Staying on the Straight and Narrow

Got some garage time today. Installed the Steer Straight brace. That was like 15 minutes, so had to find something else to use up my day. Ended up adjusting the alignment of the driver's side door. Much better now, although it still sounds like a tin can when you shut it. Will have to sound deaden the new doors before they go on. Also wire brushed the front and rear frame crossmembers so the hitch and bumpers can go on. I ended up POR-15-ing the rear and primed and painted the front with Krylon Rust Tough. Just because I could.

Also bought two gallons of Evap-o-Rust and put 'em both in a 5 gallon pale and dropped in the AC/Alternator bracketry, a R-series radio delete, and a few other small pieces. I'll leave 'em in 'til tomorrow and see how they look.

Pulled off the front shocks, too. The new ones and the shackles should be here tomorrow. If I had been thinking, I would have asked Jeff to put a couple of thrust washers in with my order. Doh! [editor's note: He didn't have them anyway.]

Despite this progress, my to-do list stands at 56 (and that's not including the paint prep 'cuz it's so far off). My 'Gotta get done before Pinelands' list is at 19. Tick, tick, tick.

Shocking

This weekend I got all my lights working properly. No more getting the bird flown at me by people who don't understand old school hand signals when I am turning. I also determined that the intermittent wiper module that I have won't work on my set up. Apparently Scouts used two different types of motors and mine is the wrong one for this aftermarket piece. Good thing it was free.

Yesterday I got my shocks, shackles and springs ordered. Should be here next week.

Now I am debating whether to move up the Aussie installation or concentrated on some of the other little things that need doin before Pinelands. Methinks that best bet is to get all mechanical and maintenance things taken care of first. Better to have a good, safe running Scout with an open rear on the trail than a locker that breaks down.

And the color is...

My color choice for Hanky has been decided the easy way. I had paint ready for my mother's horse trailer, a Ford gun metal gray. But, she went and sold the trailer, so now I have a gallon of paint and no trailer to put it on. Looks like hanky is going to be gray. Eventually. Maybe with black rockers and stripes.

Have You Grown?

Why yes, I have. 3.5" to be exact since Friday.

Got that pesky spring cut off on Sunday morning and finished up putting the lift springs on and rolled her out of the shop. Put in brake line extensions in the front. Found that a section of heater hose with a bit cut out of the diameter works very sell as a bushing for the line going through the original mounting point. Snug as a bug in a rug.

Didn't do a good job of bleeding the brakes, kinda ran out of fluid. No worries, ran down to Advance and picked up some new stuff and did a total flush/bleed. Now the brakes are nice and tight. Now just need to get and install some extended shackles in the front and get some shocks installed. I hear that Rancho has a nice rebate going. Ran it around yesterday and today without the shocks to see how it feels and it rides pretty darned nice. The springs are pretty stiff, but that's ok with me. I don't think I'll need a lot of shock to dampen them.

Once I got the springs done, I put on the new bikini. Wasn't sure how I'd like the white, but I think it's growing on me. We'll see how color fast it is vs. Pinelands mud.

3, 2, 1, Lifto... Aw Crap

Had some free time on Friday, so figured I'd see if I couldn't get the lift springs installed, or at least well on their way (4" Rough Country). Got the rears in and the extended brake hose hooked up. Piece of cake.

So this morning, once I rolled out of bed when the sun was high and warm, I got back at it. The driver's side front went on no problem. The passenger side went fine until... what is it they say about that last bolt? Yeah, well the rear spring bolt is frozen to the bushing sleeve. To make matters worse, the bushing spins in the spring eye. Tried every fashion of removal I could think of to no avail. So, tomorrow morning, I'll cut the bolt out. Should be enough clearance to get the glade of the circular air cut off tool in there.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be riding high(er). 4" to be exact.

Doin' What It Was Made To Do

Heavy D got to go out and play today, taking a load of yard waste to the dump and bringing home a load of mulch. A ton of the stuff in the back and it rides like a dream, just as I would expect.

After bringing home the load, I piled into Hanky and headed down the street to Brian H's place to join he and Alan and help tear down his Scout to swap out the inner fenders. Of course, once  we got it apart (after fighting with tacky repairs by a PO), we found that there is actually more to fix than just putting on new inners. Not surprised you say? Right, not surprised.

Got it down to the studs, then put it all back together again (with limited bolt usage) so Brian could cover it up and not incur the wrath of his neighbors.