Date: January 26th 2000
Title: Among The Dead And Dying
This will be a condensed version of the story on my under-construction website.
While at work, I was in the middle of a discussion about trying to find a decent four wheel drive. A
decent rig is a vital necessity up in Northern Idaho. A co-worker overheard the discussion and mentioned that her husband had an old Scout that he wanted to get rid of. Needless to say, as I was pulling up to their house, I was amazed at the vast amount of crippled and wounded vehicles scattered about the property. And there it was, among the dead and dying, in all its baby-vomit green glory, the Scout. It was different though, I had never seen the early Scouts before, I was used to the Scout II (something I had always wanted but never persued to any serious extreme). It was rusted, full of dirt, the engine (looked alot like a Ford V8) was nasty. Well, He pulled out a crusty battery that had just been charged on his trusty charger (an alternator hooked to a Briggs & Stratton side-shaft lawnmower engine), and proceded to fire up the 'ol Scout. It smoked so bad that it was apalling. He said that it came with a Ford 289 and it would be easy to find parts for. I became imediatly suspicious, and realized that he thought it came stock with a Ford motor. He wanted $250 for it. The next day, I am screaming at a steady 45 MPH, pedal to the floor, smoke pouring out of the back, with my girlfriend following with the toolbox. It was great! No brakes, a full turn of slop in the wheel, no lights, and the tranny howled in every gear. But it made the 20 mile drive. Got it home and tarped it off. I wanted a project, now I have it. It sat untouched until January of 99.
Just after the New Year of 99, it was time to get to work. I spent the rest of 99 doing the following: Installed new Ford 302 w/ Edelbrock Performer package, new Gryphin tierod, new rims and tires, welded in new floors, bed, and rear quarter sections. Herculined the entire interior, mounted Nissan Pulsar bucket seats, fabbed a center console with diamondplate lid and the ability to hold two Taco Bell cups, fabbed a diamondplate dash with new guages. Cut and rewelded the full top into a half top, installed new Superwinch hubs, and topped it all off with a lustrous Wal-Mart flat-black paint job. There is a host of small things that were done, and there is more to do......
Contributer: Jason Johnson
