Anyone out there own a Scout II? (1 Viewer)

[BigSur]

I am looking at picking up a 78' fairly cheap that needs some work....alot of work but the frame driveline are in good shape. The top is toast and so is the interior. Been sitting a long time. The guy only wants $500 for it. I thought that was a good price for a project truck. Still has the original 304 inside.

Thanks guys and have a good one.

Jason

 

[Poser]

Run, don't walk, run away from this...

Money would be better spent on the Land Crusiers...

Good luck!

-Steve

 

[albee]

I had one that I used as a plow truck. It was a POS. The clutch started going south so I sold it for one dollar.

 

[Rock Taxi]

My Grandfather in law worked for IH his whole life and had nothing but Scouts. They seem to me to be a hybrid between tractor and stationwagon. Beefy drivetrains and decent axles, seem to work pretty well offroad.

My wife wants me to get one and restore it for her one of these days. Lots of her good childhood memories of her grandparents involve the Scouts they owned.

I say if you want a project, a Scout is a good platform.

Ed

 

[haystax]

I know that the D44 axles are in demand with some Heep folks, they are narrow and direct swaps for those i believe. Cousin has one, i think it is a diesel. I think they are a decent vehicle, ride pretty s***ty but so does a stock 40 series.

sounds like a real fixer upper to me - does it run? If you can drive it away, then I would buy it, if it doesn't run on its own, then maybe you should run not walk in that case. I bet you can find a decent 40 series to dump money into if you are really needing a pit or currently heating your house burning Benjamins.

 

[Mace]

Check and see what the tcase is. It might be a d300 (probably not but who knows)
Granny gear tranny?

The axles are D44's and a nice width.

The PS box is typically in the $60 range.

If the body is not trashed (sometimes you can actually hear them rust) it sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[HawkDriver]

As long as you don't actually drive it around town or on the trail where you could be seen in it, then it could be a good investment. No... my buddy has one and it's a pretty solid truck, but it still looks like and is a scout.

 

[labartonmd]

I restored a 76 Scout II several years ago and decided to build an Fj40 rather than another Scout II. My past 4x4's include 86 Bronco II, 84 jeep Cherokee, 83 Mitsubishi p/u, 78 K5 blazer and several other trucks from the 03 Ford PSD to a 71 Datsun 1600. If you want a daily driver for mild trails, go with the scout II. Much more like an old 60's station wagon than a cruiser. Off road, the rockers are VERY vunerable. If you trash them, you can't fix them without major surgery. They hang down too low. 4" lift and sliders will still give you LESS clearance than a stock FJ40 without lift.

Now if actually want to wheel it, FJ40 or a heep. Even though I love the look of the 98 Chevy Tahoe 2 doors with a mild lift, I had to resist the urge to build one and go with the LC. The trails in most places are narrow, too much for a full size truck. The cruiser and the heep fit the bill.

 

[tnt40]

I have a 1980 Scout II. It's a Nissan turbo diesel,D44's,D300 xfer. Rockers are gone so the doors sag. I would be looking for a fiberglass tub. I kept it because you can put 5 people in it. How many projects can I do at once? Can you say adult A.D.D. ? I will keep it for now, but put it on the back burner and work on my 1982/40 drivetrain swap in to my 1962/40. Good luck

 

[TexomaFJ40]

Scout Parts seem to be harder to find than LC parts. Go with a 60 series.

 

[LIVERUST]

I had a 1976 Scout II. Had a lot of rust but drove nice. V8, power steering. Mine had a automatic tranny. Not very good in ground clearance. Lots of nickle and dime repairs but nothing major. If it drives for $500 I think it sounds like a fun project. What do you have to loose? Always felt funny going into the International Harvester parts store where everyone else was driving 18 wheel rigs and wearing big belt buckles.

 

[Scott R]

I restored a 74 a few years back to mint condition. The biggest problem is the forward cab mounts, they rust something firece and the doors sag towards the front. At some point they eventually will not open. I had the 304 V8 in mine, nice little motor I took out a 345 that was sized up, but I was not able to find a decent core to re-install, hence the 304. The neat thing was you could pull the motor in about an hour, and any Scout motor from the 4 banger to the 392 would bolt right in.

Other areas of concern are rear bed rust, which can be terminal, and they ALL rust at the front bottom corner of the quarter panel, and usually the floor area behind the seats. Here in Denver parts are bountiful! My local salvage yard is full of Scouts, which made my project very easy. It was a fun truck, and it was very capable off road, with a ton of power.

Best site for Scout stuff:

http://www.binderbulletin.org/

 

[labartonmd]

I didn't mention, but if you were really insane, it's possible to put a MOPAR 440 wedge into a ScoutII with the 727B Torqueflight. My 76 had electrical gremilins that I got tired of trying to chase. Just when I thought I had it fixed , it would strand my daughter on the highway...again and again.

 

[Jakes40]

i had a scout II pickup style with a caddy bb in it thing would run great but i could not keep up with the rust. sat really low never did any real 4wheelin with it just some mud blast. sold it for $500 3-4 years ago.