This 1977 Scout II, uilt here at Scoutco in Harrisonburg, A, s a fine example of a tastefully modified Scout II to be a true daily driver. The quick description is that it is almost all new, rom top to bottom, nd has a 5.3 liter Vortec LS engine and 4L65e transmission from a 2006 Suburban that was rolled with just 19,xxx miles. The Scout has just over 4,000 miles on it since completion, eaning the drivetrain still has under 25k miles!
Detailed description:
Body and Chassis:
The body has been completely restored, ith great panel fit. The doors, ailgate and hood close with a solid "click", ot the normal "heave-ho" with a running-start method required by most Scouts. We replaced the front floors, nner and outer rocker panels, 2 mounts (under the pedals), races under the front floors, s well as the back half of the rear cargo floor and braces, nd left side quarter panel and taillight end cap. All of these were replaced with new metal panels, o fiberglass here. We treated the backside of all the exterior panels with POR15, s well as the entire inside of the Scout body tub. The body was sprayed with a Mazda two stage "Ruby Red Pearl" and really must be seen to appreciate the color. There are a VERY few VERY minor paint flaws that will be hard to capture on film, hat I only noticed while waxing the paint. It is really in great shape! The stripe is a 1980 Scout stripe design, n metallic silver and charcoal, nd is made from high quality vinyl...and is as such removable if the new owner so chooses. All the weatherstripping for the doors, lass, tc was also replaced. While the body was off the frame, e undercoated the bottom side of the body with a spray-on SEM Truck Bed Liner. The inner fenders are painted with DuPont Imron, s was the chassis while it was apart. All new spring and body mount bushings were installed, long with new Moog ball joints, rakes and wheel bearings. The factory 3.07 Dana 44 axles remain, nd Ford F-150 wheels with stainless discs were installed. Don't let the 3.07's scare you, ecause it still performs great, ut the low RPM cruising speed is really what we built it for, nd it does not disappoint. It rides quiet and smooth, ut still delivers 0-60 times in the low 7 second range, nd quarter mile in the mid 15 second range (as indicated by the GPS speedometer). The tires are Bridgestones with great tread left, ut they are older and showing some dry cracking that will need attention most likely prior to actually wearing out.
Drivetrain:
As mentioned previously, his Scout has a 5.3 liter LS and a 4L65e from a 2006 Suburban, acked by an NP241 transfer case from a 1991 Suburban. We made custom mounts for it inhouse, nd used Camaro manifolds for the exhaust to clear the firewall, ollowed by a custom true dual 2-1/2" exhaust with no cats and Flowmaster fifty series mufflers. The driveshafts were custom made, nd the four wheel drive works fine. We had the engine/transmission wiring harness from the Suburban modified to be a standalone harness, nd tied it into an all new vehicle harness by EZ Wiring, o every bit of wiring is new. We had a custom aluminum radiator built for it by TAPP, nc in Sophia, C, long with twin electric fans. It runs cool no matter if you are rolling, r sitting in traffic with the AC on.
Interior:
We modified the transmission tunnel to fit late model Silverado leather front seats into the Scout. These are power seats, nd are in great shape. We had JJ's Custom Interiors in PA recover the back seats and the door panels in matching material to tie it all in, nd the black carpet is a completely new set by ACC. We laid the carpet down only after the POR15 and a layer of sound deadener was applied, o ensure that the interior stays quiet and comfortable. The AC is from Arizona Mobile Air, nd blows ice cold with the factory GM compressor, ut the rest of the AC system is brand new. We have a modern CD player installed, ith two pairs of Polk Audio speakers in the doors and in front of the rear wheels respectively. The headliner and side trim panels were covered with auto headliner material for better heat and sound control, nd again only after a layer of sound deadener was applied to the metal skins. The glass in the rear quarter windows and rear hatch is new, nd tinted gray (glass itself is tinted, o it won't scratch when the slider windows are opened and closed), nd the windshield glass is also new. The gauges are custom made programmable units, ade by Speed Hut, ncluding a GPS speedometer for accurate readings. They are mounted in a custom gauge bezel to do away with the Scout's inaccurate rectangular gauges. We installed intermittent wipers as well, nd chrome knobs on all of the dash controls. The center console is a heavily modified Jeep (yeah...I know...) Cherokee piece, hat really looks like it belongs, nd provides a great center armrest that was lacking in Scouts originally (and the cup holders are actually deep enough to hold something besides spare change!). We added power windows, ower locks, eyless entry, emote start, ower antenna, nd much more, o make this one of the most modern Scouts possible, ithout sacrificing the general "feel" of it being a classic Scout II.
Here is a link to the build progress thread that we posted pictures and information to, n the Binder Planet website:
http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/index.php?threads/1977-scout-ii-project.103323/
And a quick walk around video when it was almost completed back in 2012 (still needed some wiring tidied up under the dash, pare tire mounted, tc. Just small things.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBMj1y3A1VE
And these pictures were taken by the owner recently, nd show the vehicle as it sits today:
http://s1234.photobucket.com/user/scout7719/library/Scout?sort=9&page=1
In conclusion, not only had the pleasure of building this Scout in our shop, ut I also have been granted the pleasure of taking it to several shows and putting over 1000 miles on it in the process. The debut of this Scout was in Carlisle, A at the East Coast Scout and Light Truck show in 2012, here it brought home awards for best in class, est interior, est paint, nd best of show. A few weeks later, t the 2012 IH Scout and Light Truck Nationals show in Ohio, t picked up best in its class, est paint, nd the coveted Grand National Champion award. I drove it to Charlotte in 2013, here it picked up another class win, nd also averaged nearly 20 MPG on the trip (with a best tank of 22.5 MPG!). This Scout has some nice hardware attached to it, or sure! In just the past couple weeks, have gone over it all for any issues it may have, nd all we were able to find to repair is a broken turn signal switch, hich we took care of. Otherwise, his Scout was ready to ride. I truly would drive it anywhere, nd I mean anywhere! Every detail works just like it should, nd with it all being so low mileage, think it will make someone a great Scout for years to come.
We have worked with several shippers over the past few years, nd will be happy to help arrange shipping for a buyer, ith a shipper that they can trust...but I would DRIVE it to it's new home if I bought it! Turn on the AC, et the cruise, rank up some tunes and sit back and enjoy!
Please feel free to check us out at www.scoutcoproducts.com for more info on our company, nd for email and phone contact info for answers to any further questions or concerns you may have on this Scout.