Resurrection of childhood memories

[Ray-Dean]

I didn't find an "intro" section on this forum, so please excuse me if this post is in the wrong place.

My name is Ray-Dean, and I'm looking to revive some of my fondest childhood memories and at the same time, create new ones with my wife and our boys. When I was a child, my parents had a '71 800B Comanche. We used it to go camping, as a daily driver, snowplow, and even as a dozer while clearing two different homesteads. I remember my dad pulling school busses out of the ditch when the roads were bad and the old Scout never spun a tire. We would pull trees up root ball and all and still the Scout never slipped a wheel. It would just squat, grunt, and preform whatever task my pop asked of it. Seems that every childhood memory circled around that binder. It was the first vehicle I ever drove at the tender age of 6...

Progressing on through the years, and I'm now a 13-14 year old kid dreaming of the day I would get my license and finally get to take the Scout as my own. At this time, we were using it to clear land for a lake house that we were planning to build. We had been using it to remove all the unwanted trees and such. We kept the Scout, our boat and our camping trailer at the property because we had neighbors who watched over the place during the week while we were not around (we lived a good hour and a half away at the time). So the time came to get the pad for the house leveled out. We contacted a "local" guy who owned a salvage and also ran a dozer service. He wanted to know who we had hired to do the tree removal work and was astonished when we told him that the Scout had pulled all the trees and not a dozer.

A week later the Scout was stolen. The neighbors said a tow truck came in one day, hooked up to it and hauled it off. They just assumed it had broken down and we were having it repaired. A police report was filed, but it did no good. The Scout was gone along with any hopes I had of ever driving it.

Fast forward 25 years, and I'm now grown with children of my own. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or because I long for the time before I realized the world revolved around a job, money, or the lack there of. But I have decided to get another Scout. I know I may never get our Scout back, but I can still recreate the feelings with my three sons.

So I looked locally and found an old Scout that the gentleman wants to sell. I'm not sure of the exact year as I have not had the chance to get a close inspection of it. I do know that it is either an 80 or an 800 by the body, grill and such. At the present time, it has been poof-can painted camouflage. The guy says he bought it 20 years or so ago and it ran at the time, but that it needed wheel cylinders, a carb rebuild and a slave cylinder. Now the fact that it needs a slave cylinder indicates that is would be an 80 and not an 800. But the guy also said that he thinks it's a 1980 model. I know it's not a 1980 Scout II. I believe that when he got it, the guy he bought it from said something like "it's an Scout 80" and he took that to mean that it was a 1980 and not a model 80 Scout.

Either way, my plan is to purchase the Scout and recreate the 800B Comanche that I loved as a child. Herein lies my problem... Not being into the IH Scout world, is it a cardinal sin to take a Scout that is not an 800B Comanche and "dress it up" to be one? I'm not a purest in any form, but at the same time, I'm going to be looking for advise and help from you guys and wouldn't want to step on any toes right out of the box..

Thanks.

[supermerle]

Welcome, and hope you can what your after! I'm close over in Arkansas;and, you start a build thread. Oh, on I-40.

[Ray-Dean]

Thanks. I din't want to start a "build" thread as I have yet to get the Scout that I will be "building"... I'll start one as soon as I get it.

[timscout1]

Welcome I would take a little time and watch Craigs list and Ebay, I have seen 800 Comanches for sale lately. Would be cheaper than converting and also have the better axles and probably a larger engine than the 80.

[Ray-Dean]

Thanks again. We've been looking through classified adds, the internet, salvages, and back yards for a long time, but no Comanches to be found in this area. I would love to find one with the 304, front and rear lockers, and such like ours had, but the auto trans is not as inportant.

[Tamper84]

Welcome to the addiction. They multiply fast once you get them. And Id say that it was unstoppable with both axles locked. Oh and you could post a wanted ad in the classified section. Again Welcome.
Chris

[fishingmech]

Welcome to the site okie!! I'm also an okie, probably about 2 hours away.
As far as your original question....you only live once. Just make it happen. You're ALWAYS gonna offend SOMEONE. I'm still pretty new in my own scout adventure, but from what I can tell, most everyone on this forum is helpful. Wish ya luck in your search. PM me if you might need a hand.

[Comanche Scott]

From my short experience, it seems Binder folk are a lot more laid back. So I wouldn't worry about "cloning" a Comanche.
Heck, I've got a real Comanche, and about the only thing that will stay original is the title, and the colors.

Are you looking for a driver, or a builder?

Something to consider, if you are looking for a driver. It's cheaper to buy something already done, then to build it. Send it out and paint it any way you want.
The entire Comanche decal set can be purchased, and a local body shop can do the install when they do the paint work.

Good luck in your search!

[Ray-Dean]

I'm not looking for a driver, or even complete. But "mostly there" would be a plus. I've built numerous show winning vehicles and the most I paid for any of them was $250.00 so I know how to piece things back together. I also don't want factory perfection, so mis-matched # and such are no biggie to me either.

[Comanche Scott]

Excellent!

OK here is my $0.02, coming from a very similar background.
Had I known then what I know now, I would have started with a later 4 cylinder Scout (roll up side windows) for the following reasons:

1). The steer box is mounted inside the frame, and pitman arm trails, instead of leads. There is a great GM p.s. box that will swap in with some fabrication (See GuidoLyons build).
2). The front frame cross member is mounted far enough back, that a modern winch can be hidden under the front grill.
3). Since the 4 cylinder did not come with Dana 44 up front, this is the perfect opportunity to swap in an open knuckle Dana 44 and substantially decrease the turning radius.
4). When it comes to Scouts, body rust is almost a given. There are a lot more 4 cylinder Scouts to choose from. This affords the opportunity to be very picky.
5). The V8 tub radiator does not sit far enough forward to mount a good fan clutch (or even a high output electric fan) with the stock 304. Since it will take a bit of fire wall clearance to install the V8 in a 4 cylinder chassis, the engine can be set far enough back, and radiator set far enough forward, to gain a good 5" of clearance between the radiator core and the waterpump pulley.

If it were me starting over, I'd start with a 4 cylinder tub & frame, and drop in a 5.0 with an EO4D, a Dana 300 with teralow gears, and a Dana 44HP. Swap in a Saginaw P.S. box, and install one fuel tank in the rear, then gut out the side tank area, to ward off future quarter panel rust.
This is an all around better combo than a 304/BW11/Dana20, with a stock closed knuckle Dana 30, and the box mounted on the outside where it rubs on any tire larger than 9" wide.
I think this combo would even make the Bronco guys jealous.

Scott