Belltown Build - 1974 Scout II

Are you guys coking up a retractable top????

 

Yep, those mats look great. I am using very similar colours and the same steering wheel, so its great to see what they would look like!

 

Great work guys!

JJ in TN

 

We are finished! Well, except for the center console and this winter we will do a cut-and-turn and mudflaps....but we are telling people we are finished. The Scout leaves the garage space, and Finny's truck comes in. So, this past week we have been thrashing on the roof. Cut it cut up, cleaned up, modified and installed the frame for the ragtop. Got it filled and painted. Then installed. Looks cool, ATMO. The ragtop is neat and let's us have it both ways: shady and sunny depending on our mood.

We had to remove the corrugations from the roof to fit the ragtop. We fabricated some flat stock to fill on the front and thought about that on the rear. It was easier just to cut the whole middle section out and replace with a sheet. We had the ragtop frame installed and the top on the truck to tack it all in place to make sure we got the curve correct. We finished the end of the roof with a piece of 3/8 OD tube.

So, lots more tacking and some filling and we had the roof done. Not much to say about the painting: we took the cage back out and painted it body color. The roof got white. We used Noico sound damping pads for the headliner. We farted around with how to attach the roof to the cage. At fist we were going though the sides directly into the cage, but that wasn't quite right. We ended up using simple U-bolts. Finny printed up some cool standoffs. The aluminum box section is to both spread the load and carry the Yakima rack mounts which didn't line up with the cage crossbars, of course.

Our headliner work on full display and it is not very impressive. But who looks up there?

So this is how it looks now:

It's going to get some striped in the near future - my sign buddy is making them up for us...and he'll put them on so we don't get them all sideways.

We really like the effect with the body color cage and the white roof. It almost looks like the roof is hovering in place:

Here's a couple of shots of the ragtop. It's 40" X 50" - but there is some ragtop/roof overlap so the hole is really about 36" X 44" . Still pretty big:


And here is what it looks like closed:


So that's about it. I want to thank you folks for riding along with us on this project - and thanks for your comments and encouragement and advice. I'll continue to stop in here at Binderplanet and add photos to this thread from time to time. Our next project is a Ford, so not really appropriate for this forum - but I might drop a few snaps in as I know there is some interest in Finn's progress. He's taking more of a lead role in this next project. Enjoy the change into the cooler weather and stay healthy everyone! Good day ! Bob & Finn

 

Yall did a great job..you should be proud...top looks great..!!..
Heck..I aint no Ford man but I dont see a problem with you adding those build pics here..
A chevy forum I'm on has a alternative tinkering section for non Chevy projects...

 

A lot of great work here. Ive marked as a reference for when I start my build this winter, so thanks.

 

I think I'm going to cry....

I'm glad you took so much of your valuable time to update this thread Bob. And I'm especially glad Finn got such a starring role in this project. That young man is going to go places (maybe to CO to help me finish?). Top is a cool idea and you guys knocked it out of the ball park! Once again.

I too sincerely hope you post a few pics of the Ford and whatever else Finn creates. Good luck Bob and Finn, and thx for playing the past few years. I've truely enjoyed following along.

 

At least ad a few pictures of his and a link to his build.

 

Bob and Finn,
its been a great ride HAHA, and I too am saddened to see your departure. Even though I am not a Ford guy at all I can appreactie anything old and cool and would enjoy seeing that progress. Its been very refreshing to see how you guys worked thru various situations, and Finns skills are spectacular but that goes back to you Bob. Stay in touch and have a great summer !!

JJ in TN

 

Slick top!!! What a great build. You guys should be very proud. I'll keep you in mind next time I head north from Long Island with one of the IH's. I'd love to stop by and check it out.

 

Came out so good and happened so quickly! Great job, guys!

 

That top is cool. Need more info/details. Might be something I’d try to do to mine. I really like it.
Please post a link to your Ford build thread here. I’d like to follow that too.

 

Wowza

 

R, we purchased the ragtop at https://www.sunroofsource.com/ It was kinda spendy, but I am really happy with it. It is really well made, and comes neatly packaged and ready to go. We got a universal 40X50" top. 40 is about the widest you can go and keep the ragtop up on the raised portion of the roof. You could go longer, but the 50" gets the opening behind the passenger seat so that was enough for us. Installation is pretty straight forward, except dealing with the roof corrugations. We Patched the corrugations on the front:


In the back we tried the patching route and that didn't work well. So, we just cut out the whole middle section with the corrugations and replaced with flat sheet. We tacked one side and then installed the ragtop frame (which has a little curvature to it) and then put the roof on the truck and tacked the other side to make sure we had the curve correct. Pretty easy. We finished the back edge with a 3/8" OD tube.

We used noico peel and stick sound damping foam for a headliner. Very basic, but good for our needs.

The sunroofsource website has a bunch of install tech help, so look there for more detail. After the rest o the stuff we've completed on this rig - this was a snap...

Good luck! B&F

 

The Scout ran great on a 500 mile weekend up to the family place in the Adirondacks. Cruising right along at 65-70 on the highway. Much nicer at 50 on the 2 laners though. Nothing fell off or failed. No farts or hiccups - idled right down nice after a couple of hours of highway. We are every happy with it.

Finn got his first real on road driving: 50-60 miles worth. He did great, and only scared me once!

A picture I had in my head during the build:


That's the look of satisfaction when you're 15 and get your first driving in a truck you built. Proud of the kid.

Good stuff! B

 

Good to see him with both hands on the wheel...around here most have a phone in one hand...

 

That's the coolest top I've seen. Well done.

 

Awesome sums up this build!!! I've really enjoyed following your build thread. I have had in my mind a similar BUT different version of the top you two made. I will say you took yours beyond what I was thinking, the sliding rag top is Great! I will definitely be doing something cool and unusual with mine, Thank You To B & F!! AND, as others have mentioned please give us the link to your Ford build thread. Mark

 

The Scout is still rolling well, and we are enjoying the heck out of it. We have been chasing engine tune a bit, and recently learned that our O2 sensor control was dead. So we've been generally running rich, even while we manually take fuel out of the VE table with the AFR table disabled. A bunch of removing plugs and looking at them. A lot of learning going on. I didn't know before that you had to adjust the timing as you changed the mixture. We do have a list of things we want to tackle this winter: cut-and-turn, revise the Y-pipe and add an O2 sensor bung downstream, drop the tank and reseal the pump and install a better level gauge.

Meanwhile, work has started on Finny's Ford. Not quite as extensive a rebuild as the Scout but still: new floors and cab mounts, cab corners, steps and A pillars, lower doors. Lots of hammer and dolly work. We are getting better at all of that and have started to think what is going to be the next project after this one - but that will be sometime next year.

We have not found a Ford hotrod truck forum on par with Binderplanet and so have not started a build thread anywhere. A few pics on FB. Here's some shots for those that might want to see what Finn is up to:










Thanks for looking - Bob & Finn

 

that F is gonna be nice ..!