Project Free Fuel

I have been reading the builds on the other forums and getting quite a kick out of them. I thought it would be fun to do a write up on my 78 Scout Traveler. It is still a project in motion and is in at least 10 trillion pieces. I am sandblasting and getting each part ready to be refinished. In the end it should be a sweet better than factory Scout that runs on free waste vegetable oil (WVO).

I purchased a 76 Scout a few years back that was in very good condition. The original owner bought it brand new from Internationl Harvester at the dealership where he was the mechanic. In the early eighties he replaced the SD33 with an SD33T and continued to drive the vehicle until he sold it to me. I loved the little Scout and drove it everywhere. It got great mileage and I was planning a veggie conversion. However my wife got pregnant and when the bills where a mile deep I decided to sell the Scout to help pay them.

I helped justify selling the Scout by telling myself I really wanted a Traveler and I also wanted a Cummins 4BT instead of the Nissan. I promised myself that if I ever found a Diesel Scout with a blown motor I was going to buy it and put in a Cummins 4BT.


To be cont...

 

July of 2007 I was searching for Diesels on Craigslist and came across a 78 Diesel Scout Traveler in Salt Lake City. I called and was told the SCout had no motor because it was blown in Moab. The owner hauled the Scout home and had it parked for 5 years. My wife was out of town, my Suburban was full of veggie, and I had $1000 in the bank to buy the Scout. At lunch time I left work to borrow a trailer. At 5:00 I left work and went to Salt Lake. I arrived at 8:00 and knocked on the door to look at the Scout. We went down a drive way that led to a shop and an awning. There buried under 5 years worth of crap was the 78 Scout Traveler. We started moving stuf and had a clear path as the sun set. We tried to push the Scout, but the brakes were rusted and the Scout would not budge. Using a come-along we were able to get the Scout to the driveway and down it. Finally we got it on the trailer and it was midnight. I brought it home and started making plans.

 

Here is a picture of the gem behing my Suburban!

 

After buying the Scout, my next move was to buy a Wonder Bread Van. I found out that the bankruptcy judge had ordered Wonder Bread to sale a host of vans in my area. I called the fleet mechanics and found a couple of vans to bid on with less than 10k miles on the motors. I got on Dovebid and bought both of them. Now I had a motor.

 

Here she is in all her Wonder(hehe). 12 foot van with a Cummins 4BT parked for years because it was too short less than 10k miles on the Cummins conversion.

 

The Van had a T19 and so did the Scout. I looked very hard at putting the Scout T19 behind the Cummins and running the Scout drivetrain. I was happy about the bullet proofness of the T19 but I was concerned about no overdrive. Especially with a Cummins that redlines at 2500RPM's. I looked into a ranger overdrive and all sorts of other fixes. In the end however I decided on a NV4500 out of an 02 Dodge as well as an NP205 Transfer case out of a 1st gen dodge.

I also considered a Dana 300 which is lighter and still very tough plus the Dodge 32 spline NP205 was a spendy piece to be sure. I also had to purchase a Dodge starter, adapter plate, a new clutch, pressure plate, and I can't remember what else to mount the NV4500 to the Cummins. After it was together new motor mount were fabbed and the notor was placed. Since it was a Ford style cummins the exhaust manifold points up and the turbo mounts on top. This gave me extra exhaust clearance and I didn't have to cut the firewall for exhaust.

A litle bit into February the Scout was on the road. It had plenty of power but the ride was very uncomfortable. I have a post on the other board about bump steer and I am not sure if that is what is was but the Scout was sprung over when I bought it and I question how well the setup was configured.

Here is a picture


Anyway I put some miles on the Scout and got everything motor wise just right.

to be Cont...

 

Anyways after running it around for a while I decided it was time for paint. Here is how it looked the day I started stripping it down and prepping.









As you can see it needed a lot of work. When these pictures were taken I had removed the rust in th rear quarters and was working on some bondo.

 

I started stripping it down.









And finally a bare frame.

 

As you can see I also di a lot of paint removal and initially used stripper. I used a couple of can and a lot of work, but I was not happy with the results. It left behind surface rust and I couldn't get into hard to reach places.

I finally put my hands on a small sandblaster and went back to work. I blasted the frame, the body, and all sorts of parts. I even sandblasted my powersteering pump and I sure hope it works when I get it back together.

Here are some pics.

 

Another problem I had with the Traveller was that it had a Dana 30 with disk brakes up front. I guess the person who put in the SOA didn't want to bother with doing it right and keeping the disk brakes, and the Dana 30 boleted right in. At that point I decided I needed a new set of axles. So I decided to buy a parts Scout.

I found a 76 Traveler and here it is!



I stole its axles.





My project Scout was equiped with 3.73 gears which were nice with the Scout but first gear was basically good to about 5 mph and I could start in third if I wanted to. It went fast enough on the freeway and with the bump steer issue it was scary. They would have been great off road with the torque of the Cummins and the depth I could have found with the NV4500 deep first and the NP205 in low.

THe gears in the parts Scout are 3.55's. I think they will be great for mileage and will get me down the road. This Scout is going to be a mild off roader and I am hoping they are not too high. I am planning on going through them bfore the install and would love a mild locker but I am not sure what. Maybe with some rebi\uilding the factory posi trac will actually work.

 

If anyone need parts from my parts Scout let me know. The rear quarters are shot, but the tub is good. The front fender seem ok as well and there are a lot of good body parts here if someone would like. It also has the motor, 727, and Dana 20.

 

My parts Scout Dana 44's have 3.54 gears. My Original axles are 3.73's. I will probably run 35's if they will fit without hurting the Scout. Does anyone have any reccomendations for this Scout with the Cummins and NV4500 for gearing. Input is appreciated.

 

A Scout and 4BT, excellent choice!
35's and 3.54's a bad choice.
A better choice for 35's is 4.10s,
The 3.73's work great with 33's, that's what I've been running for 6 years (NV4500).
The peak torque for the 4BT is 1700 rpm, you want to be just above that at your highway speed (65 mph?), up to 2000 rpm, depending on power to weight ratio. After 2000 rpm the pump goes into the power curve and your fuel mileage will drop.
Here's the range of rpm that Dodge designed for the Cummins.
mph...rpm_range
70.....1940-2050
65.....1800-1900
The first rpm is for the auto in lockup and the second is for the NV4500.
My setup is:
mph...rpm
70.....2010
65.....1870
This isn't set in stone, but with my setup I'm getting 23 mpg in town and 28 mpg at 65 mph with the AC on.

Don't forget to add a intercooler into your swap.

 

Thanks Steve,


What intercooler did you use? Could you post a link. I want an intercooler but haven't had the time to think through it. Currently I am hanging fangs for a reverse shackle, and I am also trying to figure out how to set up my Hi-steer setup and get rid of bump steer. I am also removing the VE pump and putting on a P-7100 pump so I will be looking for injectors and will need to keep it cool with all of that fuel.

On the tech board someone helped me with a link and I think I found a GM housing to put my Scout axles in. Here is the link. It is worth saving.

http://www.ihsto.org/SOAtech/chevysoapage.htm

 

On the intercooler, that is the voice of experience. I didn't put one in and I'm paying the price. My egt's are 100-200 degrees F higher that my 92 Dodge CTD, which means I can't tow any thing more than a small pop up tent trailer let alone my 17' travel trailer. I'm thinking a first gen Dodge intercooler and having the width cut down to someing that would better fit the Scout. I'm planning to have it sit where the radiator sits now and move the radiator back. Did I mention to leave room for the intercooler,

To change from a VE to P pump do you know what your getting into?. You have to change the gear housing, cover for the housing, gear, injector lines, maybe heads, lift pump, injectors, add oil line to the pump. Also remember if your doing the swap in the vehicle make sure theres enough room for the cam to come out to switch the gear housings. You need all the brackets that hold the lines from vibrating.

Don't sell the VE pump short, unless your going for maximum power, the Ve will do nicely.

 

I helped with a VP-44 to P-pump swap in a Ford pickup. I have the timing cover off of a p-pumped 12 valve truck as well as timing gear, injectors, and injector lines. As far as the head goes I will just use p-pump injectors and the little copper washers that make them fit the bigger holes. Really the VE is fine and I run one in my Suburban, but the p-pump seems so much better on vegetable oil. Plus I should be able to run more power. I suppose I could also go with a water meth setup for towing, but maybe I will try and fit an intercooler. At this point I ned to concentrate on the suspension, painting the frame and getting it going back together. I will also get the P7100 on so it can go back in with the Nv4500 and NP205 before the body goes back on.

 

If you do go with a P pump, you absolutely, positively have to have a intercooler.

good luck!

 

Hey -- that's my SOA write up

If you need any help let me know. Sweet build up! Good luck!

 

Thanks Chris, I may need some help because I am still a bit uncertain about what is the best setup and if I should use Chevy disks or IH disks. Plus money is always tight. I have been putting some time into gathering parts and hope to be on my way soon to going back together.

 

Are you going hy steer and what lug pattern are you going for?
Looks good