Interested in M3A1 Scout Car. Advice, what to look for?

[mdainsd]

Thanks! I will start looking for that thread.


edit: no joy (yet). Got 57 pages of hits on "Scout Car" but didn't find the restoration of this one. Reached by serial number and at least got the data base.

I'll keep refining my search. If anyone stumbles across the thread drop me a PM with a link please.

[mdainsd]

Found it. By Member "jesse". Unfortunately none of the photo links remain working.

[judyronM]

Here is what the knob looks like on the scout car spark advance cable.

Ron McAfee

[mdainsd]

Thanks Rob.

I'll see what i can do using that. Be a while though. The company I work for has sent me home for the duration of this virus buisiness.

[RCASSIN]

I paid $32,000 for mine about 2 years ago..r. It is a Greek return, a runner. 98 percent original. I am very happy with her. Good luck on your quest!!! Rob

[mdainsd]

Well to finish this thread...

Ive learned a ton. I have a couple observations.

The first is that 20K$ and probably more of a SCs value is the skate rail, trollies and mounts. That doesn't include the armaments.

Number two: while there are some holy grail parts, Im finding quite a selection of parts including many NOS. So far, not bad prices either.

You can find a very nice SC, running and driving, fresh mechanically with skate rail, one trolly, top bows for just a touch over 40K.

I found an older restoration as I mentioned earlier. It needs a freshening up (cosmetically). it only has 1500 miles on it since the restoration. Runs and drives excellently.

I got it home last night (finally) and spent some time just going over things today. The total of the electrical problems is no high beams and gas gauge not working. I went through and got some lube in all the hinges and worked them out. Then aligned the doors with the uppers, and the whole things with the body. Found a broken spring in one of the upper window rods, replaced that. Skate was stuck fast, over the windshield, so could not access the bolts to get it off of the rail. 5 pound sledge and a 2" diameter brass drift and I got it moved far enough to get it off. Took it all the way apart and cleaned off way to many coats of paint that had fouled the rollers and brake. Much better now.

Tomorrow i will do my engine tune up. While it runs great it smells of gas when idling. Picked up a NOS carb for it just in case.

[clintm20]

You can find a very nice SC, running and driving, fresh mechanically with skate rail, one trolly, top bows for just a touch over 40K.

Yes you can, and nice job on that. Have fun with it.

[Dawgman]

That restoration was done 10 years ago or more at a decades old prices. I think what’s happening is people know what they did the restoration for years ago and charge a lesser price than they could get in the current market. I can tell you that is way underpriced in today’s market if it has original everything and runs. You did well. There is NO way I will come close to having 40k in my initial purchase and restoration of my scout. To make it look close to factory as possible with radios, trolleys, fresh everything, Ma Deuce perched on top, new proper 8.25 non directional tires, machine shop labor on the motor, and everything else in restoration parts the total will be far North of 40k. My scout came with a TON of NOS difficult to impossible to find parts including an NOS hydrovac, intake valves, spark cable, NOS wiring harness, NOS steering wheel, rebuilt original generator, nut and armor bolts, carb parts, coil filter, horns, air intake tubes, some shielding cables, complete set of SCR 608 radios,antenna, crystals, radio mount and box, and I still had to get out there and scout the planet for parts I still needed.
Congratulations, you did really well. It will give you years of fun and satisfaction.

[mdainsd]

Thanks for the feedback. I am totally happy with it. Wish I could be out driving it but things are weird right now.

Did a minor tune up on it yesterday. Had the vacuum gauge on it and after minor adjustments it sits on 19 1/2 inches. So far that reading is the steadiest of any of my vehicles, looks like the needle is glued there. There was a missing ground strap or two, so thats been addressed, appearance more than anything.

I have a M2HB that I use on the M38, so it can be shared, as I can only drive one vehicle at a time. Yes, I would like it to have two more trollies but that doesn't have to happen immediately.

The one thing that lets it down is the steering wheel. At one time the cracks had been filled and smoothed but those repairs are failing now. I will probably just re-do it, but I would love to find an NOS steering wheel.

[clintm20]

I think what’s happening is people know what they did the restoration for years ago and charge a lesser price than they could get in the current market.

I think this is a good observation and true. I also think it is more economical to purchase an already restored vehicle (if it was restored properly) than to do the nut and bolt restoration route. Those are expensive and very hard to get to the finish line. I could never afford to buy a restored vehicle I had to buy them incomplete and search for parts, but I enjoy the parts hunt A LOT. This is all good, I was trying to help him save a little money because I know nice stuff is available for much less than one might think at first, it's just a matter of shopping around thoroughly.

[mdainsd]

Clint, your advice was right on the money. It was just serendipitous that one showed up on eBay right while I was going through this learning curve.
I too wish I could have afforded restored vehicles in the past, but was never the case. Im just finishing a nut and bolt on my WC57 and I got to say it got to be tedious at times. The SC is perfect for me, all the heavy lifting done and been through a shakedown period. What it needs is a little freshening, attend to little details and hunt for accessories. Im with you, in that I think I enjoy the hunt more than any other facet of owning/restoring these vehicles. Just tell me that I will NEVER find something and its on!

I guess Im about to start my first parts and pieces wanted thread here soon.

Again, the guidance was great!

[Dawgman]

On the other hand, I am the idiot that looks at a rusted non-running incomplete shell of a project, and says GAME ON!
Mine was neither running or restored. Give me a challenge, and I will get it completed one way or another! The one thing mine had going for it was a good uncut frame and complete drive train, unstuck engine/transmission/transfer case.

[John Neuenburg]

I enjoyed my M20 and drove it a lot on the street. But there is a lot to be said for having doors, especially if you have knee or shoulder problems that make some hulled vehicles difficult to get into and out of.

Scouts have pretty good speed. A friend put a 5 speed from a Studebaker US6 in his, and it goes faster. Could be a good option if you plan to go 50+ a lot. But he said there is a big gap between two of the ratios.

Another good thing is all of your rear passengers can have their own machine gun if you can afford it!

[mdainsd]

A follow up on the SC.
It took weeks to get anything out of the DMW. First they lost the paperwork that included all the original stuff, took almost a month to "find it", but now they are "working on it". WTH does that mean? Its a ten minute process to rubber stamp all the stuff I paid a registration service to prepare. But then again it is the state of California. After I dealt with them several times to no avail I mentioned I would get my state assemblyperson involved. I finally got a temporary operating permit so I could start enjoying it.

This past weekend I took it out for a couple of outings around my neck of the woods...

Some observations:

Man are these things gutless. I am no stranger to Military vehicles, but this is the weakest performer that I have owned, by far (It's also my first bit of armor, so maybe I should be managing expectations better). The surrounding areas to my home are fairly hilly. Most required second gear at about 20mph. The locals don't like that and made it clear! Then there are the brakes, which work Ok, but have to be used on all downhills as the engine braking alone is not enough to hold her back. And Im not sure about the comments of driving these distances at 50mph. 40 sounds like it wants to come apart. Note: I am comparing (probably wrongly) to the JXDs in my searchlights. But those are governed to 1,150rpm, really just a fast idle.

However, the cool factor is way up there. When I wasn't holding up traffic on inclines people were really engaged with it. Lots of phone cameras being used as folks drove by.

I may have to give it more of a chance and get it out on some level country roads which we have and see how it goes. It is not uncomfortable, which is welcomed, but it is noisy, hard to carry on a conversation though. I am going to remove the front drive shaft as I can feel the thing binding up on the blacktop.

In closing I think I would say the jury is still out...but I am continuing to work on the minor details and issues, I still enjoy that.

[judyronM]

Might be a situation where the engine is weaker than you think. Pulling 11K down the road is a load for any engine and put several years on since a major overhaul may have been done, there is bound to be HP loss. Don't let this sour your idea about a scout car. More than likely any MV from WW2 will not have all the power we expect (or hope), especially with the new vehicles we are accustomed to driving in this day and time. Little things like advancing the timing a bit and even getting non-ethanol gas can make quit a difference.

Ron M.