International Harvester

Scout II page

The first International I ever saw was Pop's (my grandpa) 1975 Scout II. He has had it ever since I was born and I've liked it all along. I saw the yellow one below at a Buick dealership in St. Charles, Illinois. The salesman told me it was a '75 and that the top came off. This was the first I had known of this feature and it inspired me to buy it. It was only two wheel drive and pretty rusty, but I liked it and had some extra money. So I bought it and drove it around for about two years, mostly with the top off. I happened to come across a Scout in the junkyard with a full soft top and all of the hardware. The windows were shot, but the vinal and hardware were nice. I bought it for 30 bucks and it fit perfect on mine. The yellow one always leaked oil bad, and this I think led to it's demise. While firing it up one morning, it slowly ran itself down and then with a "c-hunk", stopped. I dropped the oil pan and out came the end of a connecting rod. And just after I had the transmission done! So off I went looking for a replacement motor. A guy in DeSoto, Illinois had about five of them he was willing to sell me. He also informed me of a Scout for sale. I checked it out and it was a 1979 in need of a lot of fixing up and parts. Fixing up I could do, and parts I had. So I bought it for $500. Just a bit more than a new motor would have cost. Plus I got a whole lot more like the 345, 4x4, chrome rims, bucket seats, etc. This '79 had about everything, even cruise control. So the two Scouts were combined and out came one fine ride I must say. The original colors were orange with a white stripe just like the one I am using as my background. I have since painted it all primer grey to give it a more fresh and subdued look than the bright orange and white gave it. I also got the windows on my soft top redone and the stitching reinforced so I could really use the top. It runs great now and is still awaiting the transmission swap that I keep putting off. So that is my story and I hope to add to it as the years go on. For now I am happy with what I have. I'm a college student so I don't have time for a full restoration, but I do what I can.