International Harvester has been out of the light-duty truck market for almost thirty years, but their products live on through a community of hard-core fans. You can count Chris and Carolina Adams in that number, as their '62 Scout 80 is clearly the work of devoted fans. True, the purist might cringe at anything short of an original restoration of what many consider to be the original SUV, but we're sure that this Scout doesn't mind that it has been completely transformed into a sporty runabout. As Chris explained, International Harvester was known for its tractors and farm implements, including the obvious harvesters and balers that would fasten hay into tight bales. That's how IH garnered the nickname "binder", which explains why the Adams' Scout, which is so far from the norm, was nicknamed, "Unbound".
The Adams' Scout started as a four-cylinder 2WD model with a bench seat and leaf springs at every corner, so they had a long way to go to get to what you see on these pages today. The foundation of the build is an Art Morrison chassis custom made from 2x4-inch rectangular tubing. The rear suspension is a five-link, while the front is Morrison IFS, and the whole truck rests on adjustable coilovers that nestles the truck over the perennial-favorite 20x10-inch American Racing Torq Thrust wheels. Just like the wheels are modern versions of a classic, so are the tires, as the Adams' chose 265/35ZR20 BFGoodrich T/A KDW rubber for the front and 294/45ZR20 tires for the rear. Marty Schreiber at N2 Hot Rods in Arizona, was responsible for the build, while Chris lent his eye to the design and aesthetic choices.
Chris knew that there had to be something about the body of his Scout to set it apart from the rest. There isn't much adornment on the factory body, so the focus went to the top, which was chopped four inches with the windshield laid back to match. The other major modification was done to the tailgate, where the hinges were removed and the gate was solidly welded to the body. The exhaust system also makes its appearance in the rear, as the exhaust exits via round tips frenched into the rear panel of the Scout on either side of the roll pan. N2 did the bodywork, with Tim Chesher handling the final sanding that left the 4th Dimension Cortez Silver metallic and Nocturne Blue metallic paint looking fantastic.
The transmission is shifted...
The transmission is shifted via a Compushift controller and either a Lokar floor shifter or Twist Machine paddles.