'63 Scout

Front Spring Removal & Rebuild

2007-04-07T23:51:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to taking out the front leaf springs on the Scout. Not as bad as I thought it would be, considering I didn't even have the right tools for the job. Unbolting the springs is no big deal, suspend the differential, unbolt the u-bolts and then the spring perches and your basically done. The hard part is removing the old twisted, rotted, rusted bushings. Usually one would use a c-frame bearing press but of course I don't have one and I didn't feel like buying or renting one so I had to pay for it with sweat. Luckily, I didn't have to shed any blood or tears, the bushings came out fairly easy considering their age and condition.

The passenger side leaf spring is missing two leafs compared to the driver side and apparently the center pin/bolt broke off and that is why the leafs had slipped out of place. I looked around and asked in the forums for used replacements or someone in my area that rebuilds leafs spring but I had no luck.

After further research, consideration of final use of the Scout and monetary limitations I decide rather than fix the passenger side leaf by adding the missing leafs I'll just rebuild them and instead remove two leafs from the drivers side spring pack. You can see the leafs I removed, two from the very bottom, the smallest ones.

Below you can see the bushings I hammered out. I'll be replacing them with polyurethane bushings.

Work Continues

2007-03-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

Been really busy the last couple of weeks with work and other projects and haven't had much time to work on the Scout. Looks like that might be changing though, I think they're gonna be passing out pink slips any day now at work, with the economy as bad as it is. At least I'll have time to blog and work on the Scout. Anyway, with the body finally off I was able to get the rear bumper cut off.

I'm gonna finish cleaning up the frame, removing all the remnants of all the damned bumper bracing the PO so graciously left to me and then start work on the leaf springs and differentials, gonna work my way slowly up.

Frame Pics

2007-03-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

Got some pics of the frame now that the body is off. Been busy dismantling the extra doors and front grill area the PO had included. I'm gonna try to auction them off on eBay and use the cash for parts. This weekend I hope to move the frame over to the garage and start dismantling it in order to get the springs redone and start rebuilding the front and rear ends.

View of the Front

A little further back.

A little further back still

Right side view of mid frame

View of the engine

Finally got the body off!

2007-02-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, finally got the body off. Was a little harder than anticipated due to a lack of man power. It was basically my old man and me just blocking it up little by little until we could brace the body to get the frame out.

Blocking the body up bit by bit.

A little leverage hear and there.

Doesn't look to safe!

Hurry up and move it before it falls on us and kills us.

Slowly Coming Off

2007-02-24T21:43:00.000-05:00

Finally started to remove the body from the chassis, thankfully the PO had most of the Scout apart and after I cut the front bumper off I only had a couple of brake lines to remove and a couple of engine parts to remove in order to make rolling the frame out from under the body easier.

A pic of the front end without the damn bumper.

Here you can see a glimpse of daylight between the chassis and body.

Front Bumper Torture

2007-02-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

Finally got the front bumper removed. Man what a pain in the ass. That thing had more support bracing than I've ever seen. I looked like they were planning to run into the side of a armored truck or something. I took the torch, Sawzall and disk grinder to the damn thing, now I have the back left to do. Everything should come apart pretty easily after that. Below are some pics of what I went through and the final bumper free Scout 80 front end.

Here is the front end with the grill off finally and the bumper about to be taken off.

On these two you can see the bracing I had to cut through.

As you can see, who ever welded the front bumper on welded right over the bumper bolts. Not too bright.

Here you can also see where someone butchered the frame, I guess to mount a winch. Gonna have to fix that!

Removing the bumpers

2007-02-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

Tried to remove the bumpers today and I can now see why the PO hadn't finished removing the body. If you can tell from the pics, the bumper has been reinforced with welded in crossbars. I'm not sure why, those bumper mounts are plenty strong without all that reinforcement, but to each their own. Now I gotta torch those suckers off so I can take the body off the frame.

Here you can see the reinforcement bars going through the grill.

Front left. You can see where the PO started cutting at it.

Front right.

Rear left.

Rear right.

Not much today

2007-02-14T22:27:00.000-05:00

Didn't really do much today, just went over it well and checked on all the work it's gonna need. By what I can tell it's pretty original. It has the 152 4 cyl. with the converted oil filter adapter. It seems to have an electric fuel pump instead of using the original one which is still there. The axles look like the D27s that it's supposed to have. The bumpers are going to have to be cut off just to get the body off. I'll probably get that done this weekend and I'll be able to get down to the frame.

What do we have?

2007-02-13T22:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a chance to take out everything that was inside the Scout and I was surprised to what level of disassembly the Scout was actually in. It's a miracle it didn't fall apart during transportation or when we pushed it into the yard. When you take a look at the pics you'll see what I mean. The doors, hood, shell, windshield, interior were all loose and ready to be taken off. All the screws are in Sharpie labeled Ziploc bags and coffee cans with the complete wiring harness in a plastic storage container. As far as I can tell all the parts are there and the rust on the body is minimal. I also have two sets of doors and front fenders, along with an extra front grill area and front bumper. Since its as far apart as it is I'm gonna take it down to the frame and start from there. Wasn't planning on a frame-off but no better way to really bring back a nice classic back to life.

Look ma, no doors, windshield or interior.

Another view of the cab interior.

View of the bed.

A pair of doors, a pair of fenders, a windshield, a Hi-Lift jack & 1 front seat.

The back seat, dash and extra front grill.

Finally!

2007-02-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Lee over at Distinguished Transportation, the carrier for Momentum Transport, gave me a call at around 8 p.m. last night, that he was in Orlando and if last night or today would be better for the delivery. I agreed to last night, just to get it over with and get my Scout home. Lee arrived with the Scout at about 11:30. He parked the trailer in the street, unstrapped the Scout and I, along with Lee and my sisters boyfriend, pushed it into the yard. The Scout looks great, for a beat up piece of s--t. It's full of parts right now, you can't even get in the drivers seat. I'm gonna get all the parts out and I'll post some picture soon.

1 day to go

2007-02-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

Got a call from Lee at Distinguished Transport, I guess there the carrier for Momentum Transport and he says he should be here by 6:00 P.M. tomorrow. I can't wait.

Hallelujah!

2007-02-09T09:46:00.000-05:00

The PO emailed me last night to let me know that Momentum Transport had shown up and had picked up the Scout within 20 minutes of getting there. I emailed him back wanting to know how the transporter was able to the undoable, at least according to the other carriers. He mentioned that he and the driver just pushed the Scout out of the garage, up the ramp into the trailer and then ratchet strapped it down and that was that. Amazing what the desire to do your job properly can do. I can't believe I went through all the s--t I did with Cosmos. To their credit it wasn't entirely their fault as it was more the fault of the carriers they sub-contract with. Anyway, Momentum Transport made it happen for $80 more than what the final price Cosmos quoted me was and they picked up the Scout the same night I placed the order. Now that is service. Now I'm just waiting for the tractor trailer to get here and finally have possession of my 1963 International Harvester Scout 80.

WTF!

2007-02-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

I can't believe this s--t. I ended up calling Cosmos, who hadn't heard anything from the carrier, so I could find out what was going on with the Scout 80. They gave me the carriers number, since again they had heard nothing, so that I could call them. Blue Line Transport said the house is on a hill and that since the brakes on the truck where not good enough they could not winch the Scout unto the trailer without it crashing through their cab. I have a feeling I'm just dealing with mediocrity. Nobody wants to do their job if it's gonna get difficult. Pass the buck, someone else will take care of it. Well, I've spoken with my wallet before and as of late with my blog so I'll do both. I called Cosmos back and just canceled the whole thing with them and requested a refund, good thing I only gave them a deposit, and I recommend you think twice before using them as your shipper of choice. Looked at my notes and did a little more research and with some new quotes I decided on Momentum Transport. Steve was kind enough to understand my situation and offered to help out. Let see how this goes. My fingers are crossed. I emailed the previous owner(PO) and let him know what was going on. Thankfully he too was and has been understanding.

Un-Cool!

2007-02-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

Just heard from the previous owner that the carrier had shown up tonight after an hour of directions and refused to take the Scout says the brakes aren't good enough. I don't understand how hard this can be. You all have seen the pictures on here, why can't they just send a flatbed to pick up the Scout and then put it in a enclosed trailer or whatever? From my understanding the first carrier showed up in a full size car carrier and the second guy in a 18 wheeler. I'm going to have to call Cosmos and see what the hell is going on. I'm gonna be left with no choice but to find another shipper or talk to the previous owner and see if we can work something out. What a piece of s--t!

Back on Track

2007-02-07T17:52:00.000-05:00

Cool! I just heard from Cosmos and the Scout will be picked up tomorrow by Blue Line Transport and should be here by Friday. Here's to hoping.

Always Something

2007-02-06T18:02:00.000-05:00

So, I get a call from the Cosmos carrier, Maple Tree Transport, early this afternoon telling me that he is about to pickup the 1963 Scout 80 and that he will have it here by tomorrow. Excellent I'm stoked, sooner than I thought. An hour later I get another call from Maple Tree Transport, now he says the Scout 80 is in to many parts for him to load it up, that he can't get inside the cab and that he basically won't be able to pick it up. He was friendly the whole time and seemed genuinely concerned. I then get on the phone and I call Cosmos, call the previous owner, call Cosmos, call the carrier, call Cosmos again. After all is said and done Maple Tree Transport won't be able to pick up my Scout, at least not today. I'm going to need an enclosed trailer and it will be 200 bucks more. What am I gonna do? Of course, I agreed, it's still cheaper than any other quote I got. The shipping clock gets reset and someone will be in contact with me about the shipping of the '63 Scout.

I went to the Post Office and got the Title, will probably do the transfer later this week.

Confirmation Recieved

2007-02-05T17:17:00.000-05:00

Got a call from Dave at Cosmos Auto Inc. today to let me know that they will be picking up the 1963 Scout 80 tomorrow and that in should be at my door by the Thursday the 8th. I also received the Title for the Scout today. I have to go pick it up at the Post Office still but at least it's here. Gonna see if I get it transfered by the time it gets here.

Arrange Shipping

2007-02-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, I finally decided to go with Cosmos Auto Inc. because of the 4 star rating received on www.transportreviews.com and of course their low cost. I gave them a call and they told me to download their forms from the website. I also confirmed the quote and it was now $370, $20 less than they had originally quoted. I went to their website downloaded the Order and Payment Forms and faxed them in. I sent them a payment of $150, which is the minimum deposit, with the balance due on delivery. I called to make sure they received them and they reassured me that they had and that someone would call me next week. Now waiting for the Title and for shipping confirmation.

Waiting

2007-02-01T17:04:00.000-05:00

Just waiting for the Title and on a final decision on the shipper.

Funds Received

2007-01-31T23:33:00.000-05:00

Got notice today, from the previous owner of the Scout, that he received the cashiers check I sent him and that he'll be mailing the title tomorrow. I'm gonna also finalize the shipping arrangements tomorrow. I'll let you know who I go with and how it works out.

Service Manual

2007-01-30T21:49:00.000-05:00

The day I won the auction for the Scout, I started looking around for it's service manual . I found it over at www.binderbooks.com and it arrived in the mail today. They sent it USPS Priority Mail and was very well packaged. They included a small product catalog and a pen with their business name on it. The service manual is great it covers everything bumper to bumper with clear instructions and pictures. Any other documentation I might need for the scout in the future, I'll surely get from them.

Shipping Quotes

2007-01-29T19:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally went to the bank today and got the cashiers check for the Scout and I mailed it out priority, I hope to have the tile to the car by next week. I also decided to get some quotes from some of the vehicle shippers I had found on the web. The rates ran the gamut from almost $400 to 3 times that, below are some sample of the rates I got. I found these companies at www.movecars.com and www.transportreviews.com, along with the one recommended by eBay.

These quoted rates are for shipping from Georgia to Florida.

DAS - $1295
Instant - $790
Hilton - $675
Car on A Truck - $595
Momentum - $550
Cosmos - $390

I'm gonna do a little more research and I'll let you know what I decide.

On a different note, I found a couple of excellent sites with active member forums that are dedicated to the International Harvester trucks. I've found allot of great ideas on there already, I also became a member and introduced myself and my '63 Scout 80. Check them out:
Just International and Binder Bulletin.

Research

2007-01-27T23:17:00.000-05:00

I figured while I wait for Monday to come around, so I can send the money, I'd do some research on the web about the modifications I can do to the Scout and ideas others have had. I don't want to build a crawler or anything like that so I guess my goal is going to be to build a very self reliable street Scout able to take a beating. I'd like to put dual batteries, run the dual gas tanks or even look around for a larger gas tank, set up 4 wheel disk, put a PTO winch, run on board air, put some bad ass armor on it, install a cage, basically turn it into a hard core urban survival truck.

It's mine!

2007-01-26T21:12:00.000-05:00

Cool, I won the auction! For the bargain price of just shy over $600, I'm the proud owner of a 1963 International Scout 80. Below are some of the pics from the auction. I'm gonna 2nd day the owner a cashiers check and coordinate with DAS for the shipping. I'll let you know how that all works out, but I figure I should have my baby home in 30 days or so.

Almost!

2007-01-25T22:18:00.000-05:00

It's almost mine. Only 15 hours left in the auction. I've been emailing the owner and requesting more pics and asking more questions. Seems as if all systems are there just taken apart to one level or another. Can't wait! Gotta get info on shipping, figuring it will be around $800 dollars door to door. Well, stay tuned.