Project freebie!

Thanks buddy! Most of the steel on a scout is flat so don't be shy just dig in and use some common sense and you will be fine. A guy once told me that "Automobiles are like bees and dogs. They can smell your fear so you just gotta dive in fearless" lol I thought that was a pretty good saying.

 

Lol yeah I wanted something that I could throw a bowling ball in and not have a dent! Thanks for the kind words. Can't wait to drive this thing but I'm still so far away.

 

Started repairing rust in the bed today. I am so close to being done with rust. I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I took the crossmember just behind the wheel wells out completely today so I could fabricate some new lower inner 1/4 panel pieces. Not my best work but it will do since it's being raptor lined. Also had to do a small patch on the back of each wheel well.

 

Almost ready to weld the floors in. I decided to coat all the cross members and the inside of the center body mount crossmember with Eastwood's rust encapsulator so I got the body out to my driveway this weekend and pressure washed and degreased it as best I could. I blew pressurized air over it to dry it and then let it sit a few days to make sure it was dry. I also bought Eastwood's inner frame rail coating and plan to recoat the inside again after raptor liner is applied. May be overkill but why not.

 

Well I got the cargo floor and the RT front floor welded in tonight. Also scored LT and RT NOS 1/4 panels still in the box locally here in Denver. He sold them to me for $250 each so glad I didn't have to pay for shipping on those.

 

Got some more done this week. Welded in the LT front floor in and cut the piece for the front of the step up area and welded it in.

 

I also had some rust on the top of the bed rails and needed to fix it. I came up with a way that should fix it for good. The problem with this area is that it's a trough and it traps water. International built it this way cause they needed a flange to spot weld the 1/4 panels on. Then they put the other piece inside the trough to make it flat so the top can seal. Well since I was going to be MIG welding my new 1/4 panels on I don't need the trough. I bought a 6' stick of 1 1/2" x 1" box steel and cut it right down the middle length wise on the 1" side. Basically making two 1 1/2" x 1/2" pieces. I cut those to length and measured out the 5 holes for bolting the top down. I re used the welded on 5/16 18 nuts and welded them to the bottom of the new rail and basically reversed how it went in there. Now it is flush on top and still has a 1/2" flange to weld the new 1/4 panels to. I hope this makes sense but here are some pics. I still have to do the LT side and then she is 100% rust free and off to the blaster.

 

Well I haven't posted in a while but progress hasn't stopped totally. I had been ready to send the body tub to the media blaster to take the paint and a little surface rust off for a week or two but we had a deep freeze and snow for a week and a half. Didn't want a bare metal tub out in the elements! Got it to the blaster last Wednesday and should have it back tomorrow or Friday. In the mean time I took the scout with the other tub to work and started working on it. Got the body off the frame tonight. Frame needs a serious degrease and clean. Then I suppose I will use Eastwood's chassis black on it.

I have been going back and forth over drivetrain decisions ever since I got it! My four previous scouts all had IH front to back and I was going to go nv4500 but my daughter has spina bifida and if she is ever going to drive it it will have to be auto. Still haven't decided completely but I am leaning towards a 350TBI 700r4 out of a 1990 suburban I found here locally. It would be a lot easier to do the swap with the body off so I need to decide soon. Anyways here are some more pics.

 

Got the body tub back from the blaster today! Next step epoxy primer, seam seal, and raptor line the bottom and bed area.

 

Beautiful work. I can do it but it is a hack job compared to this.

A couple of questions;
What did you seal the rockers on the 1980 tub with? Is it.a.primer sealer? Is is weather proof? Does it need to be removed before paint?

What will you do with your old drive train?

Thanks, Merry Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas to you too! Thanks for the compliments.

Do you mean the yellowish stuff that is on the RT side rocker and floor? If so it is an epoxy primer. Comes in a rattle can for small jobs. It has a needle on the bottom of the can that you depress to release the hardener then shake like crazy and spray it on.

I have been in contact with a guy with a 89 suburban 350 TBI motor w/ 700r4. As soon as I close that deal I will be selling the 304/T-19/D300.

 

Got some more done on "freebie" today. Progress hasn't totally stopped as I was stripping the frame down so I can paint it. I also purchased a 1989 suburban wrecked but runs good and shifts good so I can swap the 350TBI/700r4 combo in. I had to build a dolly to roll the body around the shop.

I bought some southern polyurethanes epoxy primer and primed the bottom of the body today and will raptor line it next week. I heard this stuff is liquid gold!



I also had some flat top international knuckles laying around so I took them in to get machined for hi steer and got some crane steering arms. My last scout with SOA had a Z link and I have always wanted a hi steer setup.

 

Wow!
The body looks awesome!
I didn't realize I.H. had flat top knuckles, that's really cool!
Great work!

 

Great looking build!!!!

 

Yeah I guess the flat top knuckles came on some INT trucks. Found them on EBAY.

Thanks for the compliments!

 

Dude this build looks awesome. Definitely will want to see it when done.

~Dustin, guy who you ran into randomly downtown after Broncos game.

 

Haha hey Dustin we never did exchange names. My name is Justin. Thanks for the compliments. I can't wait to drive this thing! You need to send me a link to the pics of your scout build.

 

Went in to work first thing this morning and laid down a few coats of raptor liner on the bottom today. Stuff is awesome! I used 3 of the 4 liters just on the bottom so I need to buy another kit. I plan to paint the firewall with the body color (which is still undecided) and coat the inside of the tub as well as the outer bed sides before I put the 1/4 panels on. May do the insides of the 1/4 panels as well (going for maximum corrosion protection). The SPI epoxy primer has a 7 day window to top coat without needing to scuff it which is pretty cool.


Also thought I would post pics of my previous scouts. Had pics of all but my first one for some reason. The yellow was a 1976 with a 392/727 and SOA (can't take credit for any of it though cause that's how I bought it). Orange was also a 1976 with a 345/727 had barely a spot of rust on it should have never got rid of that one. Black is a 1979 with a 345/727 was a rust bucket but still liked it. These are pictures of pictures so not great quality.

 

Justin - those three Scout IIs all look sweet. You (and anyone else on front range or near Colorado Springs) should go search "D and C Extreme" on facebook (that's where his most current updates are). Eric took over the name and business and I'm hoping his customers can get him to work on 4x4s full time. Mine is his first full build since taking over (to my knowledge; I think he's been doing smaller projects for a while). He has a bunch of pics of my truck up on that site. I wish I had your skills and resources to do it myself, but at least I'm keeping another one on the road!

I'll watch this build over the next few months and hopefully you can have freebie running by this summer!

 

Great build! Loving all the detail of the body work and the media blast. Looking forward to seeing it done.