Strange Automotive Engines: International's (IH) 'Half of a V8' Comanche 152/196ci 4cyl!

Learn more about the International-Harvester "half of a V8" Comanche engines!

[billjamison]

My family owned an autoboby repair shop. We had a 1961 Scout, with this unique engine, set up as a snow plow and tow truck. My grandfather bought it new in 1961. It was a blast to drive! Power nothing, vacuum wipers and sliding half windows in the doors. The gearing was insane. In Granny gear, the torque felt like you could pull a house off its foundation! When my father retired in 2005, the Scout had 13, 200 original miles on My uncle, living in Texas, drove to Pennsylvania with a flatbed and hauled it back to Texas. The Scout lives on!!

[nferraro]

Never had a Scout, but I loved the ScoutII's. The 304's were unbelievably bulletproof, due to their extremely thick cylinder walls, forged cranks and nickel-alloy blocks and gear-drive cams.

[billmoran]

I use to have an international scout 2, wish I still had it . The only problem with driving it was every time I drove past corn fields the damn thing always started pulling to the right !

[dennisfoltz]

We lived in a wooded area at the end of the road . Me and older brother would take one of my dads 2 wheel drive trucks into the woods on old oil lease roads . We would sometimes get stuck and need pulled out . We would alway go get our elderly neighbor and his little scout truck to pull us . He never complained or told our dad. We were in our teens in the seventies. The poor neighbor was in his eighties, wonderful man . Never forget his little scout truck . Hopefully someday ill find one i can restore

[Krankie_V]

When I was a kid my dad's plow truck was an International Scout with one of those slanted 4 cylinders.

[MarkPietz-lv]

Just stumbled onto this video. My comment here is to clarify that the picture of the Scout 152 engine with the partial turbo (and disconnected outlet pipe to the right) is not a picture of the actual turbo option installed in the 1965-67 Scouts. It's a picture from a "turbo" Scout project I had around 2016. I was mocking up 152T turbo exhaust manifolding mounted to the larger IH 196 in a 1980 Scout II engine bay, to check for clearances and feasibility. My project was successful, but short lived.

[Al-thecarhistorian]

You have touched a soft spot in me because in 1964 when I was 16 my parents bought a new International Scout all-wheel-drive. At the time I thought it was the most useful vehicle I had ever seen. Liked it so much better than the Mustang.

We had the Scout for eight years and except for rust, very little went wrong with the Scout. I learned to drive stick shift on the Scout and we spent many times romping through snow in the winter and going camping in the summertime. I do not recall the four cylinder vibrating much. I loved the sound it made on take off. it sounded a bit like a farm tractor and had a chugging note to it.

Indeed, it was bare-bones, although with ours, we did get the optional roll down windows and a heater and defroster. The only peculiarity it had was when it rained occasionally it would stall when you came to a stop. It was in the shop for that a number of times, but they claimed they could never find a problem. It did rust out, unfortunately after eight years as it occasionally leaked around the windshield. I also remember the steering wheel was on crooked from the factory. Instead of the bars going horizontally, they went vertically up and down.

My father sold our Scout in 1972 to a friend up the street who fixed the rust in the floorboards, and had the Scout re-painted from the original tan with a white top to red with a white top. He drove it for another 10 years before he got rid of it.

It was the greatest vehicle any teenager could've ever grown up with.

[randalllindemann]

I owned two Scout IIs and two IH pick-ups. One Scout had the 196 four cylinder. That one ran a bit rough on acceleration. The one with the 304 V-8 was much nicer. It kinda broke my heart when IH quit making those vehicles. I still have a 560 Farmall (same 232 c.i. six cylinder engine as my 1951 IH pick-up) that I drove home new from the dealer at age 11 when my dad bought it in 1963. Finally, I’ve driven hundreds of thousands of miles over the road in International semi tractors. International Harvestor is a big part of my life.

[bradreinhardt]

Don't hear enough about IH vehicles. When I worked on them in the 70s, I was impressed with how robust they were designed. I never experienced any driveability issues with them. They were just solid!

[jefferysmith]

My grandfather kept an old 4 cylinder mid 60’s Scout for decades at my grandparents NC summer home to serve as his mountain runabout. He loved it. It would sit in a rickety garage for 6 months every year during the winter and fire right up with a little coaxing when they returned in the spring. Other than having an automatic transmission, it was about as crude as a vehicle could get with dented body panels and a floppy soft top. He couldn’t have cared less. It suited him perfectly.

[jefweb]

I'm so glad you featured IH!! Don't forget about the Nissan powered diesel they offered. Absolutely zero power, but unreal fuel economy. Keep in mind, while not perfect, International carried over a lot of the durability and toughness from their ag lines to their vehicles. They didn't fair so well against rust, but tough as nails.

[geofjones]

A friend had one of those Scouts. Don't know if it was the 152 or 196. It was not a fast car, but it would really lug. Had 3 speed floor shift, posi in the rear, plus 4 wheel drive with a low range. Had to spin both rears and one front before you were stuck. The engine was very durable, had medium-duty truck engine parts inside. That little car had a heart of gold!

[WECD]

196 owner here! 78 Scout Terra. Very reliable. Won't win a race but does great. It's a little shakey LOL!!! My 392 in the my 75 Travelall is super smooth.

[LBS]

This is fantastic - my first vehicle was a 1980 Scout 2, factory yellow with half a V8 and a 4 speed. My brother and I ran it for years then I drove it out to CO and sold it while out there. I miss that truck!

[bullnukeoldman]

I well remember when this engine appeared - I lived in Springfield, Ohio, where many residents worked at the large IH manufacturing plants in town. The Scout wasn't built here (I believe that these were built in Fort Wayne) but several local folks loyally bought them. They soon became known as underpowered rough-runners and were mostly used as farm/agricultural runabouts. Scouts with larger engines later were better accepted locally and used as grocery-getters for moms.

[jaygraham]

I bought a 1963 Scout in the fall of 1971. It had a snow plow on it. Rear end was out of it. Was fortunate to find a used rear end. Ran the Scout until it was severely rusted out to the point that the passenger seat was falling through the floor. I found a 1965 Scout right hand drive with own motor. The body was in good condition. I swapped the body onto the 63 chassis. Swapped all the controls and dash and everything into the 65 body. Made new foor pans and bed floor. Completed the project in 1978. Ran it until 1985 and sold it for the same amount of money I originally paid for it. Plowed lots of snow with. Wish I still had this Scout.

[stevecunningham]

In 1972 I traded a VW bug for a 1970 4 cylinder Scout with the full roof. I was in the USAF and my drive home went from 9 hours in the VW to 12 hours in the Scout. It was not a road trip vehicle and was like riding in a steel drum at 55-60 mph top speed! I traded it for a Pinto when I got married later that year. I sure do wish I had the old Scout today!

[jamessharp]

I Can’t say how much I enjoy your channel . The way you present information with no hype is refreshing. I’m 55 and a lifelong gear head, it’s annoying when some there’s some real engine family 101 stuff presented as if it’s more esoteric information. You don’t do that, I’ve been able to learn expanded knowledge on basic w Glen families I knew and become aware of some others.
I also like your car collection in that you stay away from the more popular muscle and pony cars.

[beenbeatenbybishops]

Love those old corn binders. Always got the job done.

[VB-bklh]

I had a slant 4 engine in my '67 Scout. I did just fine powerwise and it was stronger than a same period 4 cyl. Jeep. I had the '67 in the early 80's, I bought it from a farmer who had it that retired and was selling off all his equipment. It ran just fine but even then, parts were an issue. At around 146k on the clock I pulled the motor for an overhaul. The cam was basically a V8 cam minus half its lobes, but since the original cam couldn't be found, we used one from a V8. The cam we found didn't have the fuel pump lobe, so from then on it lived with a small cube type fuel pump. The distributor was the same as a V8, but with every other plug wire socket devoid of its contacts and filled in. Not being able to find the original cap, we used a V8 cap and simply filled every other port with RTV. It worked fine.
I had that Scout till around 1990 or so, along the way I had picked up a parts truck for various items, mostly because it was super cheap. I had offered it to the guy who bought the '67 but he wasn't interested. Four years later I stumbled on a good running IH V8 and I put the V8 into the 1965 scout and used it mostly just for fun for a few years before other issues with it made me lose interest and it too got sold in favor of something with ac and a stereo.