What might be the two greatest concerns of someone interested in an early International Scout? The most obvious is rust, and the second is how to deal with traffic when you’ve got 86 net horsepower under the hood. This particular 1963 Scout Cab-Top alleviates your concerns with a Ford 302 swap and a nearly rust-free body. It’s just about ready for the road, but the seller says it should be trailed home because it hasn’t been driven long distances; however, if you’re looking for a light project or a solid restoration candidate, the Scout is for sale here on eBay in Longview, Washington, with an asking price of $9,500 or best offer.
Engine swaps are fraught with potential catastrophes, but on the surface, this one appears to have been done well, and the seller says that the engine was swapped in 40 years ago. Whoever did the work used a Ford FE expansion tank, and the seller has gotten the engine running on the driver’s side fuel tank with a new Autolite/Motorcraft 2100 two-barrel, an excellent carburetor. Most interestingly, the Scout’s entire driveline aside from the engine has been retained, including its Warner T-90 three-speed, Dana 18 transfer case, and Dana 27 front and rear axles with standard 4.27:1 gears. While a two-barrel 302 is no powerhouse, even the most emasculated emissions version put out roughly twice the power and torque of International’s slant-four, so judicious driving might be required to keep everything in one piece. The T-90 transmission was used in later V8 Scouts, but the axles were upgraded at that time. Just something to keep in mind; anyone can make something last by not beating on it, of course.
The seller includes several undercarriage pictures, and the only serious rust on the whole truck appears to be a couple pinholes in the rear quarter on the passenger side. As you can see with the hoses and lines, the brakes appear to have been serviced at some point in the more recent past, and the master cylinder and rear shoes are new. The exhaust system is rusted and will have to be replaced.
The new buyer will also have to do something about what’s left of the driver’s seat. Fortunately, the Scout 80 was a spartan ride, so little interior work will need to be done aside from the seats.
If you are planning a restoration, the Scout will come with two original International four-cylinders, although I think that most of us would be reticent to go back to an engine that powered the Scout to sixty in about 20 seconds in contemporary road tests.
Being that compact SUVs from the 1960s are extremely popular, and solid early Scouts fairly hard to come by, I think the price is more than fair. Can you imagine how much more the seller would be asking if this were a ’68 Bronco? The engine swap makes it a little more interesting, so I can’t imagine this little International will be on the market for too long.
Well, it’s not a Jeep, but close enough for my triumphant return, pending approval, of course. I just returned from a 10 day drying out stint at the BarnFinds facility in Hawaii for the temporarily mishigosh, and now back at full pace, pending approval. Note improved avatar. The “chief, cook, and bottle washer” was cordial enough to give me a stern lecture on behavior, off camera and guess what,,,,it worked. New me? Happy Howard? Nah, too old for that, but not too old to know who my friends are.
The Scout? Love ’em, almost as much as the Jeep. 302? EXCELLENT motor, just a bit overboard, it will tear itself out of there. Again, and still, I’m a stickler for original, the V6 was pushing it, and gearing and torque, got you through the slop just fine. I’d put the 4 cyl. back in, save the 302 for a Mustang. Now, a Scout ll, way different story.
Peace all,,,,
Huh, I knew it wouldn’t last long, like an old dog, the more you beat him, the more he comes back!!!
Had one of these in the 70s, yellow with white short roof and an adequate amount of rust. Probably drove it home and never again on road. Was living in strange cottage cabin with great garage and short walk to lake Michigan. It was great for getting firewood in the surrounding woods always accompanied by George, GSD. Scout and George are long gone but I still have GSDs. Oughta get a photo of one here.
Well, if you were going to experiment with an alternative powerplant, it would be hard to go wrong with a 302. The distributor is still in the front which also means that the oil pump and sump is in the front, so it falls in line with the IH layout.
Personally, I’d rather have stayed with Binder, only installed the rest of the original engine. Parts for the small Vs are a little challenging to track down but they’re not impossible. I’ve put a number of engine kits together for customers and they’re happy with everything but the price.
Full restoration of everything else would be the order of the day for me but I also might be swayed to drag out the cans of #50 IHC Red and spray the engine accordingly. Run a pool sheet to see who spots the diversion…
Had an older friend who owned a few Scouts in the late 70s. He had one like this style, with a huge snow plow on it that I swear weighed more then the Scout. We’d be doing about 50 on the highway, and if he was drunk enough to forget where the dips in the road were, that freaking plow would dig into the roadway and damn near spin us in the opposite direction… Ah, the good old days.
One of my favorites.. IH… though I have 4 Cubs tractors…still, this would be near the top… but rust free or little rust? I think near impossible as they were rusting off the assembly line…. but fully and correctly restored they would be little š gems…
I had a really nice 1966 one in 1977, was like new. I took it up and down very steep inclines, you couldn’t hardly stop it. In off road tests (when I got the two stuck screwing around) It out pulled a Ford F100 4×4. I drove it down the face of a gravel pit until the front bumper touched and almost tipped over on it’s top ( which wasn’t on at the time). It had an over-drive but topped out at 65 MPH. so I sold it to buy a 1967 Chevy 4×4. To be honest it was a very good rig at the time.
Nice rig. 302 is a great engine- shades of Bronco. I think both halves of an IH V8 would be easier and appropriate.
International had a 304 that showed up in small school buses and the like around 1970; you would think that would be a good fit for this old Scout. Interestingly those and the 345s had lifter/cam issues, yes, that was long ago.
Now I know where Bezos got his inspiration for the Slate.
Iām waiting for the Slate. I suspect it will never happen, but the concept is a good one.
looks like a decent job not a whole lot of info provided but for almost 10k that seat should not look like that
Scouts might get more interest from folks (a la Bronco) once VW’s resurrection hits the roads.
I always wondered what sort of body a person would have to have in order to feel comfortable driving an International anything. The company seemed to have no concept of ergonomics. The driver’s seat was too far from the steering wheel so you need arms like an ape. The seats were too low. So a long torso was essential and so were short legs. The Interiors were spartan in an era most interiors would be considered spartan interiors today.
It probably got an engine swap because it is hard as hell to find parts for these. I’ve got a 1982 International S1724 and I’m so frustrated trying to hunt down brake parts. Maybe I should fix it with 5 gallons of gas and a road flare? I could invite all the neighbor’s and have a CarBQ. Sorry I had to vent.
having problems finding parts for a later S-series? They aren’t perfect but they aren’t impossible either. [email protected]. Tell me what you need and give me the last (8) digits of your VIN. Let’s see what’s out there…
I used to own a V8 swapped 63 Scout (mine was a Chevy). The IH V8 is really too large to make a nice swap in these. Even the Chevy engine was a tight fit. The Ford with front distributor is probably a better choice. The real problem is the 4 cyl driveline, especially the Dana 27 REAR axle, it’s just not up to V8 power. Plan on an axle swap!