International Travelall - SUV Before SUV's were Cool

[LoneRanger]

I was thinking about dear old dad recently, always the trend setter... well not really, LoL. Was a down to Earth practical guy. So what better vehicle to haul a wife and five children around in in the late 1960's / early 70's?

1966 International Travelall. I don't recall it being equipped with air conditioning, but it was white, so that helped. My sister referred to it was the White Elephant. I seem to remember that it had a 345 cu inch V8, some variation of the GM small block because International Harvester didn't make gasoline engines, I don't think. Ours was 2WD. Dad's friend had a 1970 or so International Scout 4WD, that was their main hunting vehicle. Ours was dad's go to work vehicle and also our family hauler. He also drove it to the gun club where he shot trap and skeet competitively on some weekends.

Here's a stock photo, not our family's just an example:

edit: I can't get the stock photo to work

 

[emmett442]

Originally Posted by LoneRanger


I seem to remember that it had a 345 cu inch V8, some variation of the GM small block because International Harvester didn't make gasoline engines, I don't think.




Blasphemy!

The 345 has zero ties to a GM small block. International had their own gas V8's. They were industrial grade. Heavy, slow turning, incredibly durable units. Deep skirted block and factory gear driven timing. Small block chev is a child's toy compared to an IH V8.

While small block Chevy's were made to lazily push Grandma's Malibu, haul a few pounds of plywood in a light duty pickup, or live in a lightweight sports car, International V8's were driving generators, pumps, construction equipment, and dump trucks.

 

[Chris142]

The 266,304,345 and 392 SV engine family were all 100% IHC built. Whoever said IHc didn't made gasser v8's lied to you.

 

[02SE]

My neighbor from 3 years of age when we moved in until I moved out of the folks place as a young man, had an International Travelall. Green, with the 392 (an all IH engine BTW), auto trans, 4wd, dual tanks, A/C, etc. He was also the Scout Master. Many great Scout trips in that thing.

My old neighbor and Scout Master passed away last month. RIP, Gerald.

 

[MParr]

My dad had a 1967 IH pickup. It was equipped with the 266 V8 and 3 on the column. It was a great truck.

 

[csandste]

Milwaukee cops used to use these in 1970 and their duties included being a quasi ambulance crew. Rode to the hospital with them when I lost an unheard amount of blood with an ulcer and they kept writing tickets on the way. Almost died in the back of one.

 

[Job]

IH made all kinds of gas engines of their own design. Some post offices used Scouts. I had a 71 Jeepster Commando that was more like a small SUV than the Travelall which was like the Suburban, It used to be fun finding these vehicles in the neighborhood low mileage and very cheap. Not fun anymore, all about how much money it's worth. I guess if that's fun..

 

[PimTac]

Our family had a 61 with the straight six, ( can't remember the cubic inch size) and a 68 with the 304. The 68 had a four speed on the floor with 4WD. First was granny low. The 61 was 3 on the tree. Both ran and ran. Solid vehicles.

I owned a 79 Scout with a 304 and the Chrysler Torqueflite 3 speed. A good rig but it was a gas guzzler and while the engine was great a lot of the bolt on pollution stuff was horrible and the carburetor was junk.

 

[bullwinkle]

The vending company I worked for in the '80s & early '90s ran International Loadstar 1700 straight trucks, and they had a gas powered one that (I think) was a 7.3 gas (I'm sure it was a V8) that I drove a few times. I remember it being reasonably quick, but drank gas like it was water, then it blew up (not from me) and they got IH diesels (they weren't much better, but at least they got better MPGs).

 

[PWMDMD]

My grandfather was head of IH's farm division until it was sold to Case and he retired in ‘84. While they had their issues I grew up with Scouts and I always wanted to track one down.

 

[krismoriah72]

My dad bought a 1980 scout from his uncle who used it to deliver mail. I learned how to mechanic the hard way on that piece of junk. It had a 304 with a motorcraft carb, and a chrysler transmission from what i remember. Had all kinds of smog pumps and hoses everywhere. It was heavy as a tank, got horrible gas mileage, ate tires, rusted everywhere and ended up catching on fire because the catalytic converter was clogged. There was some kind of actuator on the exhaust that got stuck closed one time as well. My dad was going thru a rough time trying to work and this vehicle was horrible in the snow. He wrecked it a few times trying to get to work.. but tires were bad in those days too. Bad memories from ours..

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by krismoriah72
My dad bought a 1980 scout from his uncle who used it to deliver mail. I learned how to mechanic the hard way on that piece of junk. It had a 304 with a motorcraft carb, and a chrysler transmission from what i remember. Had all kinds of smog pumps and hoses everywhere. It was heavy as a tank, got horrible gas mileage, ate tires, rusted everywhere and ended up catching on fire because the catalytic converter was clogged. There was some kind of actuator on the exhaust that got stuck closed one time as well. My dad was going thru a rough time trying to work and this vehicle was horrible in the snow. He wrecked it a few times trying to get to work.. but tires were bad in those days too. Bad memories from ours..



Famous for its rust...for me they are good-bad memories. Probably because it's nostalgic and I didn't actually have to spend my hard-earned money on one.

 

[Trav]

As others have said IH made their own gas engines and even a V8 with all the pistons removed from one bank to make a slant 4 (true, I worked on one).

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted by Trav
As others have said IH made their own gas engines and even a V8 with all the pistons removed from one bank to make a slant 4 (true, I worked on one).


I know where there are several of them in the area. The nearest one is on a Sullair industrial compressor.
Going back to IH engines, they used to advertise in magazines that their engines STARTED OUT as truck engines, as opposed to their competitors who converted car engines into truck applications.

 

[eljefino]

Dug through the BITOG archvies and found Chris142's 392. Looks like it would be at home in a school bus.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by krismoriah72
My dad bought a 1980 scout from his uncle who used it to deliver mail. I learned how to mechanic the hard way on that piece of junk. It had a 304 with a motorcraft carb, and a chrysler transmission from what i remember. Had all kinds of smog pumps and hoses everywhere. It was heavy as a tank, got horrible gas mileage, ate tires, rusted everywhere and ended up catching on fire because the catalytic converter was clogged. There was some kind of actuator on the exhaust that got stuck closed one time as well. My dad was going thru a rough time trying to work and this vehicle was horrible in the snow. He wrecked it a few times trying to get to work.. but tires were bad in those days too. Bad memories from ours..





Hah! I bought my 79 Scout brand new off the IH dealer and it already had rust on the rear quarter panel. Like the rest of the American brands of that time I was told they would fix it before taking it home. They did.

At least mine was complete. That carburetor was horrific. The floats kept sinking and the mechanic I went to at the time said it was the worst piece of **** he had ever worked on. He said it was a Holley.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Trav
As others have said IH made their own gas engines and even a V8 with all the pistons removed from one bank to make a slant 4 (true, I worked on one).




I believe that was the 192ci 4 cylinder.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Trav
As others have said IH made their own gas engines and even a V8 with all the pistons removed from one bank to make a slant 4 (true, I worked on one).




I believe that was the 192ci 4 cylinder.

152 was 1/2 of a 304 and the 196 was 1/2 of a 392.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by eljefino
Dug through the BITOG archvies and found Chris142's 392. Looks like it would be at home in a school bus.

Geez how old is that pic and how did you find it? I rebuilt that engine myself,well I had to have it hot tanked and the valves ground. I then put it in my 1973, 1210 4x4. Both that truck and that engine are now cruising around Montana!

 

[Chris142]

Back around 1992 I bought a 68 scout from a neighbor. It was a rare scout as it came from the factory with the ihc 266 v8 and warner t-18 4 speed trans. The scout and 266 had 472000 miles on them and the 266 had broken a piston.

I could not locate a piston so I bought a 345 from the local picapart yard. The 345 was in a rolled 1975 scout. Paid $100 for it.

The 345 bolted right up where the 266 was.

That 345 ran fabulas! It had so much torque that it was unbelievable. I put 360k on that engine in that old scout body.

No idea how many miles it had on it before I pulled it out at the junk yard.

By now the old scout body was falling apart so I scrapped the scout. Sold the axles,trans and gave the engine with all those miles to a friend and he put it in his 79 scout.

I talked to him 2 weeks ago and it's still running today. I am sure that it has 500k or more on it. It has out lived 3 scouts!