Project "Smurf" Expedition Scout/Traveler

[MajorPayne]

Well so after acquiring the diesel traveler about a year and a half ago I am FINALLY getting around to doing something with it. I hadnt touched it since I brought it back from NY...I drove it one day, the brakes were sketchy at best, and I parked it. Now that I need something to drive (and I want to be able to drive this thing around this summer, as well as go on some trips) I am doing something about it. Here are some pics of what it looked like when I picked it up from NY:











Well a couple of weeks ago I got laid off from my job, then 9 days ago my girlfriend had her wisdom teeth taken out so I had to stay around the house to watch after her....with all the new found time on my hands and being restricted to the property around the house that was now serving as a recovery room I got the bug to start working on it. Not only did I get the bug to start working on it, but my car is for sale, and my little pickup broke, so Im gonna need something to drive.

In the past 9 days:

Ive done extensive sheet metal "carving," taking out old rusted sheet metal that wasnt doing me any good, and making way for some larger tires that will be on shortly. In this short time Ive also completely redone the brake system with all new hard lines, all new rubber hoses, and I will probably end up putting a new master on before it is all said and done.

The old rusted floors/floor supports/body mounts under the cab have been cut out. New 1 1/2" square tubing serves as my new rockers with 1" tubing being the floor supports.

Fenders have been cut out, rust has been eliminated, and Ive nearly exhausted myself, but I am astounded at the amount of work I've gotten done. Between all the wire brushing, grinding, welding, spraying of primer and truck bed lining, I havent hardly found time to eat or sleep, but at least I'm getting something done and am excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I will post some more recent pics of the big change that has taken place as well as update you guys with the progress. The plan is to have the traveler ready in two weeks. Its not gonna be a beauty queen, but it will be leaps and bounds better than it was before.

Here are some plans for the next two weeks:

-get floor pans in
-finish buttoning up the new drum brake hardware in the rear
-get new shocks in
-sand and paint the body and top
-bed line the interior
-install new battery
-wire brush/grind more on the surface rust underneath and put some fresh paint
-change the oil and fuel filters
-make sure all the wiring terminals and connections are clean and that all the lighting works
-get the center console in (.50 cal ammo can converted into center console) with cd player inside wired up
-1 1/2" - 2" lift shackles (havent decided yet)


After these things it will be road worthy (even though not all of them are a neccessity, so some will take priority over others) and Ill finally get to be driving one of my scouts which will be a nice change.

Future plans (next few weeks/months after its running):

-build bumpers/tire carrier
-intercooler
-upgraded fuel lines
-spin on fuel/oil filters
-new axle seals
-new ball joints
-build new tie rod and draglink
-build roof rack
-round gauges in dash (egt will be my first gauge I buy I promise)
-all new u-joints for driveshaft and knuckles
-diff guards
-SSII door inserts/doors/etc (no soft top though, sticking with the fiberglass traveler top)

I have tons more plans for the thing floating around in my head, but that should give you an idea for now....Im really looking forward to getting this thing going so I can do some trips and meets (finallllllly).

Well I will keep you updated, and if you have any questions or even some advice please feel free to let me know

s/f

-Jordan

[tacoma73]

More pics!

[MajorPayne]

they are coming as soon as my girlfriend gets back in town with the camera :P

[Old Scout]

start looking for one of the pop up campers:

[MajorPayne]

was that an IH specific camper or just a universal one?

[MajorPayne]

So here are the pics as she sits now:

As you can see everything that resembled rust has been cut out...plus I think it looks pretty cool






New floor supports and rockers:




.50 Cal Ammo can center console with CD player (not finished, it will have speakers mounted in it as well as exterior compartments for drinks/random crap...the thing is gonna be bolted to the floor with locking nuts and is completely lockable:





More to come....

[Old Scout]

Originally Posted by MajorPayne

was that an IH specific camper or just a universal one?

It was made to fit a 100" scout. It was made by these guys:
http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/
Here she is on the beach in Baja

[MajorPayne]

OldScout, I havent completely decided on my sleeping solution but its narrowed to something like that pictured above, or a rooftop tent, or sleeping inside the regular traveler top on the bed and pulling an adventure trailer where the supplies can be stored

thats a little ways down the road, but that is a pretty cool idea

[MajorPayne]

Well, been doing a lot of little boring things on the rig until some money comes in so I can purchase the items I need to really get it moving along :P

Got the shifter console parts painted and installed:



And got the aluminum covers for where the speakers used to be riveted/sealed in and coated:




Thats it for now, I will hopefully have a lot to show you by the end of the weeknd...

[MajorPayne]

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

[MajorPayne]

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

[The Adam Blaster]

Nice work man!
If you're buillding this rig for expeditioning, how many people will be going on your trips?
If it is just you and the g/f, i'd really look at the Adventure Trailers. They are super nice and basically a self-contained kitchen and sleeping quarters in the form of a compact trailer. Plus they come with 35" tires and are very durable.
http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

[OlympicYJ]

Looking good. Your ammo can just reminded me I need to replace my stock console that got broken into last week. I think I'm gonna replace it with an ammo can.

[MajorPayne]

Originally Posted by The Adam Blaster

Nice work man!
If you're buillding this rig for expeditioning, how many people will be going on your trips?
If it is just you and the g/f, i'd really look at the Adventure Trailers. They are super nice and basically a self-contained kitchen and sleeping quarters in the form of a compact trailer. Plus they come with 35" tires and are very durable.
http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

Yeah I have been looking at those too, depending on how much stuff I start to accumulate for my trips, it may be necessary though

Originally Posted by OlympicYJ

Looking good. Your ammo can just reminded me I need to replace my stock console that got broken into last week. I think I'm gonna replace it with an ammo can.

Yeah, the can isnt done yet, im gonna have a local upholstery shop make an arm rest that will bolt to the top of it

[OlympicYJ]

Ah a hi zoot ammo can! haha. That's awesome. Taking simple things and making them quite functional is the best. The upholstery would make it more comfortable. I wonder if I could get it done with some elk rawhide. That would be on durable armrest. Be sure and show it once it's done! And if possible could you give the cost of the upholstering?

[MajorPayne]

Originally Posted by OlympicYJ

Ah a hi zoot ammo can! haha. That's awesome. Taking simple things and making them quite functional is the best. The upholstery would make it more comfortable. I wonder if I could get it done with some elk rawhide. That would be on durable armrest. Be sure and show it once it's done! And if possible could you give the cost of the upholstering?

yeah, ill be sure to show it once its done

im gonna use a piece of sturdy ply wood, epoxy some bolts into it and have the uphosltery shop upholster it, then i will just drill holes in the top of the can and bolt it to it when its ready

along the same lines as the pad on the tuffy consoles

but right now that ammo can is the least of my worries, this thing needs floors! :P

[MajorPayne]

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

[richharr]

I really like where this is going

[MajorPayne]

Originally Posted by richharr

I really like where this is going

Thanks, I just picked up the metal for the floors...so they should be in soon!

[MajorPayne]

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 :P






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

[miniyota]

thats looking pretty good!

[MajorPayne]

Originally Posted by miniyota

thats looking pretty good!

thanks!

ive still got to smooth out the fender lines a bit before paint....but i think some fresh paint will make the biggest difference

im hurrying as fast as i can!

[cowboyup21]

looks like a nice little rig, and your doing a pretty good job at keeping it a clean organized rig at that. Thw wheels and tires you had on for mock up looked to fit the scout's personality quite well!! nice build up, and keep us updated!!

[OlympicYJ]

Looks good. I think those swampers just made that thing. I'd paint the engine blue. Is th block aluminum? If it is you might think about taking the paint off and leaving it bare aluminum, but then it might corrode unless there is someway to keep it from corroding. Just a thought. Love your build man.

Here is a scout its gas but I thought I would share it anyways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuzI6qIBKmk

Wes

[Repost]

Looks real good.

Keep up the work!