New Member Intro

[bdelaporte]

Hello everyone, I am the proud new owner of of an 1981 Pinzgauer 712 AMB-S. It is in great condition and has approximately 28,000 KM on the engine. I picked it up this weekend from a guy up in VA. I was truly impressed by the detail work (new paint, tires, electronic speedo, etc) that the previous owner had put into the truck. I am really loving this thing!!

This is my first Pinzgauer, I have been a long time lurker on the forums and finally decided to pull the trigger on one since my wife and I decided to get a new Camping vehicle. I plan to convert the shelter and will fully document the built for others feedback and interest.

A little about myself, I am an Active Duty military member (23 years). I am an Infantry guy by trade although currently in another billet. I live in Winter park, FL (just outside of Orlando). Although new to the Pinzgauer vehicles, I have quite a bit of time in other military vehicles (I have owned numerous M715 (1 1/4 ton Kaiser, and I currently own a TAM 110 BV, which is a 2.5 ton Serbian Troop Carrier that is powered by a 5.8 ltr Deutz Air Cooled Diesel) and have owned over a dozen different varieties of Jeeps (CJ5, 7, 8s).

The first thing I plan to do with the truck during my Christmas leave is to remove the Shelter in preparation for the camper conversion. I plan to drive it without the shelter normally and add the shelter for trips. I hope the shelter comes off as easy as it seams (6 hex bolts) but if there are any hints or special tips.... please let me know. More to follow... I will have to figure out how to load pics shortly. Thanks for the great site.
S/Fi Bdelaporte

[totaljoint]

Welcome bdelaporte!
Glad to have you with us.
Don't forget to share photo's of the before and after work.
The only thing we love more than spending money
our own Pinzgauer's ( ) is seeing what others do with theirs!
Ed

[stiffler4444]

Welcome! I'd sure love to take that TAM for a ride. I presume it goes pretty much wherever it wants........
I saw one for sale recently, and since I don't think there are many at all around, was it yours?

[bdelaporte]

Re: Stiffler4444, Yes the TAM is mine, it is the only one in N Ametica that I am aware off. They are pretty rare even in the Balkans and Europe. I call it the "Beast", and it is.... it will go anywhere. I had it gor sale, but really was not tryimg to sell it to hard as I did not have a replacement toy tet. I plan to relist again shortly as there was alot of interest.

[stiffler4444]

Very nice, I loved the pics of it. I believe I saw it on the Bring a trailer website. You'd need a heck of a trailer for that one. Now that you have your pinzie, you may be able to deal with the separation anxiety of selling it. Let me know when/if it goes back on the market...you never know......

[bdelaporte]

Re: Stiffler4444

Thanks, It does take quite the trailer as it is just over 9k lbs. I was really surprized about all the chatter on BAT and a couple other sites. It is a cool vehicle but the Pinzgauer really fits the bill for the family. We are actually going to camp in it over the holidays.

The TAM will be going up for sale in a few days. I will place on Steel Soldiers, Pirate 4x4 and Ebay. It made it up to $24500-$24600 during the ebay auctions and I had a ton of offers from a Pinzgauer to a 34' Superboat Racing Catamaran (clocked at 118 mph) amongst a few others. If you are serious, let me know (PM or email). I was holding out for more money, but now that I have another toy, I am seriously open to legitimate offers.

[CentAr712]

I remember seeing that on Ebay; as I recall, it looked as if it barely fit in your garage with the windshield folded down, it was huge. It has to be fun though.

[stiffler4444]

Ya, the pinzie is a bit more family friendly I suppose and the gas mileage might be a bit more favourable I suspect? Well, I reminded my wife of the TAM, which I had shown her when it was on BAT. She said I could absolutely have it.......once she had a new car.........

So regretfully, I don't think my timeline will match yours Good luck with the sale!

[bdelaporte]

Yes, I think the Pinzgauer will be a really fun family mobile...

No problem on the TAM, there has been a ton of interest. I asked the boss, errr the Wife if I could keep both and I got the "look" ,. It is time to let her go, I plan to have a much lower reserve now that I have something else to play with.

[David Dunn]

Yes, I think the Pinzgauer will be a really fun family mobile...

..... ..It is time to let her go, I plan to have a much lower reserve now that I have something else to play with.

The TAM,or the wife?

[mopar]

Welcome to the pinz side. I've been looking at the tams since I saw yours and talked to you about it. Found a few nice ones for sale over in serbia just figuring out how to ship it over here was my only problem.
Sean

[bdelaporte]

Re Sean: Thanks, I finally succumed to the Pinzguaer fever.... I was looking for a camping/expo type vehicle and I could not pass on this deal. I picked it up last Sunday and have been away for work all week. I plan to photo every aspect of it this weekend. I will post them as soon as possible. From what I can see, it's a pretty pristine example with low mileage/hours, not a speck of rust, upgrades and new tires for well under $12k.

Reference the TAM, there are a few over in Serbia that can be had but the shipping would be pretty cost prohibitive. This one only made it here because the importer was bringing back a few cut up DC-8 airplanes and he was able to ship as part of his corporate work.

Fear not though.... she is going back up for sale. I had a couple cash offers just above $24k the last time listed, but I guess I was just not ready to really let the TAM go. Now that I have a 6x6 to play with, I can let it move onto another home. If I get another offer in the $24k range on this upcoming listing, it will be sold to a new happy owner...

[bdelaporte]

The TAM.....
This wife is a keeper! If she is able to put up with my multiple deployments, toys and hobbies, the least I can do is keep her

Yes, I think the Pinzgauer will be a really fun family mobile...

..... ..It is time to let her go, I plan to have a much lower reserve now that I have something else to play with.

The TAM,or the wife?

[czarthirteen]

......just thought I'd chime in about the removal of the ambulance box. I just pulled mine for retrofitting a few months ago; made it a really simple task by using our front-end loader.

6 10mm allen double spring-shrouded bolts, three on either side, with two locator pins mounted to the box. There are also a few quick-connects to concern yourself with. The first set is for the Eberspacher heaters, right behind the bulkhead on the passenger side; male and female on both sides of the system so it can be closed once the box is pulled. The other is in the rear of the bed on the drivers side for the liscense plate lights, also an electrical quick-connect on mine.

Hopefully, your AMB came with the lifting eye-bolts, mine were in a small pouch riveted to the inner wall of the spare tire cabinet. Having these made lifting the box off a breeze, but the thread configuration (pitch/diameter) seems something of an enigma.....like someone set a cutter one day and said....,"hmmmmm, that works".

I attached a fairly standard lift harness and spreader bar to keep the tensions from wanting to collapse the box, but in hindsight, it was 20 minutes of overkill.

If you need or want to chat at all about any specifics pertaining to the box's construction, feel free to pick my brain. I've already sealed in two 6' sliders and made the cockpit window and eberspacher cabinet into a larger pass-through....among plenty of other things.

Glad to see you're kinda in the real world again as far as having a truly roadable vehicle. I had an '85 Suburban about a decade ago with a twin-screw charged 572ci, rolling 52's on 2.5T Rockwells with a 16" Shockwave lift.......not really all that road friendly. I like my Pinz more....a lot more.

[bdelaporte]

Re: Czarthirteen,

Thanks for the info on the box. I was was getting ready to ask about the removal again. I am very interested in seeing what you did with your box. It sounds like you have done many of the things I plan.

I want to get some venitilation so I plan on adding a long window on both sides that slide open w/ screens. I am looking to take out the oxygen tank and medical equipment to make space for other stored items. I will most likely add a van style seat that folds flat into a bed.

I am very interested in seeing what you did with the heater system since I live in Florida and dont see too much use for them in its planned future.

I will add a few pics here that I took earlier. Today was my first real chance to drive her and mess around with the Pinzgauer. I played in the back for a bit, removed the stretchers, cleaned it out. Took the doors and roof off before taking her through some mud and sand locally just to check out all of the functions. Everything seems to work great, although my "4500" over rev light keeps coming on even though I am not even above 3k RPM, there must be a faulty sending unit or something that I will have to find.