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International Harvester Replacement Parts for Light Line Scout 80, Scout 800, & Scout II Parts |
Red carpet restoration article 1964 seal door
Description: International Harvester 1964 Red Carpet Scout 80. This is the story of an International Scout in the digital age. While most truck restorations take place in home garages, Steve restored his 1964 International Special Edition Red Carpet Scout 80 in the public eye, via streaming webcasts. Steve, a Scout enthusiast for twenty five years, had been casting about for a worthwhile restoration vehicle. He finally found a 1964 Red Carpet Scout on Ebay. The North Carolina seller had inherited the truck from his grandfather and was initially looking to part it out. The Scout had been stowed away in a barn for 30 years, rusted and with a cracked engine head. Steve convinced him to sell the truck whole. While the truck was rusted and broken down, and not a sure thing. It was especially risky to purchase and ship across the country. Sight unseen, the only thing he knew was that it was a complete original Red Carpet edition. The only missing piece of the truck was an arm rest cover. In 1960 four wheel drive passenger vehicles were hard to find. The only 4x4 commonly available at the time were Jeeps. At that time they were not family friendly. Top speed was about 45mph and you sat on the gas tank. Either you always smelled gas or you smelled like gas. The fabric top was so loud that many people took them off and drove exposed to the rain. The only other alternative was (at the time) the unbelievably exotic British Land Rover. Not a viable alternative with the parts being not only hard to find and also a combination of Metric and Imperial thread screws holding it together. All this at a time when international shipping from England being a 50- 50 proposition at best. Many packages did not arrive. Land Rover was just too exotic, expencive and most US citizens did not consider it an option. In 1960 IH designed the Scout 80 with the idea of selling it to land owners that needed to do some off roading while also keeping an eye on drivability for the average person. Possibly even being able to market it to the ladies in the family. At the time this was forward thinking. International Scouts were unexpectedly successful. Expected market was 5-10k sales/year, but the first year alone 27,031 were sold, and within 3 1/2 years International was hitting the 100k mark. In celebration of building 100,000 Scouts in a remarkably short time, International produced two Special Edition Scouts: the Red Carpet and the Champagne (the Champagne Scout seems to be particularly elusive). Steves truck was likely the 30th Red Carpet off the production line--the number 30 is found penciled on multiple parts, under the hood and behind the dash. Advertising for the Red Carpet was also unique--the original press release photograph shows a woman about to get into the drivers seat of her pristine Scout. The press release advertises a luxurious truck:A sparkling white finish highlights an interior of high-pile red carpet, red upholstery and red trim." (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=24410) Realizing what a treasure he had, Steve decided to perform the restoration entirely online for other Scout enthusiasts. Beginning on Friday October 30th, 2009, the truck was completely disassembled on a single day. Every nut and bolt was removed. Each piece of the Scout was then restored or replaced on camera. The entire body, frame, and most other parts were sand or media blasted. Everything was repainted with OEM factory colors, with the exception of the frame and undercarriage which were powder coated. All the Scouts seals were replaced with newly manufactured seals. The most challenging aspect of the restoration was fixing all the rusted out body parts and paint. The removable top had a seal that had failed just above the windshield frame. This failure lead to the windshield frame and much of the body on the drivers side rusting out and having to be completely replaced. Another challenging aspect of the restoration was the wiring harness. It was difficult to locate matches to the wire and connectors. Some plastic connectors had to be preserved and reused, as these were not available even to Scout Parts.com. Using this strategy, the painstaking process resulted in an exact replica of the factory original harness. Another challenge was that lovely red dash of the Red Carpet Scout, which had become very fragile with age, requiring quite a bit of time to bring back to life. Steve is most proud of the new hydraulic system. Replacing the brake and clutch hydraulic lines and junctions is really more art than science and it really took a surprising amount of time to do it right. Many new parts were re-manufactured to complete the hydraulic systems. Steve had other reasons to take on this full restoration project, aside from the sheer pleasure of bringing the Scout back to life. Restoring the truck also provided his staff with valuable training on Scout parts. It was also a good opportunity to test fit parts, making sure what they sell works perfectly, and a chance to develop new parts or part modifications. Friday became Red Carpet work day at the Scout Parts warehouse. Steve, Ben Taylor, and Nick James (an ASC certified master mechanic) performed the full truck restoration, all the while being broadcasting video online. At one point over 250 people were watching online, about 1,000 people in a day, requiring scoutparts.com to triple their Internet bandwidth. Many audience members were from the UK and Australia. Steve estimates that audience members represented twenty different countries--truly international interest. The restoration was complete on July 1st 2010. Steve's Red Carpet Scout took first place for Scout 80 and 800 at the Great Western Binder Bee in Brooks Oregon. The truck is destined to be in many parades and auto shows. Many additional photos of this restoration, before, during and after can be seen at, scoutparts.com/gallery. |
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