I may be missing something - there wouldn't be a need to manually disable progressive scanning or 3:2 pulldown if you are sending your projector a signal that is already 60fps and deinterlaced, which can be achieved with any player (doesn't require a processor like the iScan).
if I were to buy an external scaler/processor like the DVDO iScan, could I use that to perform the 3:2 pulldown, or does the 3:2 pulldown HAVE to be done after the video signal reaches my display(in my projector)?...
As far as I know, 3:2 pulldown is rarely handled by the display device. It's most often done in the source player, with standalone video processors being the next most common place.
If the projector can accept 24p, your Blu-ray player may be able to output the original 1080p/24 signal contained on a Blu-ray disc without any processing. I don't know how many players are allowing that with standard DVD's, though, and there is still the question of what the projector does - if it is operating at 72Hz or 120Hz, it can simply repeat each frame three or five times to yield the original 24fps video.