So I have been hanging around the Pinzgauer world for a while. I bought mine from Cold War in 2000 or so. Nothing great, just one of the many imported back then. I drove it for a couple years and then started to have Carb issues and I parked it. The plan was to EFI it. Well, my business grew, I got interested in VW Vanagons and Syncros and my Pinz sat idle. Thankfully in Colorado, that is not the worst think ever. Well, It is time to resurrect it. My soft top was pretty much junk from the start. So I cut up a Vanagon and made my own pop top hard top. I learned a lot from building that. I always said if I could do it over I would change this and that. As time passed I realized I wanted to make it into a full metal hard top. I bought a 1967 VW bus and well the rest is the future. I started this project on Thanksgiving Day 2011. I want to drive it to Moab in early May. Here are some pictures. This forum will be the main place where this build is documented. So I hope you enjoy. Please participate and I am always open to feedback and suggestions.
Here is the original Pop top I made. It is a 1980 Vangon Westy. I would call it about 85% finished. It bolts on and off, just like a truck topper. It is for sale if anyone is interested.
So here are some pictures of the first three days of the build. Basically we got the Bus cut it half. The Pinzgauer body all un bolted and trimmed off. We got the bus sitting on the Pinz floor pan. The pinz is about three inches wider and three inches longer. Pretty much a perfect fit.
Here is another work blast. I got the side doors fit up. I had to move the side doors back 8 inches to line up between the tires. So I stretched the front door and cut some out of the window on the rer 1/4 panel. I will do the same thing to the driver side.
This rear panel where the gas lid door and side vent are will be cut out and I will make a tool box with flip up door. I am going to use the rear engine lid door from the VW bus for that.
The center console lines up pretty good. I am going to connect the console to the dash and put round VDO gauges in the filler panel.
The steering column will have to be cut. I will put a couple U joints in it. It needs to move over about 3 inches and forward 5 inches. I am only 5'5" so I will build it around me. I imagine the seat will get moved forward a bit. I am going to use the Pinzgauer pedal assy and Brake booster. I will most likely have to reshape the pedals.
The front floor shouldn't be to bad to deal with. The very nose should be easy. I have a CNC plasma cutter table. So I will measure and blue print that front piece to follow the radius of the bus. The Pinz front bumper and tow hook have all been cut off. When I build the front bumper I will rebuild the truss that angles down to the drive tube. I will probably cut the whole thing off and start over, the truss that is. I probably over cut the Pinzgauer floor a little bit, but that's ok. I can fill it with metal. While I am reinforcing the floor and attaching the bus to the Pinz I will probably make another support bracket for the Steering Box. It seems to have a little flex to it.
These aren't the best pics but I cut the side out and I will extend the floor out to the side cargo doors. This whole step will be over built because I am going to cut the main Pinzgauer frame rail as well as the outer side rail. I have it laid out and I have a few pieces cut for that. I will get the new frame and step built then I will cut the frame rail out.
So that is pretty much what I got at this point. I will be working on it a bunch in the next few weeks. I need to have it done by May 1st .
Thanks for following,
Mike
