My Pinzgauer is undergoing a civilian face lift

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

So I have said this about 20 times already but last night I really went past the point of no return.

I cut the steering shaft to reposition the wheel. It feels great. I moved the wheel forward about seven inches and to the right about three inches. I will be adding a second Splitty speedo pod to the dash and the column will be centered between them. It seems like ther will be room and it will be a comfortable driving position. I am going to use the Pinzgauer pedal assembly for the brake master cylinder and booster. I may not use the clutch pedal. It might be tight for that. I might put more of a heel clutch pedal in that you push straight down on. The plan is to have the steering done in the next two nights then I can move on to the pedals. I also got the filler panel for the nose cut. Here are a couple pictures of the steering column. I got a smoking deal on some heavy steel for the side step. That is this weekends project.

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

So there has been some more progress. I am starting to get a little overwhelmed. I still have a long way to go. So I worked on the side step area and the steering over the past few days. I have some pics of the side step. The steering pics will be in the next round. I also decided I will be using a VW Vanagon pedal assy for at least the brake. I will use the Pinzgauer Brake Master and Booster. The Booster bolted right up to the Vanagon pedal assembly. I had to shorten the ped rod going into the booster. It was pretty easy. I just cut it short and retheaded it from 8x1.25 to 10x1.5. The floor space is really tight. I may end up putting in a heel clutch. The clutch pedal is definitely the tightest, space wise.

Here are some pictures.












Thanks for following along.

[czarthirteen]

As I can see, it seems like you're getting quite a bit of guff about this project. I correlate to my recent experience of doing a drop and strectch and rake of my Triumph Sprint; I really had no reason oher than my own personal desire.....which is plenty strong enough.

Some people just don't understand what it means to be creative and to suffer its ramifications on a regular basis through day to day life. I mean, its not like you are one of the guys dropping a Sugga body on a K5 chassis, so what's the harm, right? Sure, the Pinz is in limited numbers, as is just about any V-fronted transported or otherwise...but why sould one be chastised for his or her personal desire to combine the two......I'm fro vthe school of commending those that follow their aspirations to fruition rather than supplying the ever supportive crutch of praise for those that only talk about what they are going to do....someday.

Ouch....that sounded harsh and its not directed at anyone here, only a criticism of a generalization of form of poltical correctiveness that has manifested its ugly head in more and more reaches of society since Nancy Reagan said "no child should be left behind".......a slap in the face of Darwinist theory of evolution if I ever saw one.

Which kinda brings me full circle.....let it evolve.....people bugged out on us when we started stuffing the 4bd1T in everything from a MK2 VW Golf to a K5.....and a generator, and a conveyor and sawmill motor.....if youhave the ability to make it work, you have something more than most.....andif you are using common sense, a demostration of a tenacious grasp of a sense less common.

So.....who's going to pick a bone with me when I decide that the Toyota Previa van body seems like the most comfortable thing to drop on top of the floor pan of this rotten Syncro Westy we're sitting on?.......can't wait for that one!

So RockyMountainWesty.....do it up and do it up right.

[czarthirteen]

As I can see, it seems like you're getting quite a bit of guff about this project. I correlate to my recent experience of doing a drop and strectch and rake of my Triumph Sprint; I really had no reason oher than my own personal desire.....which is plenty strong enough.

Some people just don't understand what it means to be creative and to suffer its ramifications on a regular basis through day to day life. I mean, its not like you are one of the guys dropping a Sugga body on a K5 chassis, so what's the harm, right? Sure, the Pinz is in limited numbers, as is just about any V-fronted transported or otherwise...but why sould one be chastised for his or her personal desire to combine the two......I'm fro vthe school of commending those that follow their aspirations to fruition rather than supplying the ever supportive crutch of praise for those that only talk about what they are going to do....someday.

Ouch....that sounded harsh and its not directed at anyone here, only a criticism of a generalization of form of poltical correctiveness that has manifested its ugly head in more and more reaches of society since Nancy Reagan said "no child should be left behind".......a slap in the face of Darwinist theory of evolution if I ever saw one.

Which kinda brings me full circle.....let it evolve.....people bugged out on us when we started stuffing the 4bd1T in everything from a MK2 VW Golf to a K5.....and a generator, and a conveyor and sawmill motor.....if youhave the ability to make it work, you have something more than most.....andif you are using common sense, a demostration of a tenacious grasp of a sense less common.

So.....who's going to pick a bone with me when I decide that the Toyota Previa van body seems like the most comfortable thing to drop on top of the floor pan of this rotten Syncro Westy we're sitting on?.......can't wait for that one!

So RockyMountainWesty.....do it up and do it up right.

[krick3tt]

czarthirteen,

I am for this, and... inovation is its own reward. This thing is going to be so sweet. I am envious.

Morris

[undysworld]

Czar,

As I can see, it seems like you're getting quite a bit of guff about this project.

Huh?? Who's giving him any guff? (Assuming your definition of 'guff' is the same as mine...)

We all love this, from what I can tell. This isn't the "Sugga" thread. Too bad they didn't make one long enough to fit over a 712 chassis. Maybe this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Ma ... 43ac10b07c

Westy,

Thanks for the pics!

[M Wehrman]

I like it! It will still retain the driving characteristics of the original bus,( 30 uphill and 70 downhill),and they sound alike! It should be faster and quieter with a rounded nose and back. Unless it is a true collector piece,and the Pinz isn't,(or they would be appreciating in value) have some fun! Hopefully it will be ready for next years RMP Treffen. We really enjoyed our first one last summer and plan a return,fair warning to the locals!
Mark

[czarthirteen]

Czar,

As I can see, it seems like you're getting quite a bit of guff about this project.

Huh?? Who's giving him any guff? (Assuming your definition of 'guff' is the same as mine...)

We all love this, from what I can tell. This isn't the "Sugga" thread. Too bad they didn't make one long enough to fit over a 712 chassis. Maybe this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Ma ... 43ac10b07c

Westy,

Thanks for the pics!

Hey there....

Actually, now that I've read back a little, I guess my last post was left as a reaction to two posts left by edzz on this string and another about the 710k extra windows.

Edzz, I can understand that you may be a purist but others may not be.....new ideas have to come from somewhere. Who knows, the next one might just be your own. I'm sure you would appreciate the support rather than someone snickering from the peanut gallery about taking your efforts down the road to work with the guys from Red Bull.

I'm digging this build and I hope that Peter (RockyMountainWesty) has all the good fortune in the world coming to him for his efforts.

[michaelh712]

Peter,
this is freakin' awesome!
I appreciate bone-stock for collectors and purists, but imagination, creativity and fabrication skills are why some of us love working with older vehicles as well.

I too have extremely fond memories of my 67' Westy, taking it places I probably shouldn't have gone and coming back alive to tell the tale. It was equipped as a "baja bus" with fender flares, wider tires, and set up for camping for months at a time. It was driven across Europe, shipped to the East coast, driven to the west coast, back across Canada several times, and many many long trips down Baja. I wish I still had it.

Ready-fire-aim! Go for it, and I for one will watch with envy and appreciation.
Michael

[norcal pinz]

That is the coolest ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

Lots of progress made this weekend on the Splitzgauer. We got the side doors fit up and swinging on hinges. We got the door jamb and rock slider all fit up and tacked in. There has been lots of ideas flying around too. I will get some pictures loaded this week. This is going to be a really awesome vehicle when it is done.

Thanks for following along and all the support. By the way, My name is Mike. I am not sure where Peter came from.

This project has been a lot of fun. This a example of what our company can do if anyone is looking for some custom Pinzgauer upgrades. Right now we are focused on the Vnagon market because it is a little bigger but we may and can start making Pinzgauer accessories.

Happy New Year to the Pinz community

Mike

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

There has been some progress on the Splitzgauer project. The pictures are kind of crappy but It is being built in the corner so anyway.

Here is a passenger side shot. I got all the door gaps fitting nice. I got the door sizes finalized. The b pillar between the front door and the side door changed size. I made it 3.5 inches wide from barely 2".The door posts on these early Splits were tiny compared to a Vanagon. These split Window buses are truley unsafe for today's roads. It shortend the fornt door a liittle but now there is room for the perimeter tube cage. Check out the picture below. It could not have worked out any easier. Good thing I have two Split window bus parts vans. I grafted two posts together. It lined up about perfect and the inside is a tight finish too. This enabled me to easily keep all the weather stipping channels, door latches and hinges all in the same place. It worked out pretty slick.

I also got the driver side cut back. I am going to match the driver side window and door configuration to the passenger side so all the widows line up and it looks correct. The drivers side is going to be so easy compared to the passenger side. I am going to move the factory VW fuel door to the driver side because the fuel tank will be behind the driver seat. I also need to widen the b pillar post behind the drivers door so the rear three windows line up and the front doors are the same size. It will be pretty easy to do that. The driver side panel was super easy to cut off. Just a swazall under the rain gutter. It is only one layer thick where it attachs to the roof stucture. It is super weak, but it will be easiy to reinforce it and make it super strong. It is kinda nice that most things on this rig that need to be resized are straight and flat. So I expect another day and the drivers side will be fitting and resized. A friend that was checking it out today said that it looked like we installed "Coupe" doors. The stretched front doors are by far the coolest part of the project. It looks so awesome from the front with both doors open. I need to start looking for another street bus to do some body modes on.

So one last thing you can see that is new in these pictures is the treasure chest spot on the passenger side. Right behind the side doors there is going to be a treasure chest tool box. This panel had a bunch of bondo and was in kind of rough shape. I also wanted to move the fuel door so really the whole panel had to go. I made a perimeter frame out 1 in square tube. It will have a awning style door with a piano hinge. I am going to use the original side vent so it should blend it pretty good. That compartment will only be 7 or so inches wide on the top. On the bottom there will be one drawer accessed from the outside and a couple accessed from the inside. On the bottom it will be the full depth of the Pinzgauer wheel well.

It is amazing that the Pinzgauer and this VW bus were built in the same era with the same technology. It is a true demonstartion that military stuff always has a way bigger budget. Thanks for following along. The goal is to have it ready for paint on March 1st. We'll see.

i

[undysworld]

I can't wait to see this on youtube. Now, if you used a 712, and just stretched the bus by a window or so...

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

Now, if you used a 712, and just stretched the bus by a window or so...

One thing at a time. It is in the planning stage.

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

So there has been a bunch of progress. Not many updates here but...

So I got the Passenger Side all fit up. Door gaps are good. I still need to figure out the Treasure Chest Door. So I cut off the drivers side to move the panel back and stretch the front door. Once it was removed I got the inspiration flash. Why not make it a Double Door. VW made some although a majority were panel vans. So I bought a pair of doors and a post from a buddy for $400 bucks and now it's a Double Door. I just used the passenger side doors on the drivers side. It went way faster on this side. I also decided to make a custom rear hatch. I added kick open windows. This is going to be the coolest vehicle ever. Here are a few pictures.