Banjo

Understandable... Guess we’ll move on with it then. These Scouts are very cool little trucks though, I’d love to find one in a condition more realistic for restoration. Thanks for all the advice guys! This forum is awesome!

I’d love to get it back in working order. I have the time, but the cost concerns me. The electrical problems are what intimidates me right now. Are these things complex at all as far as wiring goes? Would I be tearing the dash to pieces to inspect wires?

I’m starting to wonder myself. She floors look decent. I think of i pulled this floor covering out and cleaned it up it would be fine. But yeah, the brakes, potential electrical issues, doors don’t shut, rusted body parts, I really don’t know what to do here.

Certainly. Sounds like this truck may be far more involved than I anticipated.

Well, I finally got that driver door open with a screwdriver. Found a nice colony of ants under the floor mat over there. Pulled the door panel, looks like the outside handle isn’t connected to anything. You can just push the button and it feels like nothing is engaging. The inside handle seems to be connected but the latch is just so seized up that it doesn’t do anything. Guess I need to pull the latch assembly out and free it up? Also got all 4 tires aired up. Brought a battery and some jumper cables along, just hooked them to the cables on the truck and then to battery. No signs of life. Headlights or blinkers didn’t seem to work. After a few minutes it started to get that burning electrical smell inside the cab pretty strong so I unhooked it. Hopefully it’s alright, didn’t see any smoke. Any idea if the key would need to be turned on for anything to come to life? Didn’t have a key to try with today.

Well, finally pulled all the leaves and trash out of the bed. About that stage 4 rust cancer... think i’m gonna try to do a nice looking wood bed floor. Brake lines have rusted through too. Spewed fluid when my buddy hit the pedal!

That brings up a good point. The place where the battery sits in the engine bay is rusted through a good bit. hope a battery will still sit there without falling through 😂

Now the coolant recovery bottle is completely dry. There’s no cap and there are leaves and stuff inside. Don’t know what’s in the radiator itself right now, forgot to look. Do I need to clean out this reservoir and fill?

Awesome. Thanks guys. I’ll put that on the to do list!

Where/what do I need to look for to make sure mine is alright?

You got that right. Wouldn’t dare crawl under it where it sits. I’ll definitely at least get it pushed out to a more clear area to work in. I’m a little afraid to hook a chain to the rear and pull with my truck. Don’t know about the condition of those bumper mounts by the looks of the tailgate...

Also, there’s no pavement around where it’s sitting to get under it and work on. I only live about half a mile from where it sits now. Would hate to have to have it towed such a short distance and i don’t have a suitable trailer. Think it would be alright to put her in neutral and flat tow home before starting any work?

Will do. Pulled the gas cap and took a sniff in there. It wreaks.

Yeah, they’re some long time family friends. This was an old hunting truck from what I know. Just parked it and moved on as far as I know. I don’t think they’re quite ready to let go of it yet but I plan to get ahold of it in the near future. This will be my first project of this type so I certainly need guidance on it. I’d consider myself pretty mechanical inclined but i’ve never torn into an engine. Thanks for all the help and kind words guys!

Also, I couldn’t get the drivers door to open at all. Inside or out. The button on the handle pushes in fine but nothing happens. Passenger side opens fine so I got inside and tried from there, nothing. I assume the latch is seized. How do I go about freeing that up?