Very nice progress.
CK5
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IH scout 800
- Thread starter big dan
- Start date
Looking good glad. Glad to see you back on this thing
chulisohombre
1/2 ton status
Good work
damn dude, you are an animal! I haven't even changed out the leaking rear seal on my tranny since BB16. You're making me look like a slacker. :P
I think everything did there is going to help a lot.....What's the wheelbase now?
104, factory is 100. I know I'm still short compared to a blazer or pickup but trails are tight here so I don't want to stretch it too far. I've got ruff stuff rear perches with 3 holes so I can still stretch another inch in the rear pretty easily.
You'll be fine at 104" much longer and you will be hurting the belly height improvements...Just might get a little spooky on hill climbs.
Nice build, I've always liked the old scouts.
I had a friend with a new dodge 2500 crew cab telling me he wanted to go run some trails in arkansas, I told him he better do alittle more research before trying that lol
Tell him to come on down, a dodge will bend just like anything else
Checking for clearance and trying to visualize how I'm gonna no to mount the radiator I figured out my 19" tall radiator will not fit. I would have to cut out the engine crossmember and notch the frame rails so that I could drop it down. Don't really want to cut out that crossmembe (I will have to notch it for the engine to fit) and I really don't want to notch the frame that close to the winch. I've seen people cut out the hood for blowers and turbos and even really tall shock mounts but never seen a radiator poking through.
Did some research and found some info about radiator sizing for an engine. According to the calculation of 1" of core surface area per hp, I can get a 16" tall radiator that will be adequate for a stock 350 and that should fit just fine.
Here's my too tall radiator. 3" shorter and it will be 1/2" below the hood so I'll probly end up buying a shorter one.
Started this morning tearing out what was left of the old floor and ended up making more progress than I planned.
Put in new floor supports
And then 16ga sheet
Started looking at spare tire ideas. Not sure what to do yet
I had started building a bumper with tire carrier before this big project and now it won't work. For now the tire will probably get strapped on top of the tanks and eventually I'll get back to building my tire carrier. I ultimately plan on building a hinged lid to go over the top of the tanks and that way they'll be sealed off from the passenger compartment completely.
Nice work. 
Too bad about the slush box, but still a cool build.
Martin
Martin
Slacked on progress, didnt get as much done while I was off work and here's my excuses
Finished machining the barrel, cut the chamber, headspaced and forged the bolt on this little hotrod
My 6mm is on top with 24" barrel. This is 6.5-06 with 28" shilen barrel.
And I decided the body was too far gone on my beloved 85 gmc considering not only the abundance of these trucks but the abundance of them in my yard so I decided to strip it and use the parts in a better body so I pulled the 1-tons and stuffed them in this truck
It's got a running 305 and I've got a 4spd/205 in my shop for it. Also have a 4 bolt 350 I'll build for it at a later date.
Now for the scout, got fenders finished and trimmed. Ended up with plenty of clearance, could probly fit 40s but I think it looks fine with 35s. Damn hard to do a decent cut on bent up fenders
Got steering box mounted finally and built drag link. First had to have a pitman arm puller. Didn't want to buy one and I had a balancer pulled so.....
Then after much research about pitman arm length and extensive measurement I determined the best length for my application. Also did a lot of research on shortening and welding a pitman arm. Found lots of good info and since it's forged steel it should weld good so I cut the end off the 9" scout pitman arm
Forgot to get progress pics but I then cut off the end of a pitman arm I had with a Chevy drag link end taper. Cut each piece at an angle with a perfect fit to 6.75" and a good bevel on all edges. Welded good and hot and ground it off smooth.
Got a rough measurement and cut a drag link and tacked it together and clamped the box to the frame. Cycled the steering what seemed like 100,000 times to make sure everything worked and lined up
Finished machining the barrel, cut the chamber, headspaced and forged the bolt on this little hotrod
My 6mm is on top with 24" barrel. This is 6.5-06 with 28" shilen barrel.
And I decided the body was too far gone on my beloved 85 gmc considering not only the abundance of these trucks but the abundance of them in my yard so I decided to strip it and use the parts in a better body so I pulled the 1-tons and stuffed them in this truck
It's got a running 305 and I've got a 4spd/205 in my shop for it. Also have a 4 bolt 350 I'll build for it at a later date.
Now for the scout, got fenders finished and trimmed. Ended up with plenty of clearance, could probly fit 40s but I think it looks fine with 35s. Damn hard to do a decent cut on bent up fenders
Got steering box mounted finally and built drag link. First had to have a pitman arm puller. Didn't want to buy one and I had a balancer pulled so.....
Then after much research about pitman arm length and extensive measurement I determined the best length for my application. Also did a lot of research on shortening and welding a pitman arm. Found lots of good info and since it's forged steel it should weld good so I cut the end off the 9" scout pitman arm
Forgot to get progress pics but I then cut off the end of a pitman arm I had with a Chevy drag link end taper. Cut each piece at an angle with a perfect fit to 6.75" and a good bevel on all edges. Welded good and hot and ground it off smooth.
Got a rough measurement and cut a drag link and tacked it together and clamped the box to the frame. Cycled the steering what seemed like 100,000 times to make sure everything worked and lined up
Marked my holes and cut them out. Forgot to get a pic (again) of my 3/8" plate with sleeves to fit my box. Cut my holes big to clear the sleeves and their welds
Welded up and ground smooth
And finished
And that's where I am now. Body work is almost finished and I need to finish bolting up suspension. Trading a 4.8 to a buddy of mine for a good running 350. My 85 gmc has an aftermarket wiring harness I put in a couple years ago that will take care of my wiring and it has a power steering cooler so that will save a bit of money. Borrowed my friends tube bender again to build the core support but got the wrong die so I'll have to make a trip to visit him to finish that
Forgot to show my firewall patch panels complete with holes so the core support tubing can attach to the roll cage
And back seat mock up
I also wonder with my Chevy truck brakes
Axles, drivetrain and modified tranny crossmember
And pickup cab mounts
Why the hell didn't I just build a blazer. But on the other hand the scout frame is better than a blazers and the body is not something you see regularly.
Coincidentally without purpose I managed to fit the cab mounts to the frame in the correct position so that if I were to remove the body an 80s Chevy pickup cab would bolt on and line up with the front axle. Guess I've got that option if I trash this body beyond usage.
Welded up and ground smooth
And finished
And that's where I am now. Body work is almost finished and I need to finish bolting up suspension. Trading a 4.8 to a buddy of mine for a good running 350. My 85 gmc has an aftermarket wiring harness I put in a couple years ago that will take care of my wiring and it has a power steering cooler so that will save a bit of money. Borrowed my friends tube bender again to build the core support but got the wrong die so I'll have to make a trip to visit him to finish that
Forgot to show my firewall patch panels complete with holes so the core support tubing can attach to the roll cage
And back seat mock up
I also wonder with my Chevy truck brakes
Axles, drivetrain and modified tranny crossmember
And pickup cab mounts
Why the hell didn't I just build a blazer. But on the other hand the scout frame is better than a blazers and the body is not something you see regularly.
Coincidentally without purpose I managed to fit the cab mounts to the frame in the correct position so that if I were to remove the body an 80s Chevy pickup cab would bolt on and line up with the front axle. Guess I've got that option if I trash this body beyond usage.
Wow. It all looks good. That was one productive day.
More like week. I get a week off between Christmas and New Years, it's paid and doesn't count against my annual leave. One of the perks of my new job.
That's a lot of work to get done in 1 week! Sure, I cleared my driveway AND sidewalks, twice, but who's counting. 
Got the new "core support" mostly built. Still have to bend and put in a couple pieces but it's mostly there. Didn't like the wide radius of the bender so I just squared off the tube at the front and built a big gusset.
I also got my a-pillar spreader moved down so that it's behind the dash. Mostly because it impaired visibility when it was above the dash.
I also found a solution to a couple other issues. Scout turn signal switches are hard to find and expensive. The holes in the steering wheel are stripped so it's kind of hard to pull it and there is a funky rag joint on the end of the shaft that is difficult to remove and replace with a u-joint. I tired a Chevy tilt column and it was way too long , sooo
So there's my short Chevy tilt steering column with integrated key switch and turn signal switch. My wiring harness will plug into it and I can put a U-joint on the end of a gm steering shaft and connect it to the box. Slowly getting closer to completion. Really need some warmer weather so I can paint everything that's in bare metal and do final assembly.
I also got my a-pillar spreader moved down so that it's behind the dash. Mostly because it impaired visibility when it was above the dash.
I also found a solution to a couple other issues. Scout turn signal switches are hard to find and expensive. The holes in the steering wheel are stripped so it's kind of hard to pull it and there is a funky rag joint on the end of the shaft that is difficult to remove and replace with a u-joint. I tired a Chevy tilt column and it was way too long , sooo
So there's my short Chevy tilt steering column with integrated key switch and turn signal switch. My wiring harness will plug into it and I can put a U-joint on the end of a gm steering shaft and connect it to the box. Slowly getting closer to completion. Really need some warmer weather so I can paint everything that's in bare metal and do final assembly.
Pretty cool steering column mod! This is a fun build to watch man keep after it
