Hokie Scout

[skymangs]

The transmission tunnels are usually pretty solid... cut to that and work your way out!

Kidding... Finding acres of rust is what scouts are about.

[RangerDan]

I know, its funny though how the grease from the drive shafts and the oil from the leaking engine, transmission, and transfer case gaskets and seals really do a good job of protecting the center underbody portion of the scout.

[RangerDan]

So drive and enthusiasm got the better of me and after about 10 minutes of prying and grinding and the quarter panel was off. Its not that bad on the inside a few areas of rust to be fixed but mostly i did it so I could get good access to the B-pillar so that I can clean up the lower part of the B-pillar and add some to the bottom for the body mount to attach to.


Now I am sure I will need to turn it around so the neighbors will think I have done something with it and that its not gonna sit there for the next several months. I think i am gonna cut some strips of sheet metal, cut off the bottom edge of the rusted quarter and weld on the new so that the new bed has something to weld to.

So i guess my next question would be whats the best thing to put on the inside of the quarter panel to protect it. I have heard that body liner in addition to being flammable can end up holding water in if it does not adhere perfectly. I thought I read something about a zinc based paint that would basically cause any oxidation to occur on the zinc and not the iron. Any thoughts?

[skymangs]

I used bed liner, but then again... I cut so much away that there is no longer any concern with trapping debris behind the quarters

[RangerDan]

Ok so a little progress

I wire wheeled the inner Quarter panel and then sprayed a rust converting compound on it, then let in cure and then sprayed it down with primer until I get around to patching a couple holes and such.

Then I proceeded to cut and grind out most of the passenger side mid body mount....whatever you call it, the one at the front of the bed.I also cut out the rest of the floor over to the other body all the way back to the first bed floor support.

Then I finally decided that I better make everything line up as well as it could and started welding in bracing so that I could have some chance at opening and closing doors later.

I have decided I have no choice but to replace the entire bed and the floor pans and and rocker panels b4 I can start using her again. I have decided by starting at the middle body mounts and getting them connected across to each other and bolted to the b pillars that will give me a stable reference point and base to work forward and rearward to replace the sheet metal. So maybe by August I will have it on the road again....

[TNSportTop]

Your Not the only Scout Guy in K-Town. Would Love to meet up. Im in Powell and LeftofLucky is in Corryton. Good luck on the scout. Give us a shout

[RangerDan]

cool will have to get together some time, did you guys see the scout half cab for sale in Blaine? I would love to get it but.... well no money, time, ect..., sorry for delays in working on the project, but I have been spending time with a motorcycle i just bought and have had to sell some stuff to pay for it. Not to mention the heat has made it hard to work much outside. I have had to put some time into the civic body work so I can sell it and was contemplating selling the 1ton axles and 38.5 tires to help pay for the cycle, but I think I have decided to sell the dana 44's with the 33" tires on the scout and go ahead and put the 1tons under it even though this will mean probably leaving the scout undrivable for the rest of the summer until I can afford the crossover steering and drive shafts. Anyway I started working on removing the other quarter panel the other day so I can get on replacing the middle body mounts. I tried starting the scout to move it into position to slide the dana 44's out and the 1ton's in, but no dice. It has not been started for over a month and I think the carb is getting gummed up when I let it sit that long. Poured some fuel in the top and it kicked over but...well it was too hot and I had already been out in the 100+ heat working on the civic for several hours, so another day I will trouble shoot it.

[RangerDan]

wow has it really been june since i worked on my scout, no wonder the carb is gummed up again, stupid corn syrup in the gas... So I was going to do a 1ton swap but I fell for a motorcycle and traded the axles and tires and rims for the motorcycle.

Now that I have finally organized my garage I have started working on the scout again. I have to do just a touch of cutting and i can tack the front half of the bed floor in place!!!! will show pictures of progress soon!!!

[RangerDan]

ok so My wife totaled her corolla, n thank God she came out without a scratch, which is even better cause we had too many vehicles anyway, and the check from the insurance was pretty good. Anyway I had to fix some stuff on my civic to get it out of the garage and now I have moved the scout into the garage and have no excuses. So I got working on it again. Wow I can't believe I have been so busy that I have hardly touched it over the last 6 months. Well anyway I now have a warm dry place to work on it now.

[RangerDan]

So I didn't know what I was doing when I bought this scout otherwise I wouldn't have spent all the money and effort on sheet metal, I would of just saved up and bought a fiberglass tub, Not that I prefer fiberglass, but after the money I have spent collecting replacement parts and watching about 6 years of TV shows about fixing up cars trucks etc, I know now that this body would of been easier and cheaper to scrap and start over, but its too late for that. Anyway I am currently replacing the center body mounts to establish a strong base line and then plan to move back and replace the front half of the bed and then move forward and replace the floor pans, and then put the Quarter panels and rear floor in, and replace the fenders with ones I got off ebay and.... Anyway I have no driver rocker panel, so maintaining the original alignment of body parts on that side is pointless. I have taken measurements and I am eyeballing the placement of stuff. So I welded a little piece of angle iron on the driver side so I could use my highlift jack to rasie up that side to properly align the new body mount.

I had to lower it back down and then tighten down the body mount and then jacked it back up some, got the bolts lined up to bolt the mount to the B-pillar and then jack it up some more and placed a jack stand under it so that the outside was slightly higher than the inside. I figure that once the weight is on it the slight angle will flatten back out. Not really concerned though. My concern is that it sorta looks like a 4X4 and is solid when I am done, not worried about restoration. Once I was happy with that I did the same on the other side and then used a bottle jack and a 2x4 to level out the cab center floor section with the replacement body mounts.