Hi from Steve and Dorota in Swindon, Wiltshire England

[Dreadnought]

Not sure if this is the right place to say Hi, but we should be joining the ranks of Pinzgauer owners st the end of June. We have purchased a 1972, 710K which is having a Mercedes diesel engine fitted as we speak. We hope to make use of this forum and give our own input as we gain experience. We are also Landrover owners having a 1969 SWB which we have rebuilt from the axles up. We look forward to meeting some of you. Regards Steve and Dorota Cooper

[ka]

i sure would appreciate seeing some pix of that lr

[Dreadnought]

Hi.. Ka, Can do...eventually...we are new to this site and as soon as my wife (she is the computer expert in this family) finds out how to post pics we certainly will. The Landrover is a 1969 Short Wheelbase in deep bronze green. It is bare above the door bottoms at the moment, I am tring to keep things simple for its Ministry of transport Test - no windscreen so no wipers to be tested. The Landrover has been off the road for 20 years following a major road accident, that fact that it was a Landrover saved my life back then, (I was hit at 70MPH by a Ford Granada driven by a drunk) My Landrover originally belonged to The Landrover Company and was a publicity vehicle for 1969 model year. I have changed the original petrol motor for a more modern DI Turbo Diesel from a Rover saloon car circa late 80,s, with overdrive she will now cruise up around 80MPH (clocked by My wife following in our Renault Kangoo Trekka 4x4 and GPS) and return over 30MPG no matter how she is driven. It has wheels from the latest Military "Wolf" Landrover and Goodyear G90 Tyres, which I hope to fit to My Pinzgauer as well, I rate them as an awsome tyre on and off road. My association with Landrovers goes back to the late 60,s when I learned to drive on a farm in an early 60,s Series 2 Diesel SWB, I then went on to drive Landrovers As a member of the British Armed Forces in many different climates/conditions/weathers and parts of the world (excluding North America -sadly) I did get to South America though!!!Just a footnote, did you know that a popular small Ford Model is sold here in Europe and is called the "Ka" (see Ford Ka or Street Ka) my wife owned one.

[EvanH]

Dreadnought,

Proably just as well you were not part of a military tour in the USA. The last time we had the British military around we were not very nice to them!

There have been a small number of diesel conversions done over the years. It sounds like a mind-bendingly difficult job.

--Evan

[Dreadnought]

Hi Evan,

The funny thing is, before I found this company who are prepared to fit a diesel, I was considering doing the job myself, and had concluded that it had to be easier than a comparable job on a Landrover, due to the fact that the Pinz is not connected to its gearboxes except by a small propellor shaft and that would be all that would to be physically adjusted. Engine mounts are so easy to fabricate and fitting a radiator for water cooling, well maybe I wouldn,t have done as professional a job as these people but I certainly didn,t see it as a really difficult job. I am a veteran of many re-engine jobs on Landrovers and various cars over the years. Maybe my Pinz can be the basis for a few more in the future when I gat get some pics onto the forum. I note that it is difficult for Americans to get hold of Diesel Pinzgauers. If I feel I can reccommend the conversion done to mine, I can give the address of the company converting mine. (mine is a 1972) so perhaps they can build and ship a few diesels to get round those import laws which state that vehicles must be over 25 years old is it???? (on the other hand the guy who does the re-engines might be reading this and thinking - Hell!!! how will I keep up if I get a dozen orders at once!!!!!!) As for the Military, I was in for 14 years back in the early 70,s and 80s and we seemed to get along very well with American forces, why I remember one little angel of a pfc who worked for the stars and stripes down at Ramstein (good band as well), she probably went back to the Ozarks ?and had 6 kids and a full happy life... (and drives a Pinz) but that,s another story.

[texas pinzgauer]

If you are successful in your efforts to install that diesel motor in your Pinz, you will be MOBBED by people wanting to see photos and detailed instructions on how you went about it.

For most of us, the gasoline engine seems to work exceptionally well but I suspect if given the option, we'd go diesel.

Good luck with that project and welcome aboard.

[Dreadnought]

Hi Texas Pinz, and thank you for the welcome, I am not personally retrofitting this Diesel engine, credit to the small UK company who are. I had considered fitting a Diesel myself but would probably have gone for something like a 200TDi from a Landrover (I also have a 1969 Landrover Diesel, which we have subjected to a body off resto.) As soon as my wife finds out how to put pics on the forum we will. If anyone asks for the address of the company who are fitting mine and selling the Pinz to me I shall give that also (This is their second vehicle - the first which they tell me was also successful, was a 6x6, I originally contacted them to try to buy that very vehicle. I,m surprised that the owner of that vehicle is not a member of this forum, maybe he is but he is having so much fun in that Diesel Pinz.........) I,m going to be asking questions like, how did the later models get a wider track? was it a result of fitting disc brakes?? (I know that it is true of a Landrover, if you fit disc brakes you get a 2 inch wider track) or did they change the axles? can they be retrofitted? can disc brakes be retrofitted?

[M Wehrman]

Many posts have been done on disc brakes. ...It would seem easier to install a diesel! Pics please,as stock is not my game! Oh,by the way,welcome to our madness!
Mark

[Dreadnought]

Thankyou M Wehrman, I also enjoy the madness of old Landrovers and have done for many years so I see this as just a transition to a higher plane. On the Landrover forums it used to be said that it was impossible to retrofit Disc brakes to a Landrover, at least economically, then Landrover themselves did it and now it is commonplace to retrofit discs to older Landrovers, so the old adage: if you have the engineering skill, time and money, you can fit warp engines if you so wish.!!!! On Landrovers the wish to retrofit Disc Brakes usually stems, not from the need for better braking power (Landrover drums when properly set up are more than adequate to stop a Landrover and a well loaded trailer), but from the fact that as soon as you go into wet mud or water with Drum Braked landrovers, you get a "soft pedal" and much reduced efficiency until you have stripped them down and completely cleaned them out. I hope that Drum Braked Pinzgauers don,t suffer from this problem quite as much????? Regards Steve and Dorota Cooper

[Erik712m]

I hope that Drum Braked Pinzgauers don,t suffer from this problem quite as much?????

Sorry but they do.

[Dreadnought]

Thanks Erik, I had hoped those High Tech Swiss had found a way to keep all the bad stuff out of the drums??? well at least I am used to cleaning drums. (and I am fitiing Disc brakes to a 1969 Landrover so maybe I can have a look see if anything from my conversion can be cross-engineered to a pinz)

[Erik712m]

Steve, Why didn't you just by a TD? I can under stand why guys like Mark and I would try and morph are pinz We simply can buy a TD over here nor does it like we will be able to. Seems that would be the cheaper path.

[Dreadnought]

Ah Erik....if only... if only, There are TD,s available just a few, but they are usually in very good condition, being such a costly vehicle to buy new, they are usually kept in very good condition and command very high prices used. Of the companies I approached to source a Diesel, one told me it was almost impossible to source one, another said yes...difficult but will cost in the region of £18/20,000 yes thats pounds! My Pinz is costing circa £9,000 with another £3,000 for the conversion and luckily it was pre-owned and is being sold on behalf of its owner or it would have attracted another 17% (Europe Tax)...don,t get me started about Europe Taxes which cost the average UK family an extra £40 per week, every week. Then there is road tax circa £200 per year (luckily any vehicle that was built pre-1973 attracts zero Road Tax - it is called road tax but has long been seen by politicians as just more money for them to throw away on anything but the roads)) So as well as costing way outside my budget which was only up to £15,000 - Dorota wants a "Kit car". (I hope she buys a "Marlin Hunter")(which I can put a Diesel in!!!!!!) one consideration was the Road tax free element of an older vehicle, It would have been up to £300 per year for one of the more modern diesels. Another consideration that I forgot is the annual "Ministry of transport test" which among many other safety items, tests diesels for smoke.....the engine is revved to maximum revs three times and the average smoke emission is judged upon by a testing machine (smoke has to be minimal and I mean minimal) For a 1972 diesel (a retro-fit is considered by the age of the vehicle not the engine) the test is much easier in that the engine is again revved to full revs, but smoke "must not obscure the vision of fellow motorists" by the book.... but it is mostly discretion by the tester, so it is best to use a tester who has routinely tested older diesel engines. (commercial Diesels over here are now mostly so clean and (relatively) quiet that a 40 Ton Truck can make even an old diesel Landrover look loud and smokey)(I speak as a Heavy Goods vehicle (18 wheeler?) driver of 30 years. Regards Steve