another newbee

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:46 am

Well, I just pulled the pin on my first Pinz purchase. Having been heavily into pre 1967 VW's buses for over 20 years, I figured one of these air cooled brutes would be a good choice. I purchased a 1971 710K from Jeff Hays out of Aurora, CO.
Having a 2wd vanagon style Doka truck currently as my dirt driver this will be a huge upgrade.
I know that general servicing of the truck has been done by a listee here, Linden Engineering in the past. Does anyone know the former owner or know this truck?
Anyway I spoke to the delivery driver this morning who indicated he would not be here until Tuesday... Can't wait!
Shawn
Tacoma WA

Pinzgauer Pete · Post by **Pinzgauer Pete** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:38 pm

Congrats Shawn, we all know the aprehension of the wait...good luck with it, in the meanwhile you can browse the forum for info while you wait..welcome brother!!

Dreadnought · Post by **Dreadnought** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:39 pm

From another 710K owner..welcome...... Note: I can only answer some questions as mine has a retro-fit 5 Cyl Mercedes normally aspirated Diesel engine, so it doesn,t drive like most Pinzgauers (neither is it,s MPG anthing like most Pinzgauers!!! Thank the 'Great maker')

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:10 pm

Thanks, for the warm welcome, I am really excited about getting it here. Next weekend if it is up to it I will be taking it on my sons boy scout trip up to the Elwa River for a Hike up Whiskey Creek. The boys in the troop have already seen the photos of it and are already claiming dibs on being able to ride in it.
I do have a question about seating arrangements for it in the not so distant future, I was wondering if the three middle seats could be turned around facing backwards and then install a 2 seat section on each side in the back out of a troop carrier? I am a pretty good fabricator so making mounts will not be a problem, just wondering if their is enough room.
Alternatively I have two extra seats that came with the truck that look like extra front seats. If there is not enough room in the back for the two seat folders, I suspect I can just fabricate mounts for those back there. Any thoughts?

Turbo Diesel... I have converted VW's to run Subaru motors in the past, may have to consider that swap a year or so down the road...
Shawn
Tacoma, WA

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:18 pm

Dreadnought · Post by **Dreadnought** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:19 pm

Sorry Shawn, I can,t answer that one about seating arrangements, mine doesn,t yet have any rear seats, just a big empty space.....but it will have by and by. Don,t forget to consider where yr seatbelts will anchor on rear/side facers and also the insurance implications/law as it applies to yr state etc!!! I dont think a full load of passengers will make any inroads into your handling situation, you will find that the rear end is well enough suspended for heavy loads (some people even take out one spring each side the level up the back end.) I,m sure there will soon be lots of ideas coming your way and pics of what other people have done. Nice pics..Looks a good clean truck.....I have no pics on the site, but do have a couple of short vids on You Tube, one of them is 'Pinzgauer Agility' not my truck but a couple of others I was out with on 'Salisbury Plain' Military training Area UK....some good views of my Pinz can be found by following links to my other vids. Steve

chp-sk8 · Post by **chp-sk8** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:26 pm

Hey brother...we are in the same boat...I bought mine in sept, and have yet to drive:^) Were you the guy on cragslist selling the sweet Doka to fund the pinz project? I am in bonney lake...well I will be in 2 month when I get home from this deployment. Did you want a (K) ? Sounds like a (M) would be well suited for carting the troops. Hope to meet up with ya.

Eli

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:42 pm

Yep that is me, I decided on the hard top as I figured it would be a better all weather rig. Plus I like the idea of being able to lock it up when I have things in it.

totaljoint · Post by **totaljoint** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:10 am

I have seen one K where the table was removed and the two extra seats were put in facing backwards right behing the bulkhead, kinda like the seating in the Volvo C303. Perhaps thats what those were intended for.

Beautiful K in your pictures (you got more snow than us up north)

I believe we now have enough Pinzgauers in Seattle for a real Treffen! Let me know when you're ready.
Ed

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:12 am

Thanks for the link this picture it pretty much tells me their is enough room for the rear seats. I will have to look at the configuration of a TGB to see how they were done as well.

audiocontr · Post by **audiocontr** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:59 pm

Nice looking K. I want to trade my M for one!

westernair · Post by **westernair** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:54 am

Well I got the truck delivered to me Tuesday Morning before the snows started to fall. After un-loading all the goodies inside (shelves, antennas and other misc stuff), I gassed her up and just drove the thing around to get a feel for her. Having snow on the first day was a great thing, as I got to try the hydraulics and the gas heater right away.
Having autos that people want to flag down is nothing new to me but in the two days I have owned it now it has had at least 20 pictures taken of it and 4 groups of people have already gone out of their way to inquire about it. I stopped at the auto parts store and even a couple of gang bangers approached me with big smiles on their faces.
I have put a little over 100Km on her so far around town and everything is working smoothly. The smile on my face is defiantly ear to ear.

pinzwheeling · Post by **pinzwheeling** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:11 pm

westernair wrote:I do have a question about seating arrangements for it in the not so distant future, I was wondering if the three middle seats could be turned around facing backwards and then install a 2 seat section on each side in the back out of a troop carrier? I am a pretty good fabricator so making mounts will not be a problem, just wondering if their is enough room.

Don't know about facing the seats backwards, but you can add a couple of seats in the rear.