Scout-Subaru mashup?

SurlyOBS

New member
So after owning 7 Subarus in the past 9 years I find myself without one and miss having the rumble in my life.  I bought a 1969 International Scout 800 with the intention of putting the body on a running chassis with the same wheelbase (100'').  Then I did some googling on Subaru buggies and lifted Subarus and remembered that my Forester was a 99.4'' wheelbase.  

Here's the mashup:  Cut the top of the unibody off a running driving Forester (!) Weld supports for the strut towers and mounts for the Scout 800 body to rest on/around the Forester pan.  Merge Scout dash with Forester firewall somehow.  Hook up lights and stuff, register as Scout (?) Drive.

Am I crazy?  The Scout needs a roll cage anyway so it might as well tie the chassis/pan together.  I figure it would be a lot of cutting and welding but would leave me with an easily to service Subaru that I could cruise around in.  Way better then 4 wheel drum brakes and more power then the IH motors had in the scouts anyway.  

Thoughts, comments welcomed.  

 

i-wagon

Well-known member
Sounds like a hell of a time consuming project, but i really like the idea. Do it up if you're confident. May want to build a tube chassis in to the unibody for rigidity/ strength

 

SurlyOBS

New member
Yes, a tube chassis would be part of the plan.  It would also form the roll cage and make the whole thing rigid.  Since the Scout body is made up of flat sheet steel on all the inside parts it would be easy to have the cage pass through the body to the "floor"  Heck, might just be easier to hack out the scout floor and use the Subaru one.  Don't need one floor mounted over another one...

Now I need to hunt down a working Forester/impreza that is not too rusty but still is cheap.  I'm not paying much money for a car to then cut it in half.  

Anyone got leads on a rolled Forester that works.  All the rollover damage would just be cut off.

Mainely Sawzall Meetup...

 

Latest posts

Back
Top