I was considering taking the Scout on a jaunt down to my father-in-law’s house this past Sunday to continue working on his bathroom, but a nagging feeling stopped me. The steering pump started making some noise last weekend when I had her out on errands, and I kept an eye on things after I parked her. Looking over the pump it’s clear there’s a slow leak happening somewhere. The leaf spring and steering linkage below the pump are damp with fluid; there wasn’t much missing in the reservoir but I topped it off just in case. I’m going to do the 5/50 mile method around here for a little while and keep an eye on things, but I sense a replacement on the horizon. I contacted Redhead Steering Gears to get a quote on a new pump, and it came back at about $475. I don’t remember if I’ve got a spare in the garage, but that’s a job I’m going to consider before making the trip to Nats.
I got a large flat package in the mail Monday, which contained two new front door cards and a second fuse block, all in excellent condition. These cards are a different color and texture than the originals, but the original driver’s card was bent and cut for a speaker, so it was pretty much useless. These both look really good, even though the passenger side has one dent in it. I couldn’t help myself this afternoon so I went out and replaced it. SO MUCH BETTER.
The other thing I did was to order a new windshield from IHPA through their system. I talked with a super awesome rep on the phone who found me glass up in Pennsylvania and arranged to have it driven down to Elkridge free of charge for me to pick up. Figuring I’d give the Scout a trial 15-mile run, I folded the rear seat down and drive down to pick it up. There was no noise from the pump and she didn’t leak anything visible in the parking lot or on the driveway, so I’m cautiously optimistic. The glass warehouse was in a nondescript warehouse park, and when I walked into the loading bay I was greeted with an ENORMOUS internal space holding thousands of glass pieces of all sizes and shapes, on racks 5-6 levels high all the way up to the ceiling. All of them were modern and tinted, with that peculiar black dotted pattern around the edges, and I followed the foreman back through the racks until we happened upon the only clear, unlined, and dramatically curved piece of glass in the whole shop. He actually said, “Wow, I haven’t seen glass like this before.”
I backed the Scout up to the loading bay, next to white vans specially outfitted with racks to hold scores of glass, and McGuyvered a solution up with a large box, lots of soft tarps, and some bungee cords. We made it home slowly and safely, and I tucked it carefully into the back of the Travelall until the rubber gets here.
Having reviewed several videos and the Service Manual directions, I’m nervous about installing it myself but definitely looking forward to having some non-leaky glass on the truck.
Another quick thing I did was pull the spark plugs I’d hastily installed the morning of our workday and replace them with a shiny set of new Autolite 85’s. I still don’t know what the story is with our spark but I’m positive it won’t be with the cables or the plugs. I talked with my friend Erick and we’ve got a tentative plan to have him come up and look at the truck to help me get it running; he’s a bit hard to pin down but I’m hoping we can link up and make some progress.
On Marketplace this week a listing popped up for a complete set of glass for a round-body Travelall—doors, wing windows, windshield, rear corners, and tailgate—for the eye-watering price of $3000 up in New Jersey. I asked if he would be interested in just selling the rear corners but he declined; they’re more valuable as a complete set. So I’ll have to keep looking, and hope that I can find someone with a set for a reasonable price or someone starts producing them again.