Power steering pump.
Starter.
Carb.
Doors sometimes randomly swing open.
Windshield wiper motor stopped working.
Threw a rod.
Lots of cancer (rust).
The 1980 Scout II!!
Where do you start with a vehicle like this one? I have owned another since this one, and would buy another in a heartbeat!
I bought it with the 196 Slant 4 engine... What a great little engine.. The same as you see on tractors! :P
I felt like I needed a little more power out of it for the 4-Wheeling I was planning on doing with it, so I put in the 345 V8 made by IH. The motor bolted in easily! I had a custom exhaust built, put in the biggest carb I could afford, aftermarket air cleaners, a 4inch lift, 36" tires, new Kayline Soft-top (These things make the COOLEST convertables!), etc, etc, etc...
About 6 months later, and too much money poorer, as Scout parts are rather hard to find and seem to be worth more than gold, it was complete.. I had the big bad 4 wheeling monster I had been dreaming of. I know it's not that impressive in the scheme of things, but this was all I wanted, and it would do anything I needed it to.
Every good tale has to have a sad ending of some sort right?
2 months down the road, it threw a rod right through the firewall...
My fault I suppose for not having the engine completely rebuilt, but what can you do?
I was broke, and sold the entire heap of bolts for $800... the same price I had paid for the exhaust...
All in all, would I do it again?
I did... and I would do it again in a heatbeat.
Check out www.binderbulletin.org for for scout madness...
Ciao.
Scouts are like playing golf. You hate them when they're not working right, but you lose sleep until you can fix them. Money pit is right. I'm in mine over $1200 misdiagnosing an ignition problem alone. Long live IHC. Bill.
Man...I am a Scout FANATIC! My father bought a '75 brand new when I was 5. I spent a lot of time in that back seat until I finally got promoted to "driver" at 16. I held onto that beast (Ol' Bessie) until 2003 when I sold it (I didn't want to, but my wife made me because I also had a 1979 with 125K fewer miles and the larger 345ci engine). She said "choose" and I did... What can I say, I'm a "good" husband...LOL.
Trust me, there is no better 4x4 available that I have seen. The "toughest-to-find" part I have tried to find is the windshield wiper blade. Everything else, International did right - they used the best parts of the "Big 3." There's not much better than the mix and match under the hood, and personally, I would not trust anything other than the Scout II on the rugged terrain of SW Colorado! Jeep be daggum darned!
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