[WIP] 1964 Scout LS600H conversion

[robertwa]

I bought a roll-cage to Mad Max this rig up a little. It's custom cut for the Scout, and comes pre-notched for welding.

This is how it should look installed (obv not my Scout)

[jrbe]

They sell sfi roll bar padding for cages. It's pricey but worth considering if the cage is anywhere near your head. Or where your head stretched to in a crash. The padding is almost as hard as balsa wood. Hitting your head on a roll cage hurts bumping into it. If your head impacts it in a mild crash it can be lethal. It's not just the hardness but the small diameter.
The pool noodle padding is worthless in a head to cage crash.

[robertwa]

The original Scout headlight buckets were rusted out and parts are really expensive to come by. Luckily there are a ton of aftermarket parts for Jeeps, so picked up a set of DRL LED leadlamps. For now I just painted my rusty chrome bezels black, but may get new chrome ones later. The headlamp has amber turn signal capability on the LED ring

Also got my six pack of WS fluid, so need to tackle that soon

I also need to do the transfer-case oil and both differentials, but will wait until I can at least prove I can get this thing running first

And, as a Christmas bonus, one of my local auto parts stores is closing down and most things are 80% off. Been in there 4 times already. There are guys in there running around like crazy filling shopping carts with stuff they probably don't need

[robertwa]

Came back from a few days out of town to find my nice new adapter all machined up from jlc:

[robertwa]

Slow progress, but got the adapter mounted at least

[Bratitude]

Slow progress, but got the adapter mounted at least
20250105_164706.jpg

Nice, is it anodized? Or planing on panting it?
Just concerned over the dissimilar metals reaction.

[robertwa]

Nice, is it anodized? Or planing on panting it?
Just concerned over the dissimilar metals reaction.

Anodized.... this is what I chose:

Material: Aluminum 6061
Surface Finish: Bead blasting + Anodizing-Natural-Matte
Tightest Tolerance: ISO 2768 medium
Surface Roughness: Ra3.2
Threads: Yes

[Bratitude]

Anodized.... this is what I chose:

Material: Aluminum 6061
Surface Finish: Bead blasting + Anodizing-Natural-Matte
Tightest Tolerance: ISO 2768 medium
Surface Roughness: Ra3.2
Threads: Yes

should be okay, i would throw a lay of paint on the steel ends to be on the safe side being is exposed to the elements harshly

[robertwa]

With the front and rear driveshafts installed, I put the Scout up on jack stands and got everything spinning. Filled up the transmission with Toyota WS fluid. Still need to change the fluid in both differentials and the transfer case. So far the LS600H inverter seems to behave when Zombie is set to GS450H settings. I'm really excited to be so close to actually moving this under its own power and parking it backwards so I can work on the other side more easily.

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

Awesome! Nicely done!

[robertwa]

It's been hard to find time this last month, but I got to work on the charge port this weekend. There are lots of gas cap door assys for Jeep Wranglers on Amazon for around $25 and found one that should work.

[robertwa]

My brother was visiting from Dublin, and we were able to make a bit of progress. The Scout actually made it out of the yard for the first time since I dragged it in! Did a quick run out to the end of driveway and back. Need to tighten up steering and get cooling and charging back together again before taking it much further.

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

The Scout actually made it out of the yard for the first time since I dragged it in!

Awesome, Congratulations!

[Bratitude]

best feeling, congrats!

[robertwa]

Bodywork, bodywork, bodywork. Don't buy a rust bucket. My goal is to get this thing halfway respectable, so I don't get the side eye from the neighbors.

This Scout came with (no joke), options from the dealer back in 1964. One of these options was farmer hooks. I've torn clothing and skin from these damn things over the last couple years, finally they have to go.

Stripped and ready to weld closed some holes

Pulling dents

Finally all in primer. Problem now is it brings out every single little ding, so lots more filling and block sanding to do

[Bratitude]

Don't buy a rust bucket.

hey! Weight reduction is key… and rust is lighter than carbon

Also the patina was nice. But hey…. That’s just my junkyard roots coming out

[robertwa]

Continuing to dial things in. Turned off regen for now as it was quite juddery at times. Have ventured out for longer drives and even gave it a bit of oomph.

More importantly, had a visit from The Greg, and got in an episode of Good Enuff Garage

[robertwa]

Lots happening over the summer, but doesn't seem like much has changed on the Scout. However.... my BMS has taken a dive and after troubleshooting and going through the various stages of grief, I have come to the conclusion that the cell taps on my modules are likely coming loose (I repaired 2 of them during the pack build) and I need to fix all remaining 82 of the 84. This means a full pack removal and repair, meaning front end disassembly and all that. I was intending to remove the front end body panels for paint anyway, so now is the time to do it. I have now made the decision to stick in the 64kWh Chevy Bolt pack I have instead since there will be so much work regardless of which I use.

[robertwa]

I bought the 2023 Bolt pack a while ago as it was local and seemed too good to pass up. It has 8 10S modules and 2 8S modules.I got a leg up from a forum member here with CAD of custom module endcaps to make mounting easier. Plan is for 6×10S modules up front, and 2×10s+2×8s under rear seat. This time, I want to keep everything more accessible.

[robertwa]

For BMS, the plan is to use salvaged tesla slave bmb's. Picked up 20 cheap on ebay @$9ea

[attachment=0]20250821_133930.jpg[/attachment

[tom91]

Please note the Bolt modules will need to be housed in a water tight enclosure (like all batteries should). I have seen them go bad just from being stored improperly, they develop an isolation fault and worst case can start to have excessive self drain.

[robertwa]

Yes, batteries will be fully enclosed in boxes. For the rear bench seat battery box, I'm going to try and mimic the basic design of the original bench seat (that I don't have), except it will sit higher. I'm undecided whether to have it front facing (as per original) or mounted further forward and rear facing. Amazon has a number of rear seat cushion options for golf carts that look like they may work to top off the box.

[robertwa]

This is a stock image of the original seat

Here is where I'm at:

[robertwa]

Received my golf cart bench seat, so had to do a rough test fit

I could lower by 2-3 inches by cutting out the floor and dropping it to the frame rails, but that's not in the plan for now.

[robertwa]

Upgraded Zombie to 2.30 over the weekend. It's fantastic! Huge thanks to all the developers. It's night and day to where it was. I suspect my AWD drivetrain with no guibo cushioning must be one of the harshest setups around, and it is really smooth now. Still need some dialing in of parameters, it's smoothest running on either 1 motor only.