1980 Scout II Traveler, first time IH owner

First Time Scout owner. I guess surprises are part of it. My rig started life as a Terra (I think) It has a line of bolts where the bulkhead would be, but has the 'original' back seat mounts as well. (seats aren't original, I don't care about original - but if I sit in them the roll bar is at eye level.) In 5 years it will be my oldest son's Zombie Apocalypse ride. Idea is to look good, but reality is it will probably never see anything rougher than a dirt road - Which in North Alabama can be pretty bad.

Any way you can tell from the VIN what the vehicle was when it left the factory?

It's a 1980, 118" wheelbase 345 automatic. 3.5 or 4" lift, 33" 12.5 R15s, recovery front bumper. It's been sitting & messed with enough that I'm still spending time cleaning the whole thing up. (buy stock in POR-15) First thing I did was pressure wash it (the interior!) I bought it to work on with my 3 boys. They love the car driven on the TV show Zeek & Luther therefore . . . wife went along with a Scout II. (The Zeek & Luther mobile is a 68 or 69 Bronco, but don't tell them that)

Runs well, not quite up to snuff for a daily driver, but not far off. At some point it had undercoating applied so rust isn't too bad, except where it wore thru - then it's awful (Florida beach car) The rear end is a problem, probably will do a body off, but want to drive it some first. It will be the 11 year old's first car, so in 2-3 years he'll be motivated to assist.

Is there anyplace I can get CHEAP seats for the back? I really want to bolt down 4 single seats in the back so it seats 6. Budget isn't too tight, but not made of money. Also - any recomendation for front seats on a budget? (What should I look for in the slavage yard?)

Already did the starter solenoid. Headlights didn't work and electrical was squirrley, but a new dimmer switch seemed to correct a bunch of odd behavior. The turn signals flash too quickly. Probably due to a very new looking trailer connection. What heavy duty replacement flasher should I use? The "thing" the trailer wires are wired to on the firewall is wrapped in electrical tape. Is that worth replaceing? (what is it?) rear quarter panels are fiberglass.

The fiberglass top shows crazing and generally just looks bad. Should I use a Marine gel-coat? Any product recommendations?

- - - OK - I've spent 20 min trying to add photos. I will eventually.


Steve Holland
USNA '93

1980 Scout II

 

Hey! I too have my first Scout, which is also the 1980 Traveler, but is a diesel.

According to Mjolnor, PT cruiser seats will fit as a replacement for the front seats.

As far as a rear seat, you could look to late Chevy trucks, as they have an integrated seat belt.

I am currently in the middle of a Hydroboost conversion.


Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

---What color rear seat are you looking for? I have a golden, embossed w/leaf pattern from a Ralleye that is in excellent condition (just needs cleaning the dust & such accumulated from storage) and two dark green in fair-good condition. Bessemer, AL., about 2 miles N. of exit 6 on 459 (Morgan Rd.). If interested shoot me a PM & give me a couple/few days to get back to you. I'll have someone pull them & see about pics. If you decide yes, we'll work out details on how much, when & where to pick them up, etc.

---I have a few other parts still stored out that way, so let me know if there's anything else you're looking for. There's quite a few binderers out that way & more seem to be coming out of the woodwork with each passing week. Welcome to the site & Slab "the Slab" remains open as a hang-out/playground, so "y'all" can show people what a real truck can do in Alabama Red Mud with as little as a grunt.

---You'll find more Scouts & IHs at pull-a-part in GA, TN & MS than you will in AL. Check their site online & if you see one just arrived, jump on it before yardiots have a chance to damage parts while removing others. I've often found mint doors pried open because someone removed interior panels, lock cylinders & handles & fools didn't know to lift the rod to unlatch the doors, so they borrowed a tire iron from a junker to use as a prybar! While there, scout for Nissan auto-locking hubs (hardbody pickups & early pathfinders) to sell on eBay... LOL. The dealerships in 2005 wanted $180 a hub & didn't sell anything but an assembled unit. It makes even a worthless trip worthwhile if you find a couple good pairs. Nab some '50s-'70s, round glass, Yankee Metal mirrors for a few bucks as well, if you spot them. They're a hot item for a lot of us IHers.

---You only have one... ATM. When you have more than one, don't park them close together and leave them alone for any length of time... unless you want them to multiply.

 

Sorry, I see the pics now. Very nice!

 

Nice Rig and Welcone to the BP !!

It would be worth your while if you can even for one day. Come up to Springfield OH for our Scout and Light Truck Nationals.

Lots and Lots of Scouts, Pickups and Travelalls! It's a great place to see and meet other IH owners. Along with lots of parts vendors! And our cookout at the Hampton Inn on Saturday Night is the best!!

Sept. 7-9 Clark County Fair Grounds. Springfield OH.

 

Help,

2 issues that are keeping my 1980 Traveller off the road:

Needs:
1. Horn doesn't work. Investigated and the horn button just isn't there. Is there an aftermarket kit? My fallback position is to dash mount a button. Junkyards with Scouts seem to be non-existant around Huntsville AL. (Pls remember on a budget) No idea if the steering wheel is stock or not. Not sure what stock looks like.

2. Windshield wiper switch worked exactly once then froze solid. I know I can get a replacement less than $40, but does a kit exist to add delay? (cheap) When I'm done with the phosphoric acid and POR 15 I'll probably end up doing a full rewire, but that's probably 18 months away at the rate I'm going.

Wants:

3. Can anypone recommend an Steering stabilizer kit?

4. It came with a 4" lift: What shocks should I use? The one on it now - well lets just say I'm not sure i'd notice if they were stolen in the night. (not that I can think of anyone wanting them)

 

If you need to replace the wiper switch. Go ahead and get the delay switch. Well worth it! And the motor may have some issues. It's not hard to take out and check. If you have a battery charger. Try a low amp charge for low and high amp for high. And might not be a bad idea to remove one of the caps and spray a can or two of electric parts cleaner inside. It helped mine about 70%. I now have almost normal wiper speed.

 

Which delay switch is the best fit? I've searched, but honestly the different info out there has left me confused.

How do you measure travel on the shocks?

 

To start off - Thanks to everyone, it's a great help.

Now on to the sucess story - with rapid follow-up of my next problem.

345 was running rough, had to crank the idle up to get it to run cold. When hot I could turn it down again, but it missed and overall ran like crap. The I found the hose to no-where. Plugged it and things run much better, especially cold. I turned the idle down and starts are much easier.

Problem is - PO added carb (unknown part # from Summit) with electronic choke. and I have no idea why this vacuum hose was disconnected. The terminal it used to meet is plugged - intentionally, so . . . .?????

 

Hit the wrong button - Meant to continue



So - I think - I plugged a vacuum leak. Now on to my next issue:

What distributor is this?





The cap is just a bit loose. The retaining clips have lost their temper. Half tempted to break out the bailing wire to crimp it down tight. The cap is new and the previous owner said it and the rotor were new - starting to wonder if they are the right ones.

Current symptoms are:

A LOT of unburnt fuel in the exhaust, even at smooth idle. Bogs down and misses under moderate acceleration. My gut says ignition issue - therefore my question about the distributor. Since I'm trouble shooting by part number - what should I change first? I have a set of plugs and intend to order a set of Magnecor wires. Should I go with the 8mm ($95) or 8.5mm for $172? (10 mm are $212) Some folks like the Bosch, but until I want to hold off until I figure out if I need to replace the distributor & coil.

Just prior to plugging the "extra" hose I found it doesn't want to idle hot while in gear. After running 15 minutes it stalls at traffic lights and is a pain to restart. If I put in neutral she idles great, but left in Drive she dies. This might have been corrected by the hose plug, haven't had a chance to check.

Also I have this:



Taking up space where I'd love to insert a second battery. It's disconnected and in Alabama the vehicle will never see an emissions test or inspection station. Anybody want it? I'll probably put it on eBay this week.

 

Other random photos of stuff that just doesn't look right to my novice / untrained / no real clue - eye.

 

Did you get your horn button figured out if not I can take pics of my set up and post them for you. I have a sep button for my horn on my column .

 

Nope - I have a air horn sitting on the dash. Pictures would be good.

 

NOT the neutral safety switch

OK - New issue.

Scout refused to start, but things seemed pretty normal. Lights worked . . . Put it in Neutral and it started normally. Found the neutral safety switch - had electrical tape wrapped around it.

Previous owner seemed to have a code - Duct tape = temporary repair, electrical tape - means he fixed it, but just seemded to like using it. Bailing wire = permament Repair

Anyway I figured the neutral safety switch filed, $13 dollars later - still acts the same way. Incidentally I normally park on flat ground, I had to park on a slight hill and discovered "Park" doesn't engage and it's effectively in Neutral - nothing's engaged. I recently took the console and boot off of the shift lever and have trouble getting it into reverse. I have to pull down into drive then back up to reverse for it to engage. Once engaged everything seems great.

I suspect I need to adjust the shift lever in some fashion - How?

 

You have a prestolite distributor.

I leaned forward on my shift lever and it would start while turning the key. See if yours does that. I just ended up replacing my cable, no adjustment worked, it simply had stretched, just this summer too, on my 1980.