Tag: Nationals

Nationals 2026 Trip Report

Our trip to Ohio started out with a bit of a whimper. Brian made his way across the bridge at a reasonable hour, and I was packed and ready to hit the road as soon as he threw his bag in the Scout. After kissing Jen, petting the dog, and forgetting my phone on my desk, we jumped in and prepared to start the truck. Then Brian sadly held up several parts of his seatbelt, which had exploded in his hands as he tried to click it in place.

Finley broke the female side of the seatbelt several years ago and I’ve always been able to get it put back together, but this time it was in multiple pieces and we were antsy to get on the road. So I grabbed one of the spare lap belts from the Red Bus and we swapped it into place while big fat drops of rain started coming down around us. Satisfied we had reached a minimum level of safety,  we hit the road for the Park & Ride on Rt. 32, where we were meeting Bennett. He was driving Heavy D, his red-on-white pickup, now that Mr. Hanky has moved to Pennsylvania under the assumed name Hank. The rain continued for a while, at least until we made it past Frederick, and then the skies lightened up and we drove toward the setting sun. At speed the soft top held the water at bay, for which we were thankful.

We decided to stop off at the Oak Barrel Cafe, an unassuming but absolutely top-notch gas station/restaurant where we’d grabbed dinner last year, and where Mr. Hanky decided to blow a lower radiator hose. This time there was no drama, and we each got a giant slice of cake to go for the road. From there we drove another 3 hours and found a hotel in Washington, PA, south of Pittsburgh, for a layover. We’d been hoping to meet up with our friends Chad and Liz, who live nearby and now own Hank, but they’d left a day earlier.

Thursday morning we woke a bit later than we planned on, ate some powdered hotel eggs, and hit the road by 10. The drive west was pleasant and mild—the first 2/3 of the trip was overcast and the recent rain had cooled the hills of western PA and the plains of Ohio down to a reasonable temperature. With a bunch of expensive gas stops, we made it to Dayton and the entrance of the Air Force Museum by 3:30. This year we walked all the way to the back hangar and spent most of our time there, as we hadn’t been able to see much of it last year. After being shooed out of the museum at last call, we drove over to a restaurant to have some dinner, stopped at a grocery store for provisions—ice and beer, mainly—and then headed to the hotel. We met a few friends in the parking lot, checked ourselves in (a ground-floor room is the way to go) and walked back outside to tailgate.

Chad and Liz were already there, and we met her parents, who were super nice. As we all stood around the bed of Heavy D and caught up, a tall silver-haired man drove up towing a Super Scout on a trailer, parked, walked over and introduced himself: Pate, a fellow we’d met up with years ago when I was organizing local gatherings. I shook his hand and offered him a beer, and we all settled into comfortable, fun conversation. At one point Pate disappeared into his truck and came back with a mason jar full of brown liquid with a wooden block in the center, took a sip, and passed it to me: delicious homemade bourbon flavored with a chunk of oak. This was passed around the circle to unanimous approval. We all stayed out until 11:30 or so, and made plans for the next morning to caravan over to the show.

The next morning we powered up with hotel breakfast and headed out to the parking lot. We helped Pate get his truck off the trailer, which gave me the opportunity to sit in a Super Scout for the first time while warmed up the engine; I can definitely see the appeal of taking the doors off a Scout II. Then we caravanned over to the show. After setting up camp and registering, we hit the parts stands to see what was available. A couple of the usual vendors weren’t there this year, but there was still plenty to dig through and many deals to be had. I restrained myself to only buying a set of new hood bump stops for the Travelall—they require fine pitch bolts, which are specific to IH as far as I can tell. Back at the trucks, I pulled out the Bestop box and put a sign on it. Within about an hour I had three guys trying to talk me down on the price. Eventually we made a deal for cash, and I doubled my money, which meant I had cash for parts!

There were a few tech talks that sounded interesting but the one about electrics that I wanted to hear didn’t actually happen; I don’t know what the story was, but the production didn’t seem to be as professional as it had been last year. The whole day seemed to fly by, and before we knew it we were packing up to head back to the hotel. Bill and his girlfriend arrived from Michigan with his Travelall on a trailer and I made introductions. We stayed up again until 11 catching up and drinking beers in the parking lot.

Saturday morning we met up again for an even larger caravan, this time collecting Bill at a gas station down the street. This was the first time he had driven his truck long distance after thrashing on the drivetrain and front suspension the night before he left, so I think he was happy to have a group of guys in trail. We made it to the show with no problems and set up camp with our group. Scott from the Super Scout Registry parked his truck on the other side of our row and I worked with a couple of guys next to us to make him space so that he could pull in next to Pate to have two original Super Scouts next to each other. I think this made them both happy.

Once we were set up, we went back out to the parts stands to see what was left and what was new. With a bunch of cash in my pocket, I was keen on finding big stuff without having to pay for shipping. The first thing I grabbed was a used Scout seatbelt to replace the one we’d cobbled together in the driveway and a length of wire with a very specific male/female connector from Phil Coonrod. This wire connection is the key element for fabricating a wired dome light for the Scout that I’m going to put on the rollbar.  Over at the Scout Connection booth I splurged on a set of door felts for the Travelall. These are expensive, but are well worth the cost, because they make rolling the windows up and down much easier—and prevent the glass from breaking when you close the doors. Ask me how I know. Further down at the Scout Boys stand I spied a set of 800 gas tanks, and before I could ask, Doug told me I could take them for $10 each. I could not get my cash out fast enough: the driver’s side was a little rough, but the passenger side tank looked almost NOS: bare metal with zero holes anywhere. This was the deal of the day. I also picked up a Travelall-specific armrest mount, minus the pad, for $5. I’ve got four of these from the green truck, but two of them are cracked pretty badly.

We returned to our camp and I put my other two parts for sale out in front: a new Straight Steer bar and an early Scout 80 heater plenum, each at what I thought was a reasonable price. We then went to listen to the Scout Motors update, which was delivered by one of the heads of marketing. It sounds like everything is still on track and they are making great progress on the facility. He dispelled most of the odd rumors we’ve heard. It was a bummer they didn’t have the display trucks there this year, but it was good to hear that things are still moving forward.

In the afternoon, we finally got our act together and walked around the display trucks, but people had started leaving early for some reason and by the time we made it out to the rows, probably 1/3 of the trucks had already left. What was still there was really cool though. I talked to a guy with a beautiful, pristine C-series pickup at length about his wheels and some other details: It was a 1964 model with the same 16″ wheels I have. He’s running LT215/85R16 tires, which are readily available anywhere; this will be my new direction. I spent a bunch of time drooling over his picture-perfect grille surround, thinking about how mine is disintegrating.

He also had a really nice GM-style armrest in his truck that looked better than the stock plastic mounts, which gave me an idea for mine. I measured the bolt holes on the plastic one I’d bought and realized it wouldn’t fit the holes already drilled in my doors, so I’m on the hunt for some aftermarket units.

I also stopped by the IHPartsAmerica booth to talk with Jeff and Zaed about two things: I had the clutch core from the Scout from last year that I wanted to turn in for store credit, and I wanted to show them the C-series cupholder I’d designed. Jeff was interested in the design, made a few suggestions, and told me to get a shipment of 10 set up to resell! I cannot explain how excited I was about this. One of the first things I did after chopping the recap video together was to update the design and send it off to SendCutSend.

Reluctantly, we decided to leave at about 4 o’clock to get back to the hotel and prep for the auction as well as get some dinner. Because we got back early early, we were able to score parking spots close to the stage, and cooled off in the pool before the event. There were a lot of donations for the auction this year, and we had gotten word that an anonymous donor was going to match the final amount. Nobody had bought the straight steer or the heater plenum so I put the former in the auction with our names on it. I tried flying the drone over the parking lot before the event started, but I was having issues with stability and didn’t want to crash it on top of somebody’s expensive truck so I put it away and set up a time lapse on a tall pole.

The auction was a lot of fun; there were only a few things I was interested in, but I was surprised the straight steer didn’t collect more money than it did. I guess most people who need one already have one. The auction wound up collecting over $12,000, and with the match they raised $25,000 for two charities. When that was over, we hung out in the parking lot tailgating.

Jim from Super Scouts stopped by with a nice little part he and I had discussed earlier: a washer unit for the Travelall using a modern motor mated to a custom bracket he’d built. All three of the wiper units I have—the original, the one from the green truck, and one I pulled from a parts truck—are all rusted solid, so a new weather sealed unit that’s more powerful is exactly what the truck needs. Grateful, I paid him cash and stored it in a dry bin in the truck. We hung out until about 11 before Brian and I decided our social batteries were low and we hung it up for the evening. Bennett came in not too long after that and we all crashed out after a long day.

Sunday morning we were dragging a little bit but got packed up and ready to leave at about 10 o’clock. By that time we were one of only about 10 trucks left in the parking lot: everybody else had either headed for home or the show by then. I topped off all of my fluids, including coolant, and after gassing up, we hit the road. Right outside of Enon, Ohio I suddenly lost power steering and brakes and was able to pull off the exit and stop out in front of a logistics warehouse. Opening the hood revealed that the radiator cap had blown off, dousing the front of the truck with coolant, which popped the power steering belt off the pulley. The belt was a quick fix: loosening a 1/2″ bolt for slack, looping the belt back on, and tightening the pulley back up. The radiator  cap was another matter, but once again, Bennett came to the rescue: he had a spare in his truck. With that fixed, I started the truck back up and we decided to hit Super Scout Specialists, which was only a mile and a half down the road. On the way I stopped at an auto parts store and got an eight dollar radiator cap for a backup.

There were a bunch of trucks already out in front of the store, and we joined the crowd inside, browsing the displays and parts. There were a lot of things that would be nice to have but nothing I really desperately needed. One thing I did find on a shelf was a reproduction plastic travel armrest with a soft foam pad in a gray that looks like it approximates the original color. These were $50 apiece so I put them back for future consideration.

I did look carefully at one of the ambulances in the front display area to see what they’d mounted on the front fenders back in the day, and realized that instead of extra lights, my truck probably had a pair of sirens on each side. Mine were a different model—I’ve got three bolt holes in a straight line as opposed to four in a square, but the idea is the same.

We wandered through the rear part section and found a good scout 800 dash pad for Brian, which he put back, and a couple of other nice to have items that we didn’t really need. Out in the parts yard I spied the black Travelall I had pulled the window from three years ago and another white truck next to it: both looked to have 16 inch wheels. The ones on the white truck were in much better shape. I filed that away for future reference: I want to see what they’re asking for just the steelies, and maybe they’re in better shape than the ones I have.

We bought some small stuff and hit the road by noon, which meant we were going to be getting home late. The drive was uneventful other than periods of rain; again, with the top rolled up safari-style, there was little water intrusion in the truck other than a leaky corner above the passenger A-pillar, which Brian plugged with a rag. We didn’t hit major weather until we were about 1/2 hour from home, when the heavens opened up on us and traffic slowed to 30mph. Thankfully the wipers in the Scout worked diligently, and two applications of Rain-X made it so that I could see the road ahead of us. I do have to re-adjust the headlights downwards, though.

We rolled into the driveway at about 9:30 and quickly threw Brian’s gear into his truck; he still had another hour to go before getting home. I pulled the truck in the garage, shut her down, and brought my gear inside.

As always, I had a fantastic time at the show. There’s nothing better than getting together with your friends for an adventure, which takes you to a place filled with more friends who are all there for the same reason. I can’t express how welcoming everyone is at the show—and now that we’ve been there five times, we know almost everyone. As I mentioned earlier, this year felt like it flew by. I didn’t feel like I saw everything or got to talk with everyone I wanted to, which is completely different than in years past. I also didn’t take as many pictures or shoot as much video as in years past, which was also strange.

One of the things we’re talking about is maybe attending Harvesters in the Holler, another event that happens in Tennessee in September; this is an 8-10 hour drive, but it sounds just as friendly and fun as Nationals, without the vendor/show component. It’s more of a meet-up/barbecue/camping event, which sounds like a lot of fun. We’ll see. Hopefully gas will be cheaper by then.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   Leave a Comment on Nationals 2026 Trip Report  |  Posted in Friends, Purchasing, Trip Logs  |  Tagged

Nationals 2025 Recap

I’m back at my desk on Monday after a 1000-mile trip out and back to Ohio, with only a minor hiccup the whole way. Overall, it was a great time, and even though the weather was damp and drizzly, the trip was filled with fun and good friends.

On the road

We changed up our strategy a little bit this year and got on the road Wednesday evening right after work in order to make it to an overnight at a cheap hotel near Pittsburgh, about halfway to Ohio. At our first pit stop Bennett found that his lower radiator hose was spitting all over the engine bay, but he produced a spare from all the parts in his cargo area. We went inside and had a good dinner before coming back out when the engine had cooled down, and had it swapped out in about a half an hour.

Setting sun over Western Maryland

Refilling and burping the tank, we got on the road as the sun was setting and continued into Pennsylvania with our lights on. Brian found a hotel that wasn’t booked, and after Siri took us the long way, we parked outside and shut the trucks down. The room and beds were clean enough that we didn’t mind and 80 bucks was exactly the right price.

After a breakfast of powdered eggs and manufactured bacon, we hit the road at about 8AM on Thursday and continued our way into Ohio. The reason for getting out there early was so that we could finally stop in and see the Air Force Museum, which is in Dayton—only about 20 miles from the hotel we were staying at. It’s been there like a big giant bull’s-eye for years, and we just never made the time to check it out.

This plane is one of the reasons I wanted to go to the Museum.

Getting out there, the weather was clear but cool and we had mostly sunny skies for the entire trip. We rolled into the Museum parking lot at about noon and were immediately blown away by the size and scope of everything. They’ve got four huge hangars, starting with the birth of aviation and the Wright brothers, who began their tinkering with airplanes not far from the museum. Each successive hangar moved forward in time, all the way up to modern jets. There was so much to see, we didn’t have enough time to get to the last two hangars apart from a quick speed walk. After the museum closed at five, we loaded back up and headed to our hotel—only 7 miles away—to register and start meeting up with people in the parking lot for some cold beer and conversation.

Friday morning is always the best morning for parts hunting, but we got a bit of a late start. The hotel we stay at is very nice and they provide a better breakfast than most. We made it to the fairgrounds at about 9:30, parked the trucks, got set up, and then hit the stands to see what we could find.

My list for this year was actually very short. I wasn’t looking for any Scout stuff, and I only had a few specialty Travelall items that I wanted to find. The vendor space seemed a little thin compared to two years ago, but a lot of the used parts guys had a wide selection of Scout stuff. There was barely any C-Series truck stuff to look through, which was kind of disappointing. I stopped at the Scout Connection tent and picked up a glove box insert for Darth Haul, which was one of the top things on my list, and scoped out a couple of other items to look at later. I also had a list for a couple of other folks, and found a six-cylinder air cleaner for Pickup David after digging through a huge pile of assorted parts.

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This is 501, the first Scout produced by International Harvester. It was restored just a few years ago.

The Friday crowd was a bit smaller than the weekend crowd, which was normal, but we met up with a bunch of old friends and caught up as we walked around. Inside the building, there was an amazing display of beautiful show trucks: 501, the first Scout 80 ever made, lovingly restored by the IH pros for display. Next to that was the last Scout II produced in 1980, a diesel Scout II.

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The Scout Motors Traveler. The Last Scout is sitting right behind it.

Scout Motors had both of the new prototypes on display with a big crowd around each one. They are beautiful in person, and we spent a lot of time admiring the design and all of the tiny details they added: things like LED lights under the door handles, a trick charging port door behind the driver’s rear side marker, and cupholders on either side of the frunk. The Scout employees were very nice and answered questions all day, pausing to wipe them down with chamois cloths.

Back at the trucks, we sat under the awning and caught up with some of the folks around us. Bennett had made up signs to offer Hanky for sale at Nats, thinking someone might take him up on a deal and he could come home with a pocket full of cash for a future deal. He had a lot of tire kickers, and his price was very fair for what he was asking, but Hanky is sort of like a threadbare suit on a male model—the components are worth more than the shell of the truck.

One of the tech seminars was very interesting: Levi from Old Iron Offroad was doing an introduction to the Holley Sniper kit. I took copious notes and confirmed a lot of things I was already assuming. I’d already figured I would need to buy a beater PC laptop and learn more about tuning in order to get the most out of the Sniper, and this confirmed it. He also gave us a discount code for an EFI training course, and as a surprise, they did a drawing for the Sniper kit they were demoing—which I didn’t win, sadly.

Sean Barber and his crew did a talk on taking their Scout back to Baja to race in the NORRA 1000; last year they had an accident and the truck rolled down a hill, which was the end of the race (and that truck). They built a new one, keeping some of the same components from the first truck, and won first place in their class. Then they walked us out to the truck and fired up the engine so we could hear a 4-cylinder truck engine roar.

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A pretty truck. But I could see straight through a hole in the cowl to the passenger seat.

As usual, I peeped out all of the C-series trucks and Travelalls to see how their trucks look; they were thin on the ground this year, but this teal truck and a white one with barn doors caught my eye.

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This Travelall was for sale, without engine—but with the trailer.

And this forlorn D-series Travelall was for sale—with the trailer—and no motor.

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Stephen and I checked out this pretty pickup. There were some choices made that were not my style (why is the bumper red?) but it was very nice overall.

Stephen and I walked over to check out this pretty pickup truck, which was similar to the one he used to have.

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That Terra on the left is uglier than Peer Pressure.

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But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I’m betting this Terra won for Ugliest Truck, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

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This K series pickup made me weak in the knees.

Late in the afternoon. I ran into Brian and Emma who I met years ago at the 2021 Nationals, who had trailered in her Scout from Illinois. We made plans to meet up on Saturday to catch up, and they headed off to their hotel.

The three of us packed up at about five and headed out for some dinner at a pizza joint close to the hotel, dodging rain showers along the way. Then we headed back to the hotel and parked up with the rest of the crowd there, cracking open some beers and tailgating until late in the evening.

Saturday morning, the three of us agreed to get up earlier, and I arranged to pick up Brian and Emma, whose Dodge towing rig had broken down the night before. We loaded them into my Scout and made it to the fairgrounds by a little after 8 o’clock. They moved their Scout next to ours, and we reassembled our canopy, then hit the parts field for a second run. There weren’t many new vendors out there, but we found some more good deals and offered some advice, finding them a set of good door hinges buried in the bins at Coonrods’. I picked up a set of dome-style IH hubcaps for Darth that had been painted red; I’ll see if I can strip them and shine them up. For $30 it was too good to pass up. But other than that, I was very disciplined. I did grab a C-series fender for Pickup David for $40; it’s going to need some work but better than anything else he’d find around here.

Saturday’s forecast was much wetter than Friday’s and we dealt with fleeting rain showers off and on the whole day. Bennett adjusted his signs to sell Mr. Hanky and I put more of my postcards out on my wipers. There were more seminars scheduled, but the one everyone was interested in was an update from the Scout Motors team where they talked about everything they’ve accomplished and what’s coming next.

Late in the afternoon, I queued up to do a photo tour of the plant in my truck and a security guard led us into the facility, where IH made their heavy duty trucks. I was able to park my truck on the production line itself and take a bunch of really cool photos there, which was a highlight.

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One of the highlights of the day!

Then we drove back out and parked in our spot. The rain came and went all afternoon, and that seemed to dampen the spirits of some of the people with shiny show trucks, because the field started thinning out at about 3. At this point, I’m not worried about rain while I’m out there so we stuck around until the end. That turned out to be a blessing, because we were part of something very special at the end of the day. As we were pulling out to go to the hotel, our friend Dennis flagged Bennett down and told him that the Scout Motors folks were pulling their trucks out for a photo op. Brian and I parked Peer Pressure and walked back over to watch.

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501, the Scout Motors Terra and Traveler.
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501, the Scout Motors Terra and Peer Pressure!

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Another shot of the same.

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That’s the Last Scout, 501 (the First Scout), and the Scout Motors Traveler.

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For the photo shoot, they pulled the first scout out of the garage and then the last Scout and flanked the two new Scouts. We watched them align the trucks and take some photos, and it just so happened that Mr. Hanky and Peer Pressure were sitting right behind the new trucks.

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Bennett even got involved and wound up steering the First Scout backwards to get it lined up while other people pushed it. Then, the Scout Motors folks asked us to pull our trucks up behind theirs, and we jumped at the chance. Originally, I was in the first row behind their Terra, but it turned out I would have been out of the frame, so they moved me over to the other side in the third row. I wasn’t complaining.

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Taken from my monopod. Peer Pressure is over on the left.

They organized all the trucks and we moved them around until they were happy with the placement, and then we stood behind their photographer to watch them do the photo shoot with a drone and a camera. I used my monopod and the timer on my camera to shoot as many pictures of the set up as I could.

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While I was shooting, a couple of the Scout motors folks were standing next to us, and I asked one of them if, when they were done, we could shoot a photo with all of the owners in front of their trucks. Her eyes lit up, she said that’s a great idea! and quickly arranged it with her crew. We all ran to our trucks, and they shot a bunch of pictures and video, and then did one with the Scout Motors crew in front of their two new trucks and all of us.

(copyright Scout Motors)
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Bennett taking the Last Scout for a spin

As we all dispersed, Bennett quietly moseyed over to the garage and disappeared inside for a couple of minutes. He then came out driving the Last Scout, taking it for a spin around the parking lot with a giant grin on his face. It turned out that he had mentioned driving the First Scout to Mike Bolton, who owns the Last Scout. He threw Bennett the keys and told him he’d better take the Last Scout out for a spin so he could say he drove them both. Stuff like that is the reason I love going out there.

At that point, it was 6 o’clock, we were hot and hungry, so we finally left the grounds and hunted down some food at a pub close to the hotel. We then hit the Walmart for some supplies and made our way back to the parking lot, where the auction was just getting started. At this point, I was pretty beat and not feeling as social as I should have been and we only stayed out to talk to folks until about 10 o’clock before heading upstairs.

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Sunday morning, we were up and out early. After stopping to take a quick group photo, we made sure everything in the truck was as waterproof as it could be and headed out into the drizzle. I made sure to wash the windshield with ceramic cleaner to wick off the water, but hoped we’d not drive through any major downpours. As it turned out, we did fine even though the clouds were following us eastward. Brian and I switched off driving which made the trip much easier to do in one day.

We stopped off for lunch in a little town in Pennsylvania and happened to find the same family-owned diner Bennett and I ate at two years ago, which was just the right speed.

Both trucks ran flawlessly on the way home, and we pulled into the driveway at about 5:30. Brian got a pitstop, we transferred his gear, and he continued home. I backed a damp Peer Pressure into the garage, got my basic gear out, and let her cool off.  I’ll have to address the leaking exhaust when it dries out, but other than that, she was rock-solid the whole way.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   2 Comments on Nationals 2025 Recap  |  Posted in Friends, Trip Logs  |  Tagged

Nationals 2023 Recap

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Knowing I wasn’t going to be able to drive Peer Pressure to Ohio this year without diagnosing the engine noise, I got the oil and coolant changed in the CR-V, strapped the pod on the roof, and moved a bunch of my tools and kit from the Scout, along with a couple of parts to possibly trade or sell. I spent a lot of time leading up to our trip moping about not driving an IH to an IH event, but eventually I got past myself and remembered to be excited to get away and see friends. Thursday morning Bennett met me at 9AM, we loaded up our gear, and hit the road for Springfield. The show was in a new location this year: they moved it from the Waco airfield to the Navistar assembly plant, which was the facility where my Travelall was built in 1963. This meant our hotel was new and also a half an hour from the show. We made good time through the smoke from the Canadian forest fires and rolled in to the hotel by late afternoon, meeting a bunch of folks we knew out in the parking lot after checkin and dinner. It was a bit quiet, as a lot of people hadn’t shown up yet, but we enjoyed the cool night air and had some beers to relax.

In the morning we got breakfast and hit the road early to hit the parts stands. Stuff for C-Series trucks is a lot thinner on the ground than Scout parts, so I knew I had to be quick and smart about what I was looking for. I came prepared with a list and basic price ranges I’d gathered by averaging numbers from the Internet, so I knew what the high end would be on most things.

I immediately found a somewhat foggy C-series wing window and got that for $10, then moved to the stand next door and found a right and a left side with much better glass (and no rubber) for $10 apiece. Those went immediately into the car. At the same vendor we found a Scout II console lid in the same color as a console I’d brought, which was sitting in the car. I brought it back over and made a fair swap deal with the guy for a beautiful 14″ International emblem for the right side barn door in perfect shape.

On the far side there was a guy with three trailers full of parts; he had a C-series bench seat from a pickup that looked reasonably intact minus the pipe base it sat on. I made a mental note to go over and wheel a deal with him on Saturday afternoon. At another vendor I found a bin full of front marker buckets that were solid, had been blasted and painted, and had intact pigtails. Those were each $10, well worth the price. I found a set of NOS lenses on another table for $300; apparently those are a little more expensive. I put them back and kept walking.

When Dan Hayes pulled in we checked out his table, and I found a beautiful Travelall script badge mounted on foam and grabbed it. He also had two ’64-’65 grilles in much better shape than the one I’ve currently got, and the price was extremely reasonable. I filed that away for Saturday, trying to maximise the money I’d brought.

We met up with our friend Jeff on the grounds and walked over to his truck where he had two beautiful IH-branded west coast mirrors waiting for me; I gratefully gave him what he was asking for them. There were several other C-series trucks and a Travelall with the exact same mirrors mounted at the show, so I took multiple pictures of them for reference. They went directly into the car and got wrapped in a blanket.

I had to spend a bit of time inside at the tech talks to cool off—this show area was set up on pavement, not the forgiving grass of the airfield, so we were getting cooked even though it was relatively cool with a breeze. I was wearing Merrel hiking boots with a thick heel and I could still feel the heat on the soles of my feet. They’d scheduled some excellent speakers and I learned a lot while I relaxed in the shade.

Later in the day a few more sellers came in and set up shop, and I found a guy who had a bunch of C-series stuff on a desk for excellent prices. I got a set of beat-up C-series visors for $10, a spare rear taillight lens for $5, and a set of C1100 badges for $20. We got to talking and he walked out to show me an immaculate D-series pickup truck which he’d just finished restoring. I voted him for best pickup and best paint, which he should easily win.

Out in the field we ran into the Delaware-based guy who bought my windshield frame; he just opened up his shop two years ago and is working mostly in Scouts now. The show truck he brought was very pretty, and it was nice talking to him, but it’s clear I’m way out of his demographic: he built an LS swap with a lift and fancy tires. He’s going for the high-end restomod audience, which is where the big money is. We wished him luck and went on our way.

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By about 4:30 we were pretty crispy so we packed up our stuff and grabbed Steven to go get some food at a brewpub near our hotel. After refueling and enjoying some cool air and a cold beer, we headed back to the hotel and met up with friends in the parking lot amongst the Scouts there. I struck up a conversation with Steve, the owner of the SSII registry, and learned some new things. I talked with guys from Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona, and some old heads I recognized from the IHC Digest back in the day. By about 11PM we all were winding down, and we headed upstairs to cool off and get some sleep.

Saturday morning we got to the grounds by about 9:30 and headed back out into the parts field for some more picking. A few more vendors appeared but Howie never showed—he’s always got badges and small parts that are impossible to find, and I figured he would be my best bet for the Travelall-specific stuff I wanted. I was happy to have scored the stuff I did find on Friday in his absence.

Returning through the stands, I came upon a pair of taillight lenses for $10, two chrome washer surrounds for $20, and a single front turn lens for $1. We took in a couple of the tech talks in the early afternoon: there was a great talk on IH electronics and how to upgrade the systems wisely, what tools to buy/use, and how to diagnose some common problems. After that the guys from Anything Scout talked about their recent journey to Baja to race in the NORRA 1000 with a Scout they pulled from a storage yard 9 months ago, which was fascinating.

I stopped by the IHPA booth to see if they had my bench or the air cleaner they’d promised to bring for me, but they were very apologetic and told me the week had gotten past them, and promised to make it right the following week.

We did our judging (we were both registered participants without a truck) and caught up with friends and basically had a great time walking the grounds. There were a lot more fancy Scouts there this year—all the old guard see the change in the air—but there were still plenty of beaters to be found among the trailer queens. Much of the discussion each day centered around how rare trucks are getting, how expensive they are, and how many are being bought up by the restorers and flippers. I met a couple of attendees who were walking around asking if anyone knew of a truck for sale; two guys from Wisconsin told me they were willing to drive to Pennsylvania to get a truck. That certainly shocked me, as I figured there was more rolling stock where they were from than what’s left out here.

I was sad not to have Peer Pressure because there were two very purple Scouts there this year: an 800 in a bright shade that would stop a train and a Scout II that was hand-painted with a roller during a manic episode. That one spent a lot of time in the parking lot on Saturday night surrounded by people trying to get it to run right again; it made the drive from Pennsylvania somehow but crapped out between the hotel and the show.

In the afternoon I walked back over to Dan’s stand and put the money down for the grille, figuring I’d never see one that good again. Bennett made some more deals (He was a lot more restrained than I was) and I found a C-series headlight bucket for $5. We did another circuit of the grounds, dropped the last of our raffle tickets off, and headed out for some Mexican food near the hotel.

Back in the parking lot they were setting up for the raffle, so we found a great spot up by the front and pretended our Honda was a Scout. As usual, I didn’t win any of the raffle items (it’s the only way I’d own a Redcat RC Scout) and was quickly bid out of the other things I was interested in, but it was fun to watch the show. We helped clean things up and hung out for a few more hours talking with friends until everyone called it a night at about 11:30.

Sunday morning we grabbed some breakfast with Carl and Mary, said our goodbyes, and hit the road for Super Scout Specialists, which was on our way home. They opened the shop at 9, and we pulled in a little after 10. Walking around in there is always amazing; the front of the shop is a museum of IH trucks and the back is just stuffed with new and used parts. Bennett and I found ourselves in the back racks looking at used stuff and noticed the door to the parts yard was open. We walked outside in a light drizzle and surveyed the lot of carcasses; Bennett pointed out two Travelalls in back and I made a beeline for them.

They had both been picked over hard and showed signs of being out in the elements for years, but one of the two had, by some miracle, an intact sheet of rear passenger glass. I asked inside if they could give me a price, and they were surprised when we told them there was still glass in it. When he gave me a number my jaw about hit the floor and I told him I’d take it on the spot.

We grabbed a few utility knives and commenced to carefully cutting it out of the truck, covering our hands with some kind of black sealant, and in about ten minutes it fell backwards into Bennett’s waiting hands (he volunteered to climb into the filthy cab) and he handed it gently back out to us. I carried it carefully out to the CR-V, gave Rob the cash, and tried to contain my excitement. Finding exactly what I needed was always a longshot, but somehow I won the ticket.

At this point it was really raining and a lot of the people from the show were stopping in to browse. After talking with the guys for a while, we hit the road at about noon and hustled our way east in the middle of an advancing rainstorm. As the rain kicking up off the road reduced our visibility, I was super glad not to be in the Scout; the wipers wouldn’t have kept up with the water and we would have been soaking wet. And having a working defogger was key. By the time we got into Pennsylvania the water had tapered off and when we turned south for Maryland we headed out of its path completely.

Somewhere above Frederick, we spotted a flatbed with two Scouts pulled off to the side of the road and immediately pulled over to stop. The Scout hanging off the stinger had lost a wheel and was dragging the drum on the ground. I didn’t remember the trucks from the show, but figured maybe someone had made a deal somewhere. We talked to the driver, who was hauling them back from northern PA for a guy we know locally; it just happened that we passed him on the way home. Small world.

With stops, we made it back to my driveway by 7:30, swapped Bennett’s gear into his car, and shook hands on another great Nationals trip. Traveling with him is always fun, and he knows everyone, so it’s always great to be introduced to new people.

Again, in retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t bring the Scout this year, as both the weather and our cargo would have made the drive back a challenge. I would have had to fabricate a box or crate to store the glass in to protect it from the harsh ride the Scout provides, and we were already behind schedule as it was. We had a dry, comfortable cruiser with A/C and good mileage, and that made up for a lot. I like to think everything happens for a reason, and once again my IH friends and my luck came through.

Posted on   |   by bill   |   4 Comments on Nationals 2023 Recap  |  Posted in Friends, Trip Logs  |  Tagged ,