THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

I recently secured my first Pinz, a 710M. I'm in the "awe" phase and planning Winter projects.

I'm curious, what were the first projects you guys did on your first pinz, before the expertise you have now? Small tweaks or massive rebuilds?

- Radial tires
- Electronic ignition
- Better seats
- Change all the fluids (there is a lot in a Pinz)
- Add marker lights and reverse light
- Paint that ugly thing too while you're at it!

Inspect, clean and adjust the brakes, check water level in batteries if serviceable, adjust valves, tune carburetors, inspect shifter linkages, replace bushings as needed.
Maintenance chart http://www.sdp-pinzgauer.org/4x4_Maint_Chart_ES.pdf

Ed

Same as Twin Pinzies but also replaced the tailights with much more visible units with tail, stop & turn signal.
Also bought all 3 manuals and got to know them a bit.

Have fun!

Paul C

To improve the safety of the truck, radial tires are no. 1, IMHO, with improved tail lights a close second (still on my to-do list though... )

About the electronic ignition, the mechanic who services my Pinz advised that I keep my electronic ignition kit as a spare as long as the stock ignition is working.
Apparently the stock one is much more resistant to humidity than the replacement...

I dunno what others think about it...

GenevaPinz wrote: Apparently the stock one is much more resistant to humidity than the replacement...
I dunno what others think about it...

I disagree there. The Pertronix units are sealed up. The stock cap only looks like its sealed up.

TIRES are number one, like everyone is saying, buy radials first thing. 255/85's are ideal but not as many options, though BFG is a good one.

Twin Pinzies wrote:- Paint that ugly thing too while you're at it!

I hope you mean paint it the very beautiful OD. I could never bring myself to sully a pinz with anything else!!

PINZID wrote:

Twin Pinzies wrote:- Paint that ugly thing too while you're at it!

I hope you mean paint it the very beautiful OD. I could never bring myself to sully a pinz with anything else!!

You wouldn't want to see mine then.

Having been rear ended......LED tailights should be high on your list

blackstack wrote:Having been rear ended......LED tailights should be high on your list

The radials are done and LED's are #1 right now.

Hopefully you and the pinz recovered from the accident.

All fixed !! The door was dished in beyond repair...I did the replacement/repair myself and billed his insurance 750.00

This is where I got my leds www.buytruckstuff.com NAPA has a harness that makes the job a snap. It is a connector with pigtails long enough to lead over to the stock lights from behind. The stock lights have connector posts. I drilled an extra hole into the stock lights and pushed the new wires thru. Some use the original access hole but it was to tight for me. The hardest part is getting the lenses off the stock lights.

This is a pic of how i did my lights. go one ahead and one back to see them from a distance

http://www.flickr.com/photos/agingman/4 ... 886723729/

feel a lot more comfortable with these bright babies!!

I had to add an interior rear view mirror to both my Pinzgauers when I purchased them. They each already had radial tires so I can't really weigh in on any before or after radial comments.

Seats are also highly recommended. Paul and I have had good experiences with seats from a MB Sprinter.

As others have also noted, no matter how much work you plan to do yourself, you shouild have the manuals and at least become familiar with the various things that the truck calls for.

Goes without saying about the fluids being changed ASAP if you don't know the history on them.

How about some H-4 lights from Scott at EI too! Those made a big improvement. Thilo Kass added some larger higher visability Bosch rear brake light assemblies when I purchased my 712. As these things really just poke along on the highway, i added a BUNCH of reflective tape to the rear of my truck. It's painted white and i was able to add white refective tape that it not even noticable during the day but it highly visible at night. Increasing your visibility at night certainly should be a priority.

You've certainly come to the right place to get some educated responses from others who have been where you are now.

Enjoy your new toy!