Dad’s Old Scout

[Ulu]

Dad bought this Scout new in 1963, up in Moses Lake Wa. When it rotted out we put a 1967 body on it that came from Phoenix.

I have a lot of history with this old Scout. I rode all over America (west of the Mississippi) in the tiny back seat. I helped my dad swap the engine and swap the body too. I sandblasted the whole frame and re-painted it for him.

 

I first drove stick, in this Scout, in 1970. I remember my dad told me not to ride the clutch!

 

It came to me when my dad passed in 2002, but it hasn’t been driven at all since 1985. The engine was frozen when I got it. Badfroze. Hammertime.

When I first opened the hood in 2002 it was packed full of leaves and possum poop. It took me hours with a stick & the hose to wash it all out (There is surely still some inside the heater.) There was a dead rat in the car, so . . . Yuck.

 

I closed the hood and paid a guy to tow it to my house in late December of 2002 weeks after we put dad to rest out in the pioneer cemetery. (Dad got a 21 gun salute. Thank you Lord for that.)

 

The tarp was rotting off from sun. I finished the job today. It has been 20 long years since I even opened the hood. I think it’s time.

 

Time to . . . O M G . . . look inside.

Plenty of Severe possum pee corrosion evidence.

No damage to the stainless steel cable from the possums. I’m the one who fouled it.

 

Well I’m not gonna get this cleaned up before dinner.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Ulu

[oldodge41]

I spent some time in old Scouts in my teen years. Not fast machines, but they would climb about anything. My cousin had both a wagon type and the pickup style. We called the pickup "Bucket a day", because you could haul about a bucket full of coal or ashes a day in that tiny bed. I'll be watching your progress intently.

[DJ194950]

What you planning for it??

 

Shine and admire with memories or repair and run?

 

Still thinkin"?

 

DJ

[Ulu]

Ummm….I have options.

more pix soon guys….

[kencombs]

IH and GM (Pontiac) did that 1/2 a V8 thing.  GM had real issues with the timing chain and released a redesign.  And they shook something awful, but made lots of power with the 4bbl.  Did IH have any problems like that? 

[JBNeal]

that oughta buff out

[Dan Hiebert]

Awesome.  I have many fond memories of bombing around Texas in one of those tiny back seats of my Dad's Scout.  We lived in Dallas at the time.  We went through two of those older models, but I don't remember the years, first was a green pick-up that he traded for a red wagon style because of the room thing.  Many hunting and fishing trips, and annual trips to Padre Island with dad, mom, my brother, and the (big) dog.  Still can't figure how we all fit with all the camping gear, but he did have a roof rack on the wagon that wasn't for show.  Dad put an air conditioner in the wagon that was mounted between the front seats, I still remember it blowing snow on really humid days.  "Traded up" for a Scout II after we moved to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  We moved there because Dad joined the USBP, which I mention for the vehicles they used, lots of those early Scout models, and IH Travelalls.  Those Scouts could go just about anywhere, but they couldn't outrun anything.  A friend in high school in west Texas (Presidio) had one, too.  It was topless, six of us took it to the desert where the rear axle broke.  We tried to limp back using the front wheel drive, but the rear axle wouldn't stay in.  That was a long, hot walk.  Didn't mean to highjack your thread, but your original post brought back a lot of memories, thanks for posting, and I'll certainly follow along if you decide to continue posting your progress.     

[Los_Control]

For some reason I think the 4 cyl was called the "Hurricane"?  Awesome lil engines.

Long time ago 1985 or so, a 1963 scout came up for sale down the street from me. I had a 1972 CJ5 so was not interested but a buddy of mine wanted a 4x4..

We went and looked at it. Think they wanted $400 for it & would not start, bought it for $200 & drug it down the street to my house.

I think it needed a coil or points, we had it figured out but did a complete ignition tune up on it. He drove it home and for years after that ... he still may have it I dunno.

 

Just thinking many of us have memories about these old scouts.

At 25 years old, I felt driving a old flathead pilothouse or a 63 scout was equivalent to driving your old Ford 8N tractor to town.

My how times change  

 

[Young Ed]

Lots of fun had in Dad's 75. His is a V8 auto. Been a MN plow truck for probably most of its life. 25k miles showing. Probably either 125 or 50(from all the reversing during plowing) Super rusty 

 

 

[Dodgeb4ya]

"For some reason I think the 4 cyl was called the "Hurricane"?  Awesome lil engines."

Willy's had a "Super Hurricane" six.

The Scout had the Corn Binder V-8 engine cut in half as I remember as the std engine.

[Plymouthy Adams]

at one time in its life the slant four, half of the 304 weighing in at 152 cubes was known as the COMANCHE

[Ulu]

IHC had a 304, 345 or 396 Comanche V8 in the small truck line. My ‘61 IHC pickup had the 304. Sorry but no known Photos exist.

 

For Scouts they made Comanche 198cid big four, and 152cid little four. I don’t believe they ever cut the 345 in half to make a 172.5.

 

I have the old manuals for them, and for the light duty international harvester pick up trucks from the early 60s.(4” thick) Compare it to those skinny Honda factory manuals.

 

 

I don’t know what the recurrent problems might have been. I think the problems we had were ones that were fairly typical. They overheated in the desert and they rusted out in the snow. All cars do that.

 

My dad was a customizer and a hot rodder and he wanted to put a 289 Bronco engine in his Scout. He said that the international V-8 engines were way too heavy and he was right. Even bought a hydroformed scatter shield drilled for the Scout transmission, but he couldn’t get anybody to make him an input shaft.

 

My parents gave me that engine brand new in a crate and it never went into the Scout. It went into a used Ford coupe dad bought me when I graduated high school. Ancient days…

 

The frozen engine that’s in the car is the ‘67 big four. But I have another ‘67 engine which is very rare. We’ve never run it since my dad bought this in 1974. He said it only had 42,000 miles and it’s a factory turbo engine. It’s been a garage decoration for 48 years. Every now and then I kick it over so it doesn’t seize up.

 

The Turbo-Comanche slant four.

I believe that’s based on the 198. This is the first time I’ve uncovered it in years.

 

I have a feeling I could get a lot more power out of an international four-cylinder engine using some modern technology.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sniper]

8 hours ago, Dan Hiebert said:

IH Travelall

 

We used to use one of those at Miramar to track down pilots that ejected, it was fitted with all sorts of DF and radio gear and was rolled at least once in it's life.  While I was assigned that duty I had to teach my noobs how to drive a stick on that thing, lol

 

What a tank.

[Ulu]

I have never driven a Travelall, but I have driven an international bobtail with the big V-8. I had to take milk and eggs and other commissary goods from Hill field outside of Ogden, down to Salt Lake and across the desert to Tooele and Dugway.

 

They also had a Ford truck for those same deliveries but by comparison it felt like a pick up.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I looked up the turbo 4 for 67 and per the IH page this was based on the 152 engine only.    In 65 last year for 152 non turbo and introducing turbo for 65, 66-67 L4 without turbo then it would have been the 196 L4  So 65 was the only year for 3 L4 options.  When I first move to where I live now the neighbor had two of these early models and my brother in law bought one new I believe in 1975, Scout II  and still has that vehicle to this day.  We called it the cheap Jeep...

[Young Ed]

6 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I looked up the turbo 4 for 67 and per the IH page this was based on the 152 engine only.    In 65 last year for 152 non turbo and introducing turbo for 65, 66-67 L4 without turbo then it would have been the 196 L4  So 65 was the only year for 3 L4 options.  When I first move to where I live now the neighbor had two of these early models and my brother in law bought one new I believe in 1975, Scout II  and still has that vehicle to this day.  We called it the cheap Jeep...

Dad's is a 75 II xlc. Basically heavier duty to circumvent the catalytic converter rules- I think the same loophole the little red express trucks used. 

I used to be on an IH email list and those guys all complained about the jeep guys going after their suspensions. One guy actually came out to his parts truck to find the axles were stolen

[oldodge41]

I had a 1970 International pickup truck back in about 1979. It was a short bed, 4x4, 304 V8, with three in the tree manual transmission. That truck had over 200K miles on it. It had been a shop truck/parts runner for a local strip mine company. It burned some oil but always ran good. It would bind up shift linkage now and then and I carried a 32 ounce ball peen hammer I could smack the linkage with when it did it. Worst part of the truck was putting fuel in it. It fueled from the front fender just ahead of the door and you had to fuel it s-l-o-w-l-y! Impressively it wasn't a rust bucket, which most Cornbinders of the era were. I attributed that to the inches of dried mud caked under under it from its strip mine days. Traded it in on a Plymouth Trail Duster because I needed more interior space.

[Ulu]

Well some guys will freak out if I put a Toyota engine in it. But I think my dad would’ve approved. He always wanted a Land Cruiser.

 

But before I do that I will take apart the big four and see what condition it’s in. If I can bore it out and put some bigger pistons in it, It could be pretty cool. But it only has like a Holly 1920 carburetor on the top, so I’m not gonna get much power outa that.

 

But it either needs an engine that will turn 7000 RPM or an overdrive. With 4:88 gears you will not get it much over 60 on the freeway.

 

 

 

 

[Dan Hiebert]

My Dad ended his Scout days with a '72 Scout II.  (Not the same one he'd traded for in south Texas.)  He'd traded that one for a Scout II with all the bells and whistles, V8 and automatic tranny.  He did not like it, too posh for his tastes, so he only kept it a year then traded for that last '72, with a 4-banger and manual tranny.  That one we drove all over the U.S., rebuilt the engine twice.  I learned to drive in it (more importantly, drive off-road), and helping my Dad work on it is what got me interested in putzing around with old(er) cars.  He'd probably still have it if he could have found parts for it when he needed them.  Not so big a problem now, but in the mid-late '80s parts were scarce.  At the age when most boys were pining for muscle cars, I was dreaming of owning my own Scout.    

Edited January 14, 2022 by Dan Hiebert
typo

[Ulu]

I had had a big V8 coupe (got smashed) but I owned a little 152cid ‘67 scout while I was in college. I wish I still had it, but at the time I was in love with an MG.

[Plymouthy Adams]

MG  (mainly garaged)    The little British cars are a constant draw on folks...their styles are timeless in a manner but most mechanicals are high maintenance items.   I have my share of the LBC and find them for the most part very fun....mostly inexpensive and less room to store them...lol

[Ulu]

The Midget could hold 0.88 G’s on the skidpad with stock tires. That was Ferrari territory in 1964. And it was probably just as reliable as any Ferrari ever built.

[Ulu]

So I have a serious problem with organization right now.

 

I want to work on the Scout but I have the P15 all torn apart, and a whole lot of the parts are in that scout right now. I was planning to do the P 15 first until I realized how much body damage it had. The Scout is much straighter.

 

Since my plan is to cut the P15 up and customize it completely, I may end up selling a lot of it as parts. It really chaps my hide though, that I will be cutting off the straight parts of the car and keeping the most dented parts.

 

I’m going to have to re-organize the garage so I can bring in the motorcycle from my shed, and move all the Plymouth parts from the Scout into the shed & into the Plymouth itself. This would all be simpler if I had another garage.

[LazyK]

5 minutes ago, Ulu said:

S This would all be simpler if I had another garage.

ROFLMAO

no it would not, stuff expands to fit the space allocated