1971 Scout II - plan of action?

[scorp1us]

My dad has a 1971 Scout II with 19,000 miles on it (yes, under 20k). He's the second owner and the first owner he knew well had it for a short time before trading it to my dad for his convertible. This fall I will be finishing up my own Traveler project, and I dare say I'm eying up his...

Mechanically, with 20k miles and running when parked, she's in good shape. But the body is shot in any place where it counts. The fenders and the rest of that are ok. She's a manual (and there's no line-set ticket in the glove box) with a 304. She's not ran in 15 years.

Would I be out of my mind to restore it? Should I just sell it whole, part it out? What would you do? And what would be a fair price if I sold it?

[Patrick Morris]

Originally Posted by scorp1us

But the body is shot in any place where it counts. The fenders and the rest of that are ok.

You'll have to clarify what this means. What's "the rest of that"? You mean the exterior panels?

And "anywhere that counts", does that mean the flooring and/or rockers?

[scorp1us]

Exterior panels are showing some, not a lot of rust. The rockers are trash, the floors are trash.

Those are pine needles, not rust, along the top and on the hood.

[Doc Stewart]

You are patently out of your mind to own an International. That said, I own 9. Sure, learn to patch and piece together the rusty spots. Most of the bad parts can be repaired with ready made patch metal from our light line suppliers.

Do read up on how to start a long sitting engine as damage may result if you do it poorly.

An engine hat sits that long may have seal and gasket problems which are not all that difficult to restore. Keeps you out of the bars....

Investigate a local IH club. IH people are wonderful.

[gerk]

Buy another one and pull parts from yours. The great thing about these Scouts is that you can purchase them relatively cheap. Find a straight one and go from there. I guarantee there are parts on yours that you will need for the new one. Then once you part the rest out, you will be ahead of the game.

[kb'sforme]

just about any amount of damage can be fixed. it all comes down to time and money. just check this out and you can see that what most would say is scrap can be saved.
http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=86609
whats it worth to you! one question i always ask myself with these kind of trucks is why was it parked? there is usally a mechanical failer some where that side lined it and nobody ever bothered to fix it. i'll second the good donor idea. depending on where you look a better truck could be found and use yours as a donor. or possible to find a truck that has some good parts to fixe the one you have.