nice story about an IH scout

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larry@stinescorner

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

while talking with my friends dad this weekend,we asked him what was the best truck he ever had, His answer was the IH scout. It would go almost anywhere he wanted it to go, A Ford salesman wanted to sell him a Broncho when they first came out, My friends father said if it will climb the hill across the street from my house, I will buy one,since my scout is getting old, The salesman came over,Pa was sitting on the porch as the salesman made it half way up the hill and came over and said to Pa I made it half way,but your scout cant get to the top either! Pa said,I made that road with my scout,take your Ford back to the showroom!

 

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LJD

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I wore out two Scouts in a row - as John Deere service vehicles. First one had the 304 V8 gasser an 2nd one a Nissan Diesel. Both were the worst handling 4WDs I've ever driven in my life. Also had horrible sheet-metal. But - mechanically they were rock-solid and would go almost anywhere. After that, I went to a Ford Courier pickup which was indestructible. Then a Ranger when they first came out. That Ranger always had something wrong with it.

 

OP

OP

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larry@stinescorner

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

he said his had a 4 cyd that looke like a v8 split in half, I wish you were there to tell him you didnt like the IH scout,that would have been interesting! lol

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

That 152 was half of the 304 V8 engine.
Later Bob

 

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Old Roy

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I had a 79 Scout II really liked it.. body went so bad we just used it at camp along the river
I was meaning to get it up to higher ground before the spring thaw that would flood the campground but we had an early thaw , and the ice broke too early and was imposable to get into where it was never did get it running again auto trans and engine was under water so I scrapped it.

But ya can't kill a Toyota Take a bit to watch these.
vidieo 1

Vid 3

 

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kruser

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

Yep Larry,
My buddy had a Scout bout 20 - 25 year ago. Wasn't much that little truck couldn't do!

Still like to have one - but getting pretty pricey now.

 

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Bryan inIowa

Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I had over the years 8-12 scouts . Pimped one out with 289 ford . Tough old birds but rust easy . I had posi front and rear in one ,,it would go anywhere, 152 4 cyl

 

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DENNIS MIN

Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

Larry,

The old SCOUT is/was now the GEO tracker, tough and simple.

Too bad they are hard to find cheaply as once they were.

D.

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I had a 64 Scout, it was fun to drive off road, but mechanically it was junk. The 152 engine was gutless and surprizingly hard on gas. Always wanted a Scout, but after owning one I wish I had never bought it.
Also had an 89 Dodge Dakota that was a big disappointment. Nothing but full size pickups for me now.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Brian G. NY

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I have an old Scout (what"s left of it) that has the 152 CID half a V-8 engine with the Borg-Warner truck 4-speed with "granny" gear.
When it was still running, it was one heckuva woods truck. In low range and in creeper it would barely crawl. Never liked it as a road vehicle altho the P.O. bought it new and drove it for nearly 20 years back and forth to work about 20 miles one way.

 

jm.

Well-known Member

Location

Dover TN

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

My life time I have been luck enough to own 9, 3 of which were purchased new. Nothing about them favors a geo or what ever the other poster mentioned. Pure ih all the way. Went to the ih Memphis depo and helped drive the first ones for a prade when they were first put on the market. Ended up buying one of the first 80 ever b uilt. Have a 79 now valued at over 15,000 and I would, take that for it. There were the first suv s . Problem was all ih dealers were out in the rural areas and the people purchasing the suv s were in the city.

 

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2x4

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I had one too. Agree with you. Any destination past the front gate took half a day to get to & half day back. Top speed...what? 40 mph. Only good thing about them was twin gas tanks. Rainy mornings it wouldn't start; spark plug wires were porous & running over a mud puddle would also kill them for half day or longer. 4 cyl. engine used as much as 8 cyl. pickup. My friend. Bob Smith, had couple & tried to get more parts to make on about 20 yrs ago & that's the last Ive seen of'em.

 

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oldtanker

Well-known Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I had a 70 800A, 232 in line 6 and Borg-Warner auto, posi rear and limited slip front. The body did rust bad before I got rid of it but it would go anywhere and would run 70 plus MPH. For the time it was made was a great vehicle. They did rust out faster than anything else on the road.

Rick

 

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big a

Member

• Feb 20, 2012

• #1

I have had several Originals, 80's and 800's over the years. Loved them all, but they had their limitations...vacuum wipers, fuel tanks rust out, clutch was kind of weak, broke 2 differential carriers in the rear axles, and the heater is the biggest joke I ever saw!
All that said, I find myself wanting another one bad! If I had my pick, it'd be an 800, with the 196 4 banger. I had one of these that would get an honest 18mpg, if you drove it nice.

I remember one Christmas, cold as a bankers heart out, and my Scout (a 1966 80) was all that would start. I had 2 boat tanks in the back, for fuel tanks, since I was fabricating new ones for it, and the passenger seat was upholstered with Golden Harvest seed sacks and baler twine. I picked up a hitchhiker just east of Tecumseh, NE, going to the same town I was.
He hopped in and looked around, and said "Man...I think you are worse off than I am!"
I get a good laugh out of that every time I think of it!

 

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LJD

Well-known Member

• Feb 21, 2012

• #1

I'm not sure there is as standard definition to the word "SUV." But, the mid-to-late 40s Willys four-door, 4WD wagons and also the Jeepsters met the qualifications - as far as I can tell. Willys marketed them as "family utility vehicles." Scout came more then 10 years later.

 

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dhermesc

Well-known Member

• Feb 21, 2012

• #1

And even though it was half of a 304 it weighed twice as much as most V8s. I just sold a 1961 with an extra 152 engine and transmission. The guy walked into my shop and "thought" he was going to pick that 152 up and carry it out. I loaded it with my tractor.

 

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greygoat

Well-known Member

• Feb 21, 2012

• #1

I just sold my 1965, Scout 80...got $500 for it,
with a snowplow, and after reading this forum, I
feel sorta sad for selling it. But, you could see the ground from the drivers seat, any way you
looked, it was rusted out so bad. I was going to do a valve job, and found head cracked, so put
on an Army Surplus head, still wrapped in foil
and cosmoline, that had Stellite valves, and seats. The frame was fully boxed, by the way! It
ran so nice, but body rust scared me. In an
accident, the body might have come off the frame.

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Feb 21, 2012

• #1

Ol IH trucks are like Jehovah witnesses ...
You cant get the doors shut on ether one a them.

 

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Bill(Wis)

Well-known Member

• Feb 22, 2012

• #1

I was assigned to test projects at Yuma Proving Ground when the Scout first came out. In an effort to "save money" the Jeeps we were using were replaced with brand new Scouts. I didn't like them because they had a fixed steel top and although it was white it was awfully hot inside them in 120F+ heat. Also made it difficult to hop in and out. It wasn't long, however, before a directive came out limiting them to "on road use only". That eliminated them for me because we were testing stuff out in the middle of nowhere. I went back to the Jeeps which wasn't easy. I had to draw a couple out of the salvage yard.