Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me......!!

[Dennis Bernth]

I've had lots of people wishing me a 'happy birthday' today, and as of now, it is. What I hope is the last 'Scout Road Trip of 2010' is in the books, and here is the photographic evidence. Check out what's behind the Travelodge, and you'll see why it's a happy birthday

[Dennis Bernth]

A few more pics....it was about a 350 mile round trip, and fortunately for me, Dirk and Sully from Gulf Coast Binder's luck didn't rub off on me. No flats, no incidents at all, didn't even have to tighten the straps after loading it up. I was kind of restricted to about 60 mph max because of a really stiff wind- when I was driving West, it wanted to move the trailer with the Terrastar on it all over the place, when I was heading South no issues, so I just slowed down and stayed in the right lane The Travelodge ran great, other than sucking down about $120 worth of gas....I got just over 6 mpg loaded in the wind, which I guess really isn't all that bad considering. I do think the taller tires helped a little bit, and I didn't notice any lack of power with the 392.

The short story on the Terrastar is that it seems to be really solid- floors look good, mounts might even be OK. The only 'bad' spots seem to be the rear quarters, and those could be patched easily enough. I'm not 'up' on the special edition Scouts enough to know what was original equipment on the Terrastar; it's a 79 with a 345 and automatic, hasn't run in years (somewhere between 5 and 20 from what I gathered) but seems to be all there. It has the special 'showbar' with the louvers, the hood scoop I'm not sure of, but it looks to be something that could have come with it. It does have the 'Good Times Conversion' sticker inside the driver's door, so it's a 'real' Terrastar. Now to decide what to do with it....

[Milo Holroyd]

Happy Birth Day indeed!!! Great looking project!

[scoutman800]

suh-weet! or should i say "dyno-mite!"? happy bernthday to dennis.........
think that scoop is part of the package, at least from pics i have perused. might have to dig out one or all of my scout books.

[Jeff Jamison]

Happy birthday,looks like a pretty good find.The 6 mpg is pretty much what I get with my travelall when towing.
Jeff

[Dennis Bernth]

Originally Posted by Jeff Jamison

Happy birthday,looks like a pretty good find.The 6 mpg is pretty much what I get with my travelall when towing.
Jeff

Thanks Jeff, kind of what I figured. Wonder if I could get it up a little bit by going to a spreadbore, maybe one of the Economasters like Tom has on his Terra? It would be nice to be able to get maybe 12mpg unloaded, if it only gets six loaded I can live with that. Then again, most of the driving I've done with it has been with a trailer behind, so maybe I need to check unloaded mileage and see how it does, but I think from just rough figuring it may run around 9-10 unloaded. I've got the spread bore manifold laying here, and I've got the Economaster too....but no sense in busting into a perfectly good engine if it won't make much of a difference.

[michigan scout]

Well I guess you can thank me for your birthday wish ....It is a awesome rig bud I bet you don't sleep tonight...something tells me this is you right now sitting in the lawn chair staring at your new rare scout! Also I have some NOS pieces of that wide trim...

[Dennis Bernth]

Originally Posted by michigan scout

Well I guess you can thank me for your birthday wish ....It is a awesome rig bud I bet you don't sleep tonight...something tells me this is you right now sitting in the lawn chair staring at your new rare scout! Also I have some NOS pieces of that wide trim...

Nah, you'd be wrong, I'm about to head to bed early cause I'm beat. Didn't sleep three nights ago but about three hours, then the following night had to work overtime until 3AM and then get up at 7:30AM....then last night was good for five hours, so I'm running pretty much on empty sleep wise. Us old guys need more sleep than you young 'uns, I know it'll be on the trailer in the morning for me to unload so I'm pretty good with that.

As for the trim, if I decide to redo it I'll need some....Quinn thought that SSS has a bunch of it, apparently CVI or Midas used it? Anyway, it had one piece off when we loaded it, so I tossed it inside so it wouldn't get lost. Then within the first ten miles, the piece on the door came partially off. Apparently it had had 'issues' before, because somebody had run a few sheet metal screws through it, which the trim had pulled out from. I had no choice but to pull it off the couple of remaining screws, I tossed it inside too but I'm not sure how good it is anymore. In the one pic you can see a piece of trim standing up by the mirror- somebody apparently thought it would be 'the bees knees' to add a piece of JC Whitney type stick on trim front to back, right over the decals and right where the bottom mirror bracket mounts. It also decided to lose it's grip in the wind, but it only came loose as far back as the mirror- the bracket bolts held it there. So now it's kind of sticking out the side like the kid's hair in the old 'Our Gang' comedy show.....

[Dan Powlus da duke]

Man!!! Polycast rims and everything! I am SO jealous! But since it's your birthday present ... its cool cool cool! I like it!

[sullyscout77]

Happy Birthday Indeed! Excellent find Buddy! I believe Scoutman is correct about the Hood Scoop. Scott Hattery has one on his Terra and IIRC, he said it came from a Terrastar! As far as the "trouble-free" road trip goes,...Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
Enjoy the "Binder Buzz"!!!