Scout Racing

[tsm1@domain.elided (Tom Mandera)]

Hmm... looks like I need to track down one of those "IH Racing Team" flags
and a "We Race Farm Equipment" one, too....

I went to Bozeman last Tuesday to make repairs to my friend's racer.. '77
Scout II, 304V8, wide T19, 3.54 gears, 31" tires, stock stock stock... no
top, no doors, full cage, no tailgate, tubes where the doors would be, and
the mandatory netting... buckets, 5pt harness, and a working radio believe
it or not..

He'd broken the ball stud from the frame side, and we welded it back in
place, put my new bushings in, and we had a racer ready to go!

Friday night we started the racing - Tuff Truck competition!

I rode in 6 races... 3 as a passenger, then I drove the Scout 3 times.  As
you know, stock Scouts have ZERO up travel up front.. and those jumps hit
HARD... but we didn't break a thing.  In fact, my friend Erik took 3rd
place, behind a 1/2 finish of a husband/wife in a VERY built Early Bronco
that just soaked up the bumps.  We even hammered the Banzai jump on our 3rd
heat, and had that ol' Binder sailing through the air... and there's nothing
like the rumble of a 304 with dual glasspacks roaring around the race track... 

It hurt tho'... sore back, stiff neck... and VERY muddy.. it rained all night.

A Jeep J10 pickup was in the race, stock, with the intention of destroying
the truck... they didn't do too bad... sailing through a turn right into the
fence, when they were done, they'd trashed the radiator, broken the
windshield, damaged the grille, the tailgate and rear quarters.

Good news tho' - Erik & I are buying it for $200 now.  360V8, T184spd, Dana
20, with '44s front/rear.  Erik is trading the 360 for his old built 401 (in
a CJ5!  The new owner of the Jeep wants a more streetable motor).  What does
this do with Scouts?  More good news:  Erik is pulling the 304V8/T19/D20
from the Scout, and throwing the 401/T18/D20 in it's place.. 200lbs less up
front, and gobs more grunt.  For my part in buying the Jeep J10, I get the
304/wide T19/D20... more on where that's going later...

We'll also sell the p/s unit, D44 axles, tires, etc.  Then cut the truck in
half to make a trailer from it... not a bad deal at all!

Saturday was the straight line dirt drags... Erik drove his Jeep (CJ7, 350
crate motor, TH350, 3.31 gears, 33s, D300) to a first place "Street Stock
<400c.i.d." win, and gave the big blocks a run for their money.  6.5 second
100yard runs... that Jeep *moves*.

I ran his Scout... on Erik's advice, I ran HI range, launching in granny
1st, then jamming 2nd... and lost to a stock 6cyl Commando.  Oh well, it was
fun... and I still couldn't get over the rumble of the dual glasspacks..  I
still got a second place award...  2 out of 2 in the stock class.  ;)

No Tuff Truck for us Saturday.. too sore, and more racing on Sunday...

Sunday (today still) we ran the Scout in the obstacle course.  We didn't win
any prizes, but we had fun crashing the Scout through the course.

We discovered the front bump stops don't hold up well to TuffTruck.. Sunday
morning we were fabbing some custom bump stops from 3 motor mount pucks from
NAPA... ;)

I had fun jumping the Scout through the TuffTruck arena.. I was quite
impressed.  I knew Scouts would take a beating, but... I was sore and
hurting when I was done, but the Scout was ready for more!

I'm waiting to hear from Erik tomorrow about how he did in TuffTruck
tonight.. he races his Scout 3 days out of the year, and tonight's the end
of Erik's "racing season" (Once we drop the 401 in and find a trailer, Erik
might be doing more racing... and me, too..), so he'll be going all out.
His 3rd place finish on Friday was good for $100 prize... 

My neck is stiff, my shoulders stiff, and my shoulders are also a good bit
sore from the 5-pt harness.. ;)

Talked with a guy at the drag racing about Binder motors.. his advice was to
use a 345 with 392 heads... mill the 392 heads down to move the compression
back to 8:1 or so, and you get the larger ports of the 392 heads for better
flow... a little cam and some headers, and you're ready to race.. this is
good news for me.....

The *REALLY* good news... as soon as I can borrow a flat bed and something
to tow with (the '77 after I put the '72 304 in?), I'm going back to Bozeman...

I've inherited a friend's old Scout II Racer.  He's decided to go with a
Bronco chassis and coil springs (seeing my other friend's Bronco soak up
those jumps, I can see why!).

I haven't seen it, but my understanding is this:

Scout II frame.  Bed needs replaced (yeah, it's a racer, but not bed = a
higher race class that I don't want to be in).  FULL cage welded to the
frame.  *Tilt* front end for easy engine servicing.

It sports a 345V8 w/ 4bbl intake... 345 needs rebuilt (ran when parked, but
I was told a few rods were "borrowed" from it).  No tranny that I'm aware of
(he has a 727 he'll give me that needs a little work).  Dana 20.  Stock
springs, but someone else has taken the '44 axles, and replaced with
Travelall axles... I think I was told it's a 5 on 5.5" Dana 60 rear, and a
'44 front.. the bummer is they welded the axles to the springs... which I'll
have to remedy.

So... here's the plan.

Ideally, the axles are in good 'nuff shape to be *properly* attached and
then RUN.  Yank the 304 from Erik's racer, drop it into my new racer
chassis.  Pull the 345 and put it aside for a rebuild for the '72 (or to race).

The suspension will need work... Erik's Scout needs it too.

This racer said he bought 4 add-a-leafs, and put 'em all in the front, 2 on
each side, left the rear stock, and raced with that.  I may do that (at
least, we might do it on one of the racers... Erik's perhaps), or I'll buy a
set of 4" lift springs for the front... maybe a set of add-a-leafs in back
for some more travel.  Heavy duty bump stops are a must.

I don't know if I'll put the wide T19 behind my '72 304 in the '77, or put
the wide T19 on the side, and put one of my two T15 3spds into the racer
chassis.  Actually, the close ratio T19 I just acquired would work
beautifully in a race truck...

There's also another Scout II chassis that I'm getting for free as well.. I
can't remember the condition of it.. I was too busy drooling over the idea
of a half-way there race chassis being donated to the Tom Mandera Racing
Team. :-)

Hmm.. does this mean I just picked up *another* "bug"?

Gotta go find out about those IH Racing Team items... yee-haw... 

Hmm.. I need to scope out that second Scout II chassis... might be a good
platform for a T15 and a 196... put a header on the 196 and my left-over
glasspack... and I could have TWO racers... one for the 4cyl class, one for
V8... 

Uh oh... this sounds expensive and addictive...

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT - dirty, tired, sore, but still grinning ear to ear
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'72 and '77 Scout IIs
Adding more....