Project "Smurf" Expedition Scout/Traveler

[ExpoScout]

Hey, Im still around....just havent made much progress except for little stuff that would be boring to put into pictures.

Im 9 weeks into a 28 week Police Academy and my time is pretty scarce. I do have plans in a couple weeks to pick up the rest of the sheet metal that I need to finish the floors and all.

Once the floors are done, the seats will be bolted in and it should be driveable at least!

Ill keep you guys updated, thanks for the continued interest, even though Im dragging this out

 

[ExpoScout]

Big updates inbound soon....look for it in the next couple days! Its about on the road!

 

[silverscout]

Big updates inbound soon....look for it in the next couple days! Its about on the road!

Duuuuuuude, where you at?

 

[vhram]

I love those scouts I had a orange / white scout II that would go anywhere, scary power steering though:bike_rider:

 

[ExpoScout]

Duuuuuuude, where you at?

haha, im here...ill get some new pics up tonight :ylsmoke:

 

[ExpoScout]

ok so i didnt get them up last night....i took a night off and had a few beers instead

new floors in:

seats and center console all in (interior is done for now):

new air intake and engine bay is done for now:

 

[ExpoScout]

Here is after the spray paint job...and Ive been driving it a little:

Still have some small loose ends to tie up here and there. And of course the bumpers, tire carrier, and roof rack that Ill be building soon.

Im thinking its probably going to get an actual paint job sometime soon, either in the same dark blue type color, or OD green with the gallon of military humvee paint I have lying around.

 

[02TahoeMD]

Starting to come together very nicely. Good work. You going to run it without the doors?

 

[ExpoScout]

Starting to come together very nicely. Good work. You going to run it without the doors?

Thanks, I have been running it without doors lately, partly because its been so freaking hot here and partly out of necessity.

The doors that came on it are severely rusted in the bottoms, so until I either get those back to good shape, or put the set of doors from my other scout on and spray them to match for the time being, its going to stay without doors.

I am contemplating making some frames to fit and getting them covered by a local convertible top shop. So I will have one of the three options completed at some point.

Its actually really nice driving it without the doors...the noise isnt so bad, and since its been so hot its been perfect. The safety is the only issue that even slightly concerns me.

Another option is to make some tube doors that bolt to the stock door hinges and latch on the stock door hinge. It has been done and adds a factor of saftey.

There are a lot of little things to take care of on the scout still, since its driveable Ill be taking care of them one at a time, little by little.

 

[ExpoScout]

Alright guys, so bear with me on this one...

I got to thinking about room inside the scout and where equipment would go, etc, etc and I had an idea.

Plenty of people have taken the fiberglass tops (like the one on my traveler 118" wheelbase) and shortened them to fit the scout II wheelbase models. It ends up looking pretty cool with the slanted back hatch as compared to the scout IIs squared-off top.

What Im thinking of doing is sort of a variation/reversal of that. Im thinking of taking a scout II top (which is steel and much easier to alter than the fiberglass, for me at least...id rather weld than do fiberglass work) and shortening it and making a double-cab sized top for the traveler, leaving me a short truck bed behind it.

Here is a crappy pic I worked up in MS Paint to illustrate what Im talking about:

There would be a bulkhead built into the back of the traveler separate the inside from the mini truck bed. I would also incorporate a hinged cover over top of the bed for a tire to mount (though it might impede my rear-view a bit...but Ill cross that bridge when I come to it.

The beauty and advantages of this setup are that I could still fit 4-5 people in the traveler, a rollbar could still be mounted inside (unlike with a short cab top), the rear seat can fold forward for storage inside the cab, equipment/fuel/compressor/air tank can be put in the bed safely without being IN the cab area, the top would be lighter and therefore easier to take off than a full-sized top like I have now, and it would just be something different and cool that I really havent seen before.

The actual shortening of the top would be easy enough and they are pretty easy to find and usually really cheap.

Let me know what you think.

 

[02TahoeMD]

First, about the doors - running doorless is seriously cool, but I will definitely fab up some kind of open frame / bar or whatnot to give a bit of structure to your side in the event of a collision. I remember driving my 73 Bronco once without the doors and while it was fun....I felt a bit paranoid being that exposed. Alas, that was MANY years ago.


Second, your design is a pretty neat idea. The only detriment it could be for you is that it would limit your ability to carry large cargo when the need arises. But, if you already have a pickup or large van then that is a moot point. Would definitely be a unique look! And that is a good thing. :smiley_drive:

 

[ExpoScout]

First, about the doors - running doorless is seriously cool, but I will definitely fab up some kind of open frame / bar or whatnot to give a bit of structure to your side in the event of a collision. I remember driving my 73 Bronco once without the doors and while it was fun....I felt a bit paranoid being that exposed. Alas, that was MANY years ago.


Second, your design is a pretty neat idea. The only detriment it could be for you is that it would limit your ability to carry large cargo when the need arises. But, if you already have a pickup or large van then that is a moot point. Would definitely be a unique look! And that is a good thing. :smiley_drive:

Yeah, I am picking a set of doors up from a friend in a few weekends that will be going on for the time being. Also, Its likely I will make a set of tube doors as well to use if I take the doors off in the summers.

Eventually I want to have super scout II door inserts added that use soft doors, like this (though I will retain the hard top):

And I will put reinforcements similar to this under the door inserts:

As far as the cargo area is concerned, yes I have a pickup, this is just a secondary vehicle for me. Also, I have plans for a trailer down the road a bit, but I dont think I should have problems. I can always add a roof rack, not to mention the long top that is on it now will be able to be put back on whenever I want...so I will have options.

 

[ntsqd]

Do the Travelers have the regular Scout tailgate mounting points, and can that hardware be bolted in place and still allow the Traveler hatch to function?

 

[ExpoScout]

Do the Travelers have the regular Scout tailgate mounting points, and can that hardware be bolted in place and still allow the Traveler hatch to function?

Yes, the travelers have the same mounting points, so a Scout II tailgate will bolt right up.

As far as the hatch working in conjunction with the tailgate, Id either have to cut the hatch in half so it would mate up with the tailgate, or simply take the tailgate off if I wanted to put the traveler top back on.

Actually, I found someone that did something similar to what I want to do. The only difference is they used a different style top than I would be using:

 

[ntsqd]

They stretched a Scout II 1/2 cab. Aren't those fairly rare? I know the Terra's short cab is more like the Traveler than the Scout II's roof.

I don't recall the details of the Scout II hinge and latches. I was thinking more about being able to leave them in place than the whole tailgate.