What I Would LOVE to buy... (IH Scout)

[lizhill]

Now that I'm moving somewhere where I may actually need a 4x4:





Anyone here ever owned a Scout? This one's a 62 Scout 80, 4 cyl, rebuilt motor with 62k original miles before rebuild, one tiny rust spot, new brakes, new clutch, newer exhaust. Painted because the paint was fading, but I'd rattle-can it matte black or something anyway. REMOVABLE TOP AND FOLD-DOWN WINDSHIELD. So it would be super awesome in the summer, too.

Sounds lovely and he's only asking $2195.

Should I??

[dnyed]

Where are you moving to?

[lizhill]

Duvall. I won't be able to make it up the steep, mostly unpaved driveway in the winter if it's rainy or snowy so I'm looking for a 4x4 and I've always loved the Scout.

The whole driveway/parking area around the house (I'm renting from a young couple that owns it) is rough ground and I don't want to be driving Fletch too much up there in the winter. I could still drive my fiance's F150 when I need to, but he has to drive it to work so I can't count on being able to. So this Scout looks pretty good to me.

Cheap enough that I don't have to worry about damage, but there's a lot of new parts so I also don't have to worry (as much) about major mechanical problems that might arise.

[bug_dude]

Looks like a good buy for $2195. Should be fairly fuel efficient with the 4cyl engine, too.

[lizhill]

What I thought too... but then I drove it.

I have literally driven tractors that steer better.

Though it is very fuel efficient. The 4cyl engine is actually half of a V8, so it has all the cooling in place for a V8 but it's only 4cyl. Probably gets about the same mpg as Fletcher does (And that's how it comes STOCK, it's not some sketchy, half-a**ed mod)

Talking to some people, Scouts are notorious rust buckets and, while I'd love to own one and give it lots of love I don't have the money right now to fix a bunch of stuff just to keep it from slowly withering away. So I'm still looking for my bada** truck for winter, but I'm leaning more toward late 70s-early 80s Blazer, lifted, with big tires Just more parts available and more mainstream, so less expensive when things go wrong. Also, it's not my dream truck so I wouldn't feel bad getting out from under it if it turned out to be a real piece.

Someday I'll get a Scout, but look out for updates on whatever winter truck I do buy

[bug_dude]

It sounds like the old Scout had manual steering. I don't think IH started putting power steering in the Scouts until the late 60s/early 70s. If you're looking for a more mainstream 4wd vehicle, why not consider a 1978-79 Ford Bronco. They're not that hard to find, and many of the parts are interchangeable with the F-series pickups of the era. The only bad thing about the Bronco would be the gas mileage, as most of them came equipped with 351 V8s.

[lizhill]

Scouts had power steering as an option from the beginning, but starting in '74 they came standard with power steering and power disc brakes. (EDIT: That's the consensus on the Binder Planet forums, at least, I haven't found reliable sources that say exactly when power steering became an option. But PS/PB was standard starting in 74, that is verified.)

I agree 100%, I actually made a typo in my last post, when I said Blazer in my last post, I meant Bronco . I'm eyeballing two Broncos right now, a 79 and an 83. I (well, my fiance) has an 01 F150 so we're pretty familiar with Ford technology, even though there will be plenty of differences between that gen Bronco and our gen F150. I'm hoping to find one with a inline 6, but they're pretty hard to come by in good condition, the 351s are way more common. A winter truck of some sort is going to have to happen soon, I'm just trying to hold off until I can find a new full-time job or go to auto tech school and find a night warehouse job somewhere.

[bug_dude]

I wasn't exactly sure when they started putting power steering in the Scouts, but I figured that the old '62 that you looked at was probably manual steering. I'm more familiar with the old IH pickups than I am with the Scouts. I know a guy who used to have a really nice 1973 IH pickup, I'm pretty sure it did have power steering but the brakes were manual.
I think you'll be happy with a Ford Bronco if you chose to buy one. Everybody that I know who's ever had a Bronco really liked it. If you are lucky enough to find one with an inline 6, you'll really have something. The inline 6 was the best engine that Ford ever made, and are known to last for around 300,000 miles if well maintained. Plus, if you find a truck that has a 300 I-6 and a manual trans with overdrive it should be good for close to 20 mpgs.