Greasyfingers
Well-Known Member
Brother-in-law decided he wanted a Scout (bronco's are too expensive). Went out and bought this thing without really knowing what he was looking at. Now I get to finish and re-do the previous owners "custom work".
Sorry the guy behind the counter gave you such ridiculous info, and that you accepted it. And the motor is a 345 ciI looked at buying a '78 Scout II for $800 about 3 decades ago (or more). I was told it needed a starter. There was a farm supply type place that sold brand new International Harvester equipment, and had sold International Scouts/trucks & such in the past. I gave them a call to price a starter.
"Which starter does it have?" he asked.
"The one that came on the 348 engine, 'cause that's what it has", I replied.
"Yea, but which one? There are 7 listings."
"Well, if one fits, don't they all?"
"No."
"How can that be?? Did they change the block at some point in time mid-production?"
"Look; they list 7 starters, 5 dash harnesses, 9 alternators... Basically IH put out bids and took the lowest bidder. When they were running low on inventory, they put out bids. They notoriously switched vendors sometimes on a monthly basis. I need to know which starter you need."
I opted not to buy the Scout.
Definitely a discounted rate not a freebie. Just trying to keep them from burying themselves in this thing. The local shop rate around here would make the dash install probably over $1500 in labor alone.
Shockingly this thing is pretty much rust free. Well, except for surface rust on the top.
I had a 72 Scout years ago. It was a rusty pile, so knew where to look on this thing.