Scouts in the Woods
Hello RustLovers and welcome to the Free Model T!
Today I’m thinking back to my youth. I’m not really one for nostalgia but this day I wistfully recall my days in troop 383. Proudly earning merit badges, learning orienteering, how to build bird houses, relationships, and community. Carrying my pocket knife to school as part of my uniform every Tuesday and being taunted endlessly for said uniform. Ah Scouts, what a fun time! This week I acquired a new project, one so cool AND with such a fitting name that no special project code-name is required! A 1961(ish) International Harvester Scout 80 which I have lovingly named “The Scout”! Creative, no?
The other day I got a very excited call from Nate the Great (who gave me the Volkswagen bus ) saying he had just acquired a few old 4×4’s as part of a property deal. One was a 1985 Toyota 4×4 with a 22r and a 5 speed transmission just like the one in back to the future. “Check out that 4×4” -Marty Mcfly. Nate had put a battery in it and driven it out of its home deep in the woods.
The other vehicle was an early 60’s Scout that Nate wanted help to get running. I excitedly obliged. On a blistering Southern California summer afternoon I made the long drive up to Palomar Mountain. We brought a full gas can, fuel line, hose clamps, a spool of wire, a fist full of spark plug wires, an air compressor, assorted automotive fluids, and a big box of tools. Why so much? Well the scout had been sitting for 25 years.
Down the dirt road, through a locked gate, over the peaks and through the valleys we pushed into the woods until we got to the Scout. Nestled between a couple of trees down a small slope surrounded by generous bouquets of poison oak lay the Scout enjoying its long slumber.
As expected the plug wires and most of all the others had been eaten away by rats as was the lower radiator hose. To find any of that out though, we had to excivate the motor. Luckily Nate brought a leaf blower!
Before
During
After Cleaning was a battle because enough rat’s nest/urine/droppings had compressed over the years that it had turned into a solid particle-board like mass that I lovingly refer to as “mouse tar”. Long unsuitable for even the nastiest rodent it was now home to millions
of wood ants
I HATE ANTS! While I am immune to poison oak and got out of there without a bump, the ants did bite me up pretty sweetly. Ever blow leaves out of an engine compartment and they all blow straight up into your face? Well ants do exactly the same thing! But worse. Because they’re ANTS!
After turning the motor by hand, changing the plug wires, checking all the fluids, installing a battery, and hot wiring the coil, I touched a wire from the battery to the starter solenoid and it cranked beautifully. After spraying some starting fluid into the carburetor and having the engine fail to fire off, I checked and had spark from the coil but no spark to the wires. I cleaned the cap, rotor, and points, re-gapped the points and it fired right off.
Not wanting to fiddle with a crusty old fuel system, we gravity rigged the gas can on top of the hood, unhooked the fuel line from the pump and ran a hose down to it. Once the fuel was siphoning we closed the hood onto a 2×4 so as not to pinch the hose and attempted to drive out.
Did I say anything about the brakes? No? Well I did add fluid and I did pump up the brakes but they didn’t really… work. It barely idled and kept dying so I ran “ignition wires” to the passenger seat so Nate could start it when it inevitably stalled. After three failed attempts to drive up out of the steep valley we decided to test the 4×4. I locked the hubs and found 4-Lo and we made it out in second gear. We then proceeded to drive it 3 miles back to Nate’s house with no signals, almost no brakes, and no registration in 4-Lo.
Yeah, she’s beat. But add just a couple letters and she’s beautiful
That’s it! I had an awesome adventure with a great friend and somehow got a Scout too. I’m really looking forward to helping Nate with his back to the future 4×4 and having some fun off-road adventures.
Until next time Rustlovers, what have you dragged out of the woods?
