Stupid Scrambler Question

[bogateer]

My neighbor gave me a '70-ish AA Scrambler as thanks for doing a bunch of maintenance work on his Ford Bronco (when I first moved in across the street I saw it in his yard and struck up a conversation with him about it...telling him I remember seeing them in Popular Mechanics Magazine as a kid and thinking they were really cool...the Scrambler, that is...not the Bronco). My goal is to eventually restore it...assuming I can either find parts or it's not so far gone to preclude rebuilding.

My first task in hopefully restoring it is to get it across the street from his yard to mine. Sorry for what may be a stupid question but aside from rust and inactivity (it's been sitting outside a LONG time)...should it roll on its own? I don't want to further screw it up trying to winch it across with my Jeep or by pushing it with several friends. At 500+ pounds I believe it's gonna be tough to carry. Is there anything in the drivetrain I need to disconnect before trying to winch it out of place? What about the clutch steering system or however it steers? Am I safe trying to pull it or should I jack it up onto a trailer or dolly?

Again sorry for what may be a stupid question but I'm just learning about these things...and like a doctor (or at least as a doctor should) my first goal is to "do no harm." I just don't want to damage it any further than it already might be from sitting for years and years.

Thanks!

[ARGOJIM]

If the chains are rusted stiff cut them off and it should roll by hand with a friend if you can get the tires to hold air. If not a trailer makes life easy.

[bogateer]

Thanks Jim

[hydromike]

If the chains are rusted and tight, just lop them off with a set of cheap bolt-cutters. Bolt cutters blaze through 40 chain.

You can always just slide it on to a 4x8' sheet of plywood and drag it across the road. A good-many projects here at Shoestring come in against their will by similar methods.

[bogateer]

Thanks Mike,

That's a great idea with the plywood...much simpler than anything I was conjuring.

Say...is there any wisdom to saving the chain rather than cutting it? I'm thinking now would be a good time to invest in a chain breaker, especially since I have two motorcycles (well...one's a shaft drive so I only need it for the one). I'm not sure how salvageable chains are nor how difficult it will be to replace the chains on the Scrambler. On the other hand if, after all this time they're shot I can save myself some temporary time and money and just cut it to get it across the street. I've salavaged bike chains before...but those are just one-person powered, not several horsepower...and generally in decent shape.

According to the parts diagram there's a master link that looks removeable. I'm not sure how hard that would be to find though, particularly if the chain is rusted. And the Scrambler is not in the most accessible of locations.

[hydromike]

I'd suggest scrapping all of the chains if they look at all rusty. You'll want to make sure the sprockets are in decent shape as well since they can chew up new chain in a heartbeat if they're shark-finned or really pitted from rust. Each section of chain will have a master link, but that's not important if you just plan on cutting them off.

[ARGOJIM]

Take a picture or two of the routing and count and write down the number of links to each sprocket to save that question later.

Self help in the best help.

[bogateer]

Thanks Mike and Jim,

I'll see about taking a gander at the chains to see what condition they're in and that'll help decide my next course of action. If they look really bad I'll just cut them off. If they appear to be in decent shape I'll probably invest in a chain breaker in order to try to salvage them. I'll need one sooner or later anyhow.

Thanks again for you help,

Rob