My carb rebuild kit arrived from the Carburetor Factory on Friday, so I’ve been spending some quality time poring over the Thermoquad service manuals I found online before doing anything rash like opening the box or tearing down the carb itself. The kit I got is a Walker 15711C which corresponds to the engine year, size, and model I have. I need to pick up some carb cleaner and other assorted products if I’m going to do this myself; I also left a message with my backup mechanic to see if he’d be able to help and for how much. Edit: He called back this morning, and I may be on for an appointment this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, I parked Peer Pressure out in the driveway while I was hauling garden tools and other stuff around the yard. My original plan was to drive her over to the Home Depot in the afternoon to browse the doorknob selection, but plans shifted and Finn accompanied me in the CR-V instead, and rainclouds meant it was back in the garage by 2:30. During the rainstorm I decided to try both of the spare windshield motors I have on hand to see if either of them worked. I plugged them both into the bulkhead connector after verifying that the one I have installed works, but neither one made a sound. I know the wiring on my original unit (the one I’ve been dragging around since 2002) is frayed and the green wire has come loose, so that didn’t surprise me. Doing some research on motors, I found A couple of good threads that deal with the motors and their wiring, another with some info about motor replacements (apparently a 94-01 Cherokee motor will work just as well), and one containing interesting info about testing (putting it on a battery charger at 2 amps).
Anyhow, I was disassembling one on the workbench downstairs, when the doorbell rang. It turned out to be a guy who lives in the neighborhood and who owns an orange Scout I’ve noticed on occasion, hidden behind the shrubs lining his driveway. He told me he was going to sell his truck, and knew I had a Scout, and wanted to know if I’d be interested in what he had?
Well, I said, would you mind if I took a look?
It looked better from the road than from up close, unfortunately. It’s been sitting in his driveway for a couple of years, but he claimed it will run with a jumpstart. The body was toast. The front fenders and tub are pretty far gone. The hood looked to be in decent shape. I couldn’t tell how the top looked from the inside because the inserts were still in place, and I didn’t stop to examine the doglegs or crawl under to see how the bottom of the tub looked (the right rear tire was flat).
However, it’s got a 4-speed and 44’s (3.54 gears according to the lineset). It came with highback buckets, a sport steering wheel, green tanbark interior, and white spoke wheels. And a quick review of the contents of his garage revealed:
A second set of inner fenders (I’d say fair to poor shape, but repairable).
A stored set of Traveler doors in fair to good shape.
A skid plate, looks to be in decent shape
A stored tailgate in very good shape
A stored passenger fender in very good shape (from what I could see; it was up in the rafters)
An unused poly gas tank
A stored windshield in excellent shape
Another stored windshield in fair shape (what looked to be surface rust by the mount points)
And a bunch of other smaller stuff that I can’t remember right now.
The price for what he has is very reasonable, but the problem is where to put this thing, how to part it out quickly, and how to have the carcass hauled away without blocking everything else in the driveway. I think it would fetch decent money for the spare the tailgate, transmission, axles, and doors, and possibly (over time, of course), pay for itself, minus the parts I’d like to keep.
I put the word out with the local crew to see if anyone needs anything, and checked in with Mr. Scout about the steering wheel; I’m waiting to hear back from everyone to see if it’s worth the time and trouble to pick up the whole thing, or make him an offer he can’t refuse on the stuff I’m most interested in. We’ll see.