What is a Scout worth?!

MTBer

New member
Hi IH only forum,

I am a prospective Scout owner (never owned one before) and am looking at a Scout 800 that a friend's Dad recently put up for sale. It has the 152, 4spd. As you'll see, I'm not the most versed on these rigs. But I'm learning and want to know more! So I've come to tap your expertise and help me make an informed purchase. The owner is asking $3500, but I don't think that is firm.

The good: it runs and drives strong. Although it's a little hesitant when you give it gas until it gets good and warm. I'm guessing timing? It appears to be all original except the wheels (but he's got 5 matching wheels and tires with lots of tread. The seats have been reupholstered on the original frames. All electrical and gages work. It has a bulkhead behind the seats. The body is mostly straight. The doors, tailgate, hood all line up well and open and close with a very comforting and solid 'click!' tranny seems strong. 4wd hi and lo both worked. Glass is all in tact. Windshield looks great. Windshield wipers work although the vacuum wipers are somewhat sporadic.

The bad: a few minor dents that look easy enough to massage. It has small amounts of rust in the following spots: drivers floor over the cross member support (basically at your heels), bottom corner of driver front fender, passenger floor over same cross member, small patch in floor by tailgate. I don't know what the other trouble spots there are that are specific to scouts but for a vehicle that came from the midwest originally, the rust seems very minimal. It is also mostly on flat panels that should be easy enough to patch. All the window gaskets are shrunk and rock hard. Really, there's not a lot to list here...

After I got it warm, there was a slight pinging coming from the valve cover. The valve cover also had very small amounts of oil bubbling from under the gasket. A valve cover gasket replacement would be in order.

Take a look at the photos and the ticket (which is pristine) and let me know what you think a fair offer would be.
 

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Looks like it is in pretty good survivor condition and well worthy of a restoration. The baby scouts have been gradually trending the way of early broncos and tlc's in value. Imho it is closer to a $2500 rig in the current condition, but I am certainly not an appraiser. There is a good deal of subjectivity involved. What it really comes down to is what is it worth to you, knowing that you will be investing plenty of dollars and time to make it pop?
The cold stutter is most likely choke adjustment/carb related. A small amount of noise from the valve train is normal and no cause for alarm, but it takes a bit of ear training to decipher between normal and excessive. Good luck with it.
 
Hi scoutboy! Thanks for the advise. I see you're in medford. I am currently in gp so greetings from up the valley. I will definitely try to talk him down a bit. If I got it, my plan is to keep it stock but make some improvements to how it drives. And of course, smooth out the cosmetic issues it has. Would you say that the rust it has is about normal? It is probably worse than what meets the eye...

Any local shops or parts suppliers you would recommend?
 
Any local shops or parts suppliers you would recommend?

I purchase most of my IH specific parts here Or by clicking on the store button at the top of the forum page here. Since I'm down here in kalifunkia it be hard for me to suggest repair shops in your area. I agree with scoutboy regarding these baby scouts becoming more popular. And the one you are considering is a great base for a good builder. I of the bigger cousin Scout II version crowd that is somewhat leaning towards possibly getting one of these older babies.

I recently had a co-worker ask me if I still had my 73 camo beastly Scout II. And if I had the title and about if I was selling mine. Told him that with all the work I have done so far and with what I am currently doing that I wouldn't sell it for less than 5 grand. He turned around and claimed he would offer me 6 grand if I ever decided to sell it. :eek6:

with that being said, the value of these old iron heavies are going up.

Btw - welcome to the forums and the soon to be addiction. Good luck. And if ya have any questions just post up. Only dumb question is the ones that never get asked.
 
Nice looking Scout that shouldn't be too hard to get running nicely. Barring any major mechanical problems, $3000 would be a good price
 
hi scoutboy! Thanks for the advise. I see you're in medford. I am currently in gp so greetings from up the valley. I will definitely try to talk him down a bit. If I got it, my plan is to keep it stock but make some improvements to how it drives. And of course, smooth out the cosmetic issues it has. Would you say that the rust it has is about normal? It is probably worse than what meets the eye...

Any local shops or parts suppliers you would recommend?

Welcome neighbor to el norte! Tough to tell from the pics, but it looks like mostly surface rust, which is no big deal. It looks to be unusually solid considering it spent time in the rust belt, but pics can be deceiving. Ditto to scooter's reply on your second question. Some of the wear items that are not so much IH/Scout specific can likely be sourced through local means. Some of which are obvious and some only comes through time, trial and error.
 
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