Project "Smurf" Expedition Scout/Traveler

[Curmudgeon]

Also, would you mind taking a measurement for me? I'd like to know the difference between a Scout II and a Traveler in terms of interior length. What's the distance between the front of the rear wheel well to the edge of the lip that drops off into the front floor pan?

That measurment is 26 inches in the Traveler.

The extra 18 inches in the Traveler body was added between the door and the rear wheel opening. Sheet metal from the B pillar forward is interchangeable, as is sheetmetal from the front of the wheel opening back. It is only the short section between the wheel opening and the door that differs between the 100" wheelbase Scouts and the 118" Traveler.

Approach and departure angles were not changed.

 

[silverscout]

Thanks Curmudgeon, ntsqd and Major. Thats what I figured as the Traveler and Scout are almost identical sans the center section. Those extra 18 inches are exactly what I need to make my Scout into a sleeper vehicle. My height forces me to leave the tail gate down when I sleep inside. Plus, as evident in other posts on other forums, the Traveler is more receptive to a Four Wheel Camper top.

 

[ExpoScout]

Thanks Curmudgeon, ntsqd and Major. Thats what I figured as the Traveler and Scout are almost identical sans the center section. Those extra 18 inches are exactly what I need to make my Scout into a sleeper vehicle. My height forces me to leave the tail gate down when I sleep inside. Plus, as evident in other posts on other forums, the Traveler is more receptive to a Four Wheel Camper top.

Silverscout, thats exactly why I decided to make my traveler into my expedition vehicle as opposed to my scout II....im 6' 4" so it would be much better if i sleep in the bed, not only that the extra stability on the highways and extra room for gear are all pluses to me

 

[ExpoScout]

Ok well Ive gotten a few more things done....nothing special, but I'll keep you guys up to date:

New(ly redone) Inner fenders:

New master cylinder and all the brake lines ready to go:

A little patchwork (still have to do the passenger side in the same spot)

new drum brake stuff...should go on tomorrow

 

[ExpoScout]

Well, the new drum brake hardware is on....which by the way was a big pain in the butt...i think all drum brakes are, and I havent done a ton of drum brake services, so I think that slowed me down a bit

Got all the new hardware installed for the body mounts...the body mounts under the footwell (#2 body mounts for the IH literate) had been cut out due to rust, but I found a solution that I think will work great. I already got the upper mount welded into the floor supports and tomorrow I will likely have the bottom mounts (ones that attach to the frame) welded in and it will be finished up.

List of things I still have to do and/or buy (just the necessities for now, there will be a ton more to get it expedition ready) :

-Shocks
-Bleed brakes
-Battery/Install
-Floorpans
-Change all fluids
-Radiator hoses (these are old and collapsing)
-leaf spring bushings
-U-bolts
-Misc Metal work
-tidy up wiring/re-loom most of it
-and obviously a little paint and body work

Im sure there are some things I am forgetting but it will all get done here soon...I should have some good pics of progress in the next couple days for you guys

 

[ExpoScout]

Ok well got some wiring cleaned up in the engine bay....it was bugging me so I worked on it for a little while...im gonna go through all the connections here at some point and either replace them or clean them

Before:

After:

And I put on a new steering wheel...well its new to the traveler anyway, its been lying around my shop for a while, so i found it a home. I have the center cap by the way, just havent installed it:

Going to get metal for the floors tomorrow, and maybe some for the new bumpers too...more to come tomorrow

 

[Mobryan]

Still running the stock alternator???


Brave man




Matt

 

[ExpoScout]

Still running the stock alternator???


Brave man




Matt

for a short while, yes....ive only driven this one day since i got it

it will be getting a GM alternator and hydroboost soon enough

 

[ntsqd]

A note on IH wiring. It's all one color with ink-stamped numbers. You may or may not already know this, but lacquer thinner removes those ink marks.......
Try just hot soapy water for the wires and a vinegar soak for the contacts.

I take it the diesels got a Hitachi alt instead of the Delco's that the gassers got?
Were it me I'd look into one of the 17 series Delcos. Large (!) case, but will live longer at high current levels.

 

[ExpoScout]

A note on IH wiring. It's all one color with ink-stamped numbers. You may or may not already know this, but lacquer thinner removes those ink marks.......
Try just hot soapy water for the wires and a vinegar soak for the contacts.

cool, thanks for the tip :beer:

I take it the diesels got a Hitachi alt instead of the Delco's that the gassers got?
Were it me I'd look into one of the 17 series Delcos. Large (!) case, but will live longer at high current levels.

Yep, its what creates the vacuum for the brake booster and sucks to say the least

When I go with hydroboost, I will be able to convert to a GM (delco) unit like you were saying

 

[Mobryan]

A note on IH wiring. It's all one color with ink-stamped numbers. You may or may not already know this, but lacquer thinner removes those ink marks.......
Try just hot soapy water for the wires and a vinegar soak for the contacts.

I take it the diesels got a Hitachi alt instead of the Delco's that the gassers got?
Were it me I'd look into one of the 17 series Delcos. Large (!) case, but will live longer at high current levels.

Hence the first law of IH eletrical trouble shooting.... "The problem is ALWAYS in the green wire."

I dunno about the 17, but I know the 12SI is a good size fit for the diesels. When I was playing with mine, I mocked up a 125A Leese-Neville I had laying around. Decided that was a touch too much alt for my purposes.



Matt

 

[ExpoScout]

Hence the first law of IH eletrical trouble shooting.... "The problem is ALWAYS in the green wire."

I dunno about the 17, but I know the 12SI is a good size fit for the diesels. When I was playing with mine, I mocked up a 125A Leese-Neville I had laying around. Decided that was a touch too much alt for my purposes.



Matt

haha well yes there certainly seems to be an abundance of green wires on these engines

as far as the alternator goes, im not sure which one im going with, but there have been plenty of people on the BB use various alternators with good success, so ill probably go with one of those....since they have done the R&D for me

 

[ntsqd]

Reason I suggested the 17 is that MISF ("My Infamous Scout Friend") has had fairly good luck with one. He is the proverbial person who CAN and WILL break an anvil playing in a sandbox, i.e. broke his back (long story), in go Titainium pins, Breaks Ti pins (probably from the GTO engine change....), out come the pins.....
Some older pics:

 

[ExpoScout]

ntsqd,

I will have to look into one of the 17s...thanks for the info



Ok, so its been a few days since I updated...I started a new job monday and so i havent had as much time to work on this thing, however, it should be driveable after the weekend

So next week I should be driving it....i cant wait

In the next few pictures youll see I got a Yellow Top Optima battery. Well, I cranked it up for the first time in a year and a half after I put the battery in and it started up with no problems. I let it run and get up to temp and it did great. There was not even a small puff of smoke out of the draft tube.

Here are some pics of what the engine bay looks like now...it seems all thats left is painting the engine...which I will do once I get it driveable so I can pull it out side and pressure wash the engine. I am debating on the color to paint it though. It will be a solid color and I can either do the stock nissan color or black or something like that....not sure yet. The optima sat in there great and is definitely easier to get in there being that its a lot lighter than the group 31 battery that was in there

Finally got the rear of the bed patched and the entire rear section (behind the seats) bedlined. I used a combination of tack welds, rivets, and 3m window urethane to put the patch in and seal it up before I coated it:

And heres the most exciting picture....its the first time its started to look like a road-going vehicle in quite some time...just put the wheels on for mock up and to see how it looked:

Well thats it for now....#2 body mounts, floors, and most of the exterior paint should be done by the end of the weekend or the beginning of the week...will post more pictures when I have them

-Jordan

 

[ntsqd]

I am a big fan of gray. Much, much easier to see what you're doing than with black when working on things late at night, or even in broad daylight. The desert camo Scout above has it's whole under/behind dash area painted white for this reason.
Also easier to track down where a leak is coming from.

When I worked for Vintage Racing Services we used so much of one particular gray paint that we called it "VRS Gray".....