement was in order. I removed the front fender in order to access the front of the rocker better and found quite a treasure of crap inside. A thrifty squirrel had stored a pile of acorns in there. And also, Arkansas must have some monster beatles because there were a few dozen of those in there too.

I cut out the old rocker and por15'd the inner rocker C channel. I took my time adjusting, trimming and lining up the replacement until the butt joints were real tight.

When I got it just right, I welded it in. I was real happy how the fit turned out. Need to seam seal the front and back and it'll look real good.

I trimmed and fit the floors' rear corner piece, and center piece patches yesterday and drilled holes and welded it in. Took about 6 hours yesterday to get it right.

overall, I'm encouraged with the results. I've learned that as long as I have no expectations of results, take my time and listen to some tunes, I'm genuinely surprised at the outcome.

I need to clean it up with the grinder and get it etch primed, then seam sealed.

After that I'll flip the vehicle around and to the passenger side which looks to be more rotten and will likely need to do the inner rocker C channel and maybe the subfloor.

 

[noharleyyet]

Nice work T...

 

[cornfed]

Looks good but I hope your taking some time to get some calling in.