69 International Loadstar shorty

[Misterspot]

Hey all, my partner and I came across a beautiful old 1969 international Loadstar 1600 shorty in Idaho a while back. We asked the owner about it. He said he’d bought it, got it running, and drove it 30 miles or so back to his place but now he didn’t have to time for it. He offered to sell it for $400, what he’d bought it for.

Wayne body. Four speed manual transmission. V8 gas engine. Not sure or size. Maybe the 304? They love gas and are slow. He said he’d got her up to 60 on the highway, which I thought was pretty good considering the age.

Anyway, we walked away from it hoping for something with a diesel engine, and maybe newer. That was a while ago and as we keep looking for buses, we keep coming back to that cheap old beater. Seemed like a great size and we love that style. Trying to decide if we should keep looking or just go for it, and maybe swap a less gas hungry engine into her sometime in the future? But does that also require tranny swap? Any info appreciated.

Oh also: the guy we would be buying it from had done some work. Cleaned out gas tank. Replaced a lot of rubber hose throughout. One tire needs replacing soon, but all others seem fine. I need to ask him about the specifics again. But anyway, that’s all the info. Any thoughts appreciated.

[cadillackid]

It’s gonna drink the gas and be slow however it’s simple, will need new tires all way around and you may need new wheels too if it has the 3 piece rims ( many tire shops won’t work with 3 piece) not saying it has those but 69 very well might.

However if it’s a 304 or 345 the IH scout enthusiasts have kept the aftermarket alive for engine parts for those.

It’s a classic so definitely fun to drive around , if your conversion has it looming hood and still mostly like a bus from the outside you’ll dev turn heads on the road.

That said a lot depends on your plans for the bus.. the drop down I’m the wall windows present challenges if you plan to gut and spray foam. It won’t be a great Rocky Mountain bus but being a stick site helps. If you like taking the back roads it will be great. Running a gas engine flat out redline isn’t good but if you are back roads at 55 it will be happpy camper.

Some here like to drive to get. To get to a destination . If you want to roll the freeways at 75 it’s not your rig.

I have a 1978 loadstar superior with a 392. It will redline out at 75 but it hates me for it.. so she drives 55-60 on the back roads and just rolls

[Booyah45828]

What's your plans for the bus? That determines whether it's suitable or not.

If you want to buy, park, and leave it somewhere. It sounds like you found the one.

If your plans are to tour the states with it, I'd pass. Unless you plan on doing a boatload of swapping and upgrade work to it. You'll find a few people on here run older buses. Cadillackid is one, Oltrunt is another, and tango(RIP) was another. The thing that they all have/had in common is that they're super handy and very mechanically inclined. So if you're not that, or flush with cash to pay a person to do it for you, then it's in your best interests to choose something else.

[BeNimble]

At $400 that leaves you plenty of cash to update it to more modern condition.
An engine swap is no problem with appropriate skills, swap engine and trans out of modern motorhome or truck, suggest a ford v10 out of e450.
That said, the update/upgrade costs will put you at what newer buses cost, so if you want the classic look go for it.

Best approach is get something like this, and swap the old body onto it,
this old motorhome with 454 was $1500.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

At $400 that leaves you plenty of cash to update it to more modern condition.
An engine swap is no problem with appropriate skills, swap engine and trans out of modern motorhome or truck, suggest a ford v10 out of e450.
That said, the update/upgrade costs will put you at what newer buses cost, so if you want the classic look go for it.

Best approach is get something like this, and swap the old body onto it,
this old motorhome with 454 was $1500.

what ya gonna build with that?

[BeNimble]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

what ya gonna build with that?

Put a big two-sided electronic billboard on the back and drive around sacramento advertising Cannabis delivery services??
They have wads of venture capital cash and need exposure.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

Put a big two-sided electronic billboard on the back and drive around sacramento advertising Cannabis delivery services??
They have wads of venture capital cash and need exposure.

heck why not!! billboard trucks have been around for awhile I was thinking though of the longest-bed regular cab pickup truck known to man

[BeNimble]

Make it have sleeping quarters inside and solve the homeless problem, they can have job driving around billboards, and have one sleeping inside while another drives, moving 24x7, no legal problem of sleeping in parked cars. At 2am, change the advertising to Bail Bonds service. lol. That motorhome chassis was $1500, now it is $1000. I have a 68 Chevy C40 cab looking for a home.

Be Nimble, Keep Moving

[Ronnie]

Well we love our International, with a Wayne body too. Runs nice at 65. Was pushing it at 75 the other day following a truck we were with hauling some heavy equipment. Your speed really is going to be determined by the rear end ratio. The 345 tuned up and running well does have some get up and go. Figure about 6 mpg fuel mileage. We have put 30,000 miles on it in a bit less then 2 years. About half of that is with a trailer.


So great bus and it suits us well. Does that make it great bus for others? An old bus is an old bus and does require more maintenance , however is simpler to work on. Brake parts are easily found , and Internationals of this period have really nice brakes when fixed correctly. That may take some work but is worth it.



Are you willing to put in some extra effort for a classic?



If not where is this bus?