dokatd wrote:I said with more clarification, all the components you find on a pinz are not unique in that they have all been done before by other manufacturers. Not all on one vehicle, but scattered across the great history of vehicles.
You might it interesting to see how intertwined VW/Porsche/Tatra/Pinzgauer history really is:
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http://www.pinztrek.com/pinz/steyr_history.htm >
When you dig very deep, you'll find lot's of overlap, and certain ideas (like Porsche as father of the VW) may not be as accurate as we thought. Certainly not the whole story. I need to update some of the links, but I've had lot's of interest/input from Tatra/Steyr fans in Europe on the strange tale of Ludvinka and Porsche. (and how it relates to pinzgauers)
No surprise, I guess... history is written by the victors. Germany was victor over eastern Europe early on.
This has nothing to do with tranny swapping, I wish you luck. Any time we find workable alternatives it's a win for the pinz community.
Peter is right (as he usually is) about the pinz designers. Very little about the pinz was done by accident. They would not compromise the engineering to use an off the shelf item. This is one very large difference between the haffie/pinz's and the Volvo's. Also makes it harder to swap parts, but not impossible.
Certain aspects of the air cooled engine design (cam timing, valve size, intake size, etc) which frustrate our attempts to increase HP are actually the result of SDP trying for an extremely flat torque curve, closer to diesel performance than most small gassers.
On the drivetrain issue, torque is the key limit based on all I have seen and heard from individuals who were there at the factory when the pinz was designed & tested. Peak torque on the drive train is far more likely to be reached at .5 mph in low range with a wheel riding over a boulder on sandstone than ever on the road. Yet, as we all know, HP & Torque are directly related.
You can explode a pinz clutch by overspeed, frag a driveshaft due to vibration, but I'm not aware of many diff/hub failures from torque alone. Does not mean it can't happen, just not a common failure mode even with higher HP engines than the pinz aircooled. (and yes, there are multiple engine swaps that were higher HP/torque than the pinz)
Again, another example of factory overengineering. Stronger drivetrain was a design objective with the engineers.... straight cut gears are stronger than helical. Think about the dual crown wheel design of the pinz, and how that splits torque on each gearset. I'm sure you could frag them with a V-8 and 38" tires. But even hopped up 2.7l pinz engines with 34" tires do not seem to.
Interesting thread, and lot's of good data on the trannies. If all that comes out of it is better understanding of possible donor parts this is a win for us all!
have fun,
Alan
The VW connection may be closer than that, as Erich Ledwinka may have done the final design on the Tatra T-97 prior to becoming chief designed at SDP in the 50's. 
