Mystery Scout?

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osprey170

New member
Sep 2, 2025
4
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I just picked up what's titled as a 1969 Scout 800. The Scout is in really good shape, very little rust to speak of. looks like it's had paint job years ago. I've never owned a Scout and know little about them other than it's hard to find one with as little rust as this one.

The VIN plate in engine compartment says it's an 800 along with the trim on the glove box. I ran the VIN through a decoder which tells me it's an 800 built in early 1968. What's got my brain all twisted is that everything I've read says that the fold down windshield and the vacuum wipers on the top of the windshield were only on the 80 series. I can't find any information on the 800 having these features.

Do I have an 80 trying to pass off as an 800?

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I just picked up what's titled as a 1969 Scout 800. The Scout is in really good shape, very little rust to speak of. looks like it's had paint job years ago. I've never owned a Scout and know little about them other than it's hard to find one with as little rust as this one.

The VIN plate in engine compartment says it's an 800 along with the trim on the glove box. I ran the VIN through a decoder which tells me it's an 800 built in early 1968. What's got my brain all twisted is that everything I've read says that the fold down windshield and the vacuum wipers on the top of the windshield were only on the 80 series. I can't find any information on the 800 having these features.

Do I have an 80 trying to pass off as an 800?

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Welcome to the community. There’s a couple people on here that I’m sure could help. @Colton_Scout80 and @Tuff66 any ideas??

Very pretty Scout. That’s a very pretty color.
 
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From what I can tell, the windshield, wipers, and hood look to be from a Scout 80. I've heard a story that International Harvester had some overstock parts from the 80 when they were switching to the 800 and used them on some of the 800s, but I don't know for a fact that the story is true. Do you have any photos of the tailgate and interior? A good resource for decoding the VIN would be the Scout Encyclopedia. You can also purchase a digital copy of the original line set ticket from IH Parts America. I have done that with all my Scouts and gotten a lot of good information from them.
 
All of the visual clues except the windshield and the hood bracket are that of an 800. I’ve heard of windshield+frame swaps from 80 to 800, but it’s never a perfect swap, so you might look for evidence of either leaks or non-factory work done around the windshield and/or where the bracket is bolted to the hood. And as @Colton_Scout80 noted, the early (1965) 800s might have had some of the 80 windshields, but if yours is a 1968/1969, it’s unlikely to have carried over that long.

Examples of 800 styling cues that suggest this is an 800:
The lock cylinder below the door handle was on the 800s and was not on the 80s.
The IH emblem on the hood was an 800 feature, but not an 80 feature, which had the IH emblem centered on the grill.
 
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Thank you all for the replies! I will order the line set ticket from IH Parts America, sounds like it would be interesting to read through. I also read of the spare parts thing with them using 80 parts on the 800s but since this is supposed to be a 68/69 and they stopped making the 80 in 65 seems kind of late to be using those parts.

Assuming this is not the original color, it looks like it was repainted years ago unless factory paint was just not very good. There are signs of overspray everywhere and peeling spots. The paint was originally all white, top and body. I've noticed a lot of paint runs in fender wells and under hood not that it matters...
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Thank you all for the replies! I will order the line set ticket from IH Parts America, sounds like it would be interesting to read through. I also read of the spare parts thing with them using 80 parts on the 800s but since this is supposed to be a 68/69 and they stopped making the 80 in 65 seems kind of late to be using those parts.

Assuming this is not the original color, it looks like it was repainted years ago unless factory paint was just not very good. There are signs of overspray everywhere and peeling spots. The paint was originally all white, top and body. I've noticed a lot of paint runs in fender wells and under hood not that it matters...View attachment 8573View attachment 8574
If you haven’t looked at the pictures @Colton_Scout80 posted on here not too long ago of his restoration he’s been working on it’s worth the look. She had turned out beautiful!
 
Thank you all for the replies! I will order the line set ticket from IH Parts America, sounds like it would be interesting to read through. I also read of the spare parts thing with them using 80 parts on the 800s but since this is supposed to be a 68/69 and they stopped making the 80 in 65 seems kind of late to be using those parts.

Assuming this is not the original color, it looks like it was repainted years ago unless factory paint was just not very good. There are signs of overspray everywhere and peeling spots. The paint was originally all white, top and body. I've noticed a lot of paint runs in fender wells and under hood not that it matters...View attachment 8573View attachment 8574
That front dash makes me 95% sure it’s an 800. If I remember correctly, the 80 had a very different dash. And the 800 had the two-spoke steering wheel. Someone would have had to go through a lot of work to transform an 80 into what you have, but not that much work to install the windshield and wipers from an 80 into an 800.
 
Also does anyone know if that headliner is factory? Looks period correct but kinda cheaply installed so not sure.
Headliner does not look like it’s factory. From what I know the only Scout 800s that had a factory headliner where the Aristocrat and Comanche.
 
That front dash makes me 95% sure it’s an 800. If I remember correctly, the 80 had a very different dash. And the 800 had the two-spoke steering wheel. Someone would have had to go through a lot of work to transform an 80 into what you have, but not that much work to install the windshield and wipers from an 80 into an 800.
Yes the scout 80 dash is very different.
 
I just picked up what's titled as a 1969 Scout 800. The Scout is in really good shape, very little rust to speak of. looks like it's had paint job years ago. I've never owned a Scout and know little about them other than it's hard to find one with as little rust as this one.

The VIN plate in engine compartment says it's an 800 along with the trim on the glove box. I ran the VIN through a decoder which tells me it's an 800 built in early 1968. What's got my brain all twisted is that everything I've read says that the fold down windshield and the vacuum wipers on the top of the windshield were only on the 80 series. I can't find any information on the 800 having these features.

Do I have an 80 trying to pass off as an 800?

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Very nice find.

Scout. “People. Connections. Community. Authenticity." Welcome to the Scout community. Enjoy the ride. 🛻 🚙
Remember the built in search on the forums is a great place to start getting answers to your many questions. 😀
 
I just picked up what's titled as a 1969 Scout 800. The Scout is in really good shape, very little rust to speak of. looks like it's had paint job years ago. I've never owned a Scout and know little about them other than it's hard to find one with as little rust as this one.

The VIN plate in engine compartment says it's an 800 along with the trim on the glove box. I ran the VIN through a decoder which tells me it's an 800 built in early 1968. What's got my brain all twisted is that everything I've read says that the fold down windshield and the vacuum wipers on the top of the windshield were only on the 80 series. I can't find any information on the 800 having these features.

Do I have an 80 trying to pass off as an 800?

View attachment 8569
View attachment 8570View attachment 8571View attachment 8572
Treat it like a stray, mixed breed dog and just love it for what it is 😀
 
All of the visual clues except the windshield and the hood bracket are that of an 800. I’ve heard of windshield+frame swaps from 80 to 800, but it’s never a perfect swap, so you might look for evidence of either leaks or non-factory work done around the windshield and/or where the bracket is bolted to the hood. And as @Colton_Scout80 noted, the early (1965) 800s might have had some of the 80 windshields, but if yours is a 1968/1969, it’s unlikely to have carried over that long.

Examples of 800 styling cues that suggest this is an 800:
The lock cylinder below the door handle was on the 800s and was not on the 80s.
The IH emblem on the hood was an 800 feature, but not an 80 feature, which had the IH emblem centered on the grill.
Look at you sleuths go. I’m learning a ton. This is cool