88 Comanche going to 3.2L turbo diesel

this is my comanche when i first brought her home. it has 88,000 miles and everything seemed to work ok on the ride home, but the body is definately a little rough.

this is after i got the rotten bedsides of and most of the other panels off to see what was left.

i decided to bob the bed and take the eight inches out of the frame behind the rear spring hanger.

this the 1980 scout that i bought out of florida with 56,000 original miles on it. with the 3.2l nissan turbo diesel that I'm going to put in my comanche.

Cool, SD33T swap.

Auto or stick?

Excellent job!! This will be a great one to watch :cheers:

Diesel comanche, right on.

Where do you guys get your trucks from, back east? Ive seen comanches on this forum with so much rust its unbelievable!

Do you plan on running the axles out of the scout?

i luv diesels

then i had brand new sheet metal bent to make new bed sides at a local metal shop.

then i took a trip home to vermont and a buddy was junking a 78 ford bronco and told me i could have it for hauling it out of his yard. so i thought i would keep the axles for this project, i keptthe radius arms too. so the wife and i drove back to pennsylvania from vermont with a ford nine inch a dana 44 and the radius arms in the back of her jeep liberty.

Looks like a hefty project, I'll be watching your progress. I am considering a similar project myself. Good work so far by the way.

Nice project man.. I can't wait till it is done

nice project, I live near Johnstown, went to college at Indiana.

Bear

What are you going to do with the scout when you are done

Very cool project & very ambitious, but looks quite clear that you have the skills! I couldn't do all that, that's for sure LOL.

Like Pong, I am curious what you are going to do with the scout? Were there other major issues with it? Seems like that could have been a pretty cool rig on its own, certainly what I would consider "rare".

Very cool project & very ambitious, but looks quite clear that you have the skills! I couldn't do all that, that's for sure LOL.

 

Like Pong, I am curious what you are going to do with the scout? Were there other major issues with it? Seems like that could have been a pretty cool rig on its own, certainly what I would consider "rare".

That scout is definately what I would consider "RARE". Especially considering most rusted away to nothing in a few short yrs. That and the Diesel option was rare in its own right.. not too many were built. Plus it has the truck cab on it instead of the long topper.

Only thing I have to say is fully boxed frame with a d44 front and rear.. and it would make an awesome start to a buggy/truggy. As long as you kept the weight down

Very cool project & very ambitious, but looks quite clear that you have the skills! I couldn't do all that, that's for sure LOL.

 

Like Pong, I am curious what you are going to do with the scout? Were there other major issues with it? Seems like that could have been a pretty cool rig on its own, certainly what I would consider "rare".

 

That scout is definately what I would consider "RARE". Especially considering most rusted away to nothing in a few short yrs. That and the Diesel option was rare in its own right.. not too many were built. Plus it has the truck cab on it instead of the long topper.

 

Only thing I have to say is fully boxed frame with a d44 front and rear.. and it would make an awesome start to a buggy/truggy. As long as you kept the weight down

:rotfl2: Damn Pong, can't you leave anything on 4 wheels in even it's semi-natural state w/out turning it into a a truggy?

There was one of those Scout pickups for sale near here recently that had been fixed/cleanued up nicely. Didn't see it in person, but looked nice in the Trader. Sky blue with white top, 33's on chrome wheels, 360 V8, I think they were asking $11k for it though LOL.

the scout frame is rotten beyond repair and the body is in a lot worse shape then it looks in the pictures. it came out of florida right off the coast, so the salt air got to it pretty bad.

but everything that is salvagable is up for sale. ie...the axles, fiberglass top, the seats aren't too bad. and other parts that anyone needs just let me know.

i decided that i want a cowl induction hood, so time to cut up the factory hood and see what i can come up with.

i started by cutting 2 inches in from the side body line in the hood and just used a broom handle and and pulled it to the front evenly on both sides to get the look i want.

I really like how you did the hood. I would have made the raised part a lil narrower, but that is me personally.

ANd Wahoo :no: Most scouts are way beyond body repair, but the frames ussually stay good. That being said the frames are made out of boxed tubing 1/4 thick. There is a junkyard right up the road from where I live that has about 15 of them in there.. Including an ambulance IH.

now out with the gas job and in with the oil burner

but first the engine bay needs to be sand blasted and painted

I really like how you did the hood. I would have made the raised part a lil narrower, but that is me personally.

 

ANd Wahoo :no: Most scouts are way beyond body repair, but the frames ussually stay good. That being said the frames are made out of boxed tubing 1/4 thick. There is a junkyard right up the road from where I live that has about 15 of them in there.. Including an ambulance IH.

Good to know! I've always liked the uniqueness of the Scout pickups. What is the factory name again? Carryall or something? Or was that their Suburban? I've got an older friend who has 64? regular Scout with the 1/2 cab, and I think and I might be able to wrestle it away from him in a few years :brows:

**Justin, sorry for the highjack, so back to your killer build project.

well today we got the diesel fired up let it run for a while then pulled it out of the scout!!

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now i got the dash board and heater system out and started welding in the pads on the floor for the roll cage.