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I have a 1979 International Scout Traveller. It was one of the first and still best SUVs ever made. No, its not made by Chevy or Jeep... GRRR. They were made by Interational Harvester, the farm equipment manufacturer from the mid 60's to 1980.

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Background
Who is International? They have gone thru several restructurings and names including Navistar. They currently make among other things - their own heavy duty engines that have no equal in Detroit (except for maybe Catepillar), Ford Powerstroke engines, self-branded medium to heavy duty trucks, farm harvesting equipment and school buses.

Why is this over 2 decade old truck still a great machine? Even though these trucks were considered light-duty by International's standards, they were equal to or surpassed all Detroit medium-duty (3/4 ton F250 and K2500) specifications. And back when Detroit's truck engines were anemic, short-lived warmed over car engines, International's engines were super high quality and being used successfully in 10-30,000 pound trucks.

An engine is an engine right? Wrong! International's SV engines were originally designed back in the 1950's for long service life at high load demands. They had gear driven valve timing, exhaust valve rotators, hardened valve seats, sodium filled exhaust valves and tons of other hi-tech reliability features of the day. The 345 CID model made 160 horespower, 210 ft/lbs of torque at 800 RPM up to a maximum of 285 ft/lbs at only 2000 RPM. This might seem unimpressive today, but back in the 1960's it was far out of reach for any of Detroit's work.

Buy or Sell a Scout
Here are some of the best Scout specific places to look
BinderBulletin
Post to the IHC email list
Just Internationals

Parts Sources
Anyone who is vaguely familiar with Scouts will often think that parts availability is difficult to non-existant. The knowledgable IH fan knows in fact parts are quite available since most of them interchange with Chevy and Chrysler parts of the era. You just have to go through one of the many remaining IH vendors, or go into any autoparts store armed with alternate application information.

The one exception is engine parts. They interchange with almost nothing and generally cost about twice what the Chevy part would cost. However, IH engines can easily last 2-3 times longer than a Chubby if properly cared for and could be rebuilt almost ad infinitum. So, I think the higher cost is worth it.

Here are the well known IH specific vendors

Super Scout Specialists Anything Scout Scout Madness Scout Connection

IHC Parts LightLine of LA East Coast Scouts

If these places don't have what you want, try the BB Vendor List Here is a list of generic autoparts stores Or, you could always search eBay HarborFreight has decent cheap tools (like engine hoists)

Personal IH Websites
Skip - has a good website on AC upgrade sources

Other Engine Related Links
Debunking engine tuning myths - by a pilot with decades of experience with reciprocating engines

My Mods
I got tired of the poor performance and limited rebuildability of the factory Carter Thermoquad carburetor, and I love hi-tech stuff, so I am building a DIY EFI Computer. Its gonna be electronically fuel injected! I will drag this beast kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Did your window handle knobs flop off yet? How about try some of these billet handles?

Other Mods
Dizzy Problems?
Wanna get rid of your Holley "gold box" external electronic ignition amplifier? The simplest way is to exchange your Holley electronic dizzy for a Holley points dizzy at any autoparts store for less than $100. I prefer electronic ignition, so I would get an electronic ignition points replacement module from Pertronix to go in the Holley points dizzy. Part number 1481 is the original version for about $70. Part number 14811 is their new high performance part number for about $100.

I would replace the Prestolite internal electronic ignition distributor with the above also. Its modules are much more expensive than the Holley ones and have a tendency to burn out too. On top of that, the spring clamps are of a much lower quality and tend to wear out and not hold the dizzy cap down well.

Finally, you could keep your Holley electronic dizzy and try a substitute external ignition module like one of these -

ACDelco D1906 Standard LX301 BWD CBE4 Niehoff DR400

Echlin TP45 Filko DR300 Wells DR100 Kem E200

GP EL102 NAPA MPETP45SB Accel 35361 Nology 151 001 050

And wire it up as described here.
Note - the other part number specified on the website at the bottom is incorrect (Standard LX101) is for a different type of module. I would wire in the module with a relay on the positive lead. And, you must ground the back of the module well either directly using the mounting screws or indirectly using a strap coming off of a mounting screw. The power used by the electronics in the module comes in off the coil positive and goes out through the case since the negative coil path is being broken to trigger the spark, it also produces a decent amount of heat.