New Pinzgauer owner in Upstate NY, Catskills open invite.

[czarthirteen]

Hello folks,

After many years of custom builds that have ranged from the easy (CJ7's with big blocks and small blocks, same with YJ's), to the not so easily executed (two '85 Chevy builds, a Blazer with an Isuzu 4BD1T and a K30 (!!!!, ex Air Force 6.2l long block diesel from Loring base in Maine) Suburban that ended up with a full exo, roll back canvas roof, massive rack, sporting the 572ci with a Whipple straight from Summit and rolling 44's on 2.5T Rockwells from one of our old Osh Kosh dumps.......needless to say....I've cut my teeth over the past 15 years or so trying to always build something to the best of ....its.....abilities......not just my own.

It doesn't stop with trucks either....we've got MK2 VW's that run Quattro drivetrains powered by MB diesels, MB's with custom interiors, motorcycles stretched, compacted, cafe'd.....you name it......

Recently, I purchased my first Pinz from George Stauffer.....a truly first class gentleman if there is such a thing. After much searching and speaking with a few of the more notable sellers of Pinzgauers in the US and a few private sellers, it became readily apparent to me exactly how rare a guy like George is. Not to discredit anyone else in this fine community, its only that, at an advanced age, it seems like Stauffer is ready to work circles around the rest of us! His personal demeanor and professionalism combined with the knowledge he has, to me, made his everyday efforts over the past few weeks in helping me through my decision making process has proven to be as intrinsic as the value of the 712AMB I just purchased from him.

Now, my dilemma.....since I'm so used to repowering and swapping drivetrains in just about every vehicle I buy......what am I going to do with the Pinz? Well, I answered that question for myself as soon as I made my decision to buy one....the answer is, absolutely nothing! The simplicity is what attracted me first and I'll be more than proud to keep it that way.

[krick3tt]

Kudos to you. Not changing it assures that you will have a wonderful vehicle. There are little comfort things
that can be done but, that isn't really changing anything. I at one time thought of doing a 2.7 L conversion
on the engine and after buying the parts to do it came to the conclusion that it might not be in my or the
pinz's best interest. Now I still have the parts sitting in my garage on the shelf.

[czarthirteen]

Thanks,

I read that you are sitting on one of LaGuardia's 2.7 kits....seems like a fairly viable and well engineered option, but a I've found with aircraft technology, if it aint broke.......in that same frame of mind, I'm no sooner going to adjust for an increase in swept volume of the jugs in the SuperCub.

As I stated, the invite to the Catskills is open to all, we have an old parcel of land that connects to thousands of wild acres and we know many of the trails.....come on out, to all, we'll figure out some of the abilities of these things in an unparalleled Northeastern environment.

[krick3tt]

Apparently I have to correct something here.
I hope that you did not read 'Jim's kit' on this forum, if so it or I have been misquoted.

This is not Jim's kit. If it were I would have had Jim install it. I do not want to misrepresent anything.

I bought this kit from Expedition Imports and was going to have it installed by another mechanic.
It has not been installed and sits in my garage in the boxes it came in.

[czarthirteen]

Ooops.....no, that was likely my mistake....I've been reading through the forum quite a but, I probably got my info mixed up. I think I've read all of the posts at this point, even the archives. Lots of information to get lost in here.

[texas pinzgauer]

Welome aboard!

As Morris points out earlier on in his post. There are plenty of little things to sweak to make it more suitable for your purposes but you're wise to just enjoy it mostly as-is, drive train wise.

It works extremely well for it's intended purpose just the way it is.

David

[czarthirteen]

Thanks David,

Yup, the creature comforts will likely be addressed, heck...I've worked on making my w210 Benz's more comfortable, I'll surely be on this project in a heartbeat.

I'm sure I'll be posting quite a bit in the near future.

As far as the heart of the thing.....many years ago, a local ski mountain called Elk near my hometown in Northeast PA had a few Unimogs. Having a few friends that worked there as ski patrol and snowmakers, I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with them. So, through my teenage years, it was everything I could do to try to build something to equate which led me down the path of playing with multiple configurations on ladder frame vehicles of all sorts...for the past 15 years or so, I guess I've had the conventional blinders on. Recently, I landed in the Catskills and got to familiarize myself with another local ski resort that just happened to have a couple of c303s that have been bastardized over the years, one of which, I believe, now sits on ancient Piston Bully drivetrain. Thus, the trip down the rabbit hole of research which eventually ended with my personal discovery of SDP.....almost serendipdously, very auspiciosly.

With our concentration on these pieces of an old bug with suicide doors that we found in a barn up here, we came across the history of Steyr Puch and it's involvement in the early development of the VW, my better half's true passion.

Now, I've only mere hours to wait till my 712AMB arrives, and I've not been this excited since I got my first motorcycle when I was 10.

I'm going to be a kid in a candy store, and y'all are going to hear about it!

[texas pinzgauer]

Take and post photos as your Pinzgauer ownership experience unfolds.

We've all been there and I never get tired of hearing from or about a new Pinzgauer owner's experience with his (it's always a guy) new toy.

[czarthirteen]

Funny you should bring that up.....

Lindsey (the very female better half of me), who whole heartedly enjoys wrenching on her VW's, now wants a Hafflinger.......does anyone know if they are roadable? Maybe thats a question for another forum topic.

[edzz]

Funny you should bring that up.....

Lindsey (the very female better half of me), who whole heartedly enjoys wrenching on her VW's, now wants a Hafflinger.......does anyone know if they are roadable? Maybe thats a question for another forum topic.

Please define roadable . They are street legal in most states to my knowledge.

[czarthirteen]

Street legality is my question exactly.

Thanks for chiming in, edzz.

[krick3tt]

I have ridden in one at the MogFest in SoCal. As far as roadability, street legal and will go places I never thought possible.
If I thought I could get a good one I would trade the pinz for it.

[czarthirteen]

Well...a haffy is what the woman wants....and you all know what that means!

[krick3tt]

If your nice, maybe she'll let you drive it once in awhile.

[czarthirteen]

The scary thing is that she really wants two.....shes thinking one would look really interesting disguised as a MK2 VW Golf.....and since the wheel base is so similar.....and 13" wheels are a go......and I'm such a crazy fabricating guru.......hmmmmmmm.......seems like it would be a stranger answer to the Golf Country availability dilemma than her 4bd1t powered, th400 trans, np203 to tiny dana 30's '86 Golf buggy she plays in now.