THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Hi all,

I am new here from Czech Republic and my english is not very good, so I am apologise for it.
Let introduce us. My name is kamil and my wife is Helena. We love traveling, hiking, dogs, nature,.....
We are leaving in March2012 for 2 years trip through Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Korea, Japan to Australia. More info about trip is here www.delicajourney.webnode.cz
We have modify Mitsubishi Delica/2''lift kit, secon fuel tank, water tank, Eberspacher heater, rock sliders, bash plates, bed, running hot water..../
More pics here www.delica.rajce.net and some pics from our past trips here www.helcakamil.rajce.net

You may be asking now, why I am posting this info here.
When we are back from our trip we need car for extreme terrain in Siberia, Kamchatka and Central Asia. We will need high ground clearance, because we will be using forest tracks, long range fuel tanks and space for two people to sleep. Car has to be able cope with Siberian winter/very low temperatures, -45C/.
Some people suggest to buy portals from Volvo and fit them to LR Defender or other 4x4. But we need bigger car for all other equipment like chain saw, generator,...
Now to the point. I like Volvo C303 4x4 or Pinzgauer4x4. I like Volvo more/ do not know why/.
I was thinking to fit diesel engine to it or buy Pinzgauer with diesel engine.
What do you think about my options? Which way I should go? Will I have better fuel economy with diesel engine/ I will have to carry fuel for at least 1000km in difficult terrain/.
Would I be able to fit bed for two in 4x4 version or do I need 6x6?
Thank you very much for your opinions and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Have a great day
Kamil&Helena

I think that the air-cooled engine of the Pinzgauer may be to your advantage in the extreme cold of Siberia. If you consider a Pinzgauer, give some thought to the 6x6 712, for what you are proposing I am sure the extra storage space will help. You can carry a lot of gear in the back of a 712, I was really surprised at how much actually. Sorry, but that's about all the advice I have to offer; good luck on your journey.

I have a 712 Pinz and while I now live in a moderate climate, my past 25years was in the far north of Canada (+30 to -45C). You may enjoy the extra space in a 712, and with a little work it easily sleeps 2 in comfort. There is no heat to speak of below -5C so a auxiliary heater and insulated top are a must. You may also wish to use the extra space to carry spare parts & fuel. The stock fuel tank will hold about 75L (400 km). Depending on what you buy expect to offer some time to update the mechanics of a older Pinz... Carb rebuild, maybe gaskets and portal seals increase reliability.

Good Luck on your journey!

I would like to rebuild the car for traveling, so I will have plenty of time to do it.
How is 6x6 in terrain compare to 4x4? Is 4x4 more capable thanks to shorter wheel base? I have never seen car in reality, so it is hard to imagine it.
Thanks again for your time.

I have the 4x4 and my friend and I camp in it all the time and I have not checked but I think that the 4x4 fits a queen mattress in the back the 6 wheel version was for better performance off road and has a slower/ more powerfull gear pattern

The biggest advantage of the 6x6 is stability and ride, on and off-road.

Yeh, and the 6x6 gets all the chics too.

From experience- 4x4 holds a queen mattress, but with no extra room... No, I wasn't camping, I was just moving it...

So 6x6 will be our choice.
I would be grateful if you can comment on my ideas about modifications for car.
I will start with easy one...Roll cage. I want full body outside roll cage with driving lights and expedition roof rack attached to it. Is there anything I should be aware of? I want roof rack attached to roll cage, not to the roof of the car, so all stress and weight is distributed to the chassis.
You may think that my questions are stupid, but I would like to be prepared and do conversion without mistakes and waste of money.

For cold weather start with a tuff river insulated soft top & wabastco heater.

Kamil:
Do a search on "712" and "rack" or "cage" on these forums. There have been
many pictures and posts on the subject to give you some ideas.

I second the insulated top and Webasto heater recommendation for cold weather.

Ed

Seriously I love my Pinz and want to take it to Russia some day, but for extended use in Russia / Siberia I think you would be best with a 'local' product like a Uaz http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... AZ-Bus.jpg or if you don't need it to be small and compact go much larger like a Gaz or Zil truck!

Whilst diesel will give better fuel milage, petrol is better in extreme low temp. The petrol Pinzgauer standard fuel tank is quite small but it is easy to carry extra fuel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g83LiJazExQ

Whatever vehicle you choose enjoy the trip!

P.S. Delica's are cool and you get a lot of luxury which you don't in a Pinzgauer, thing is you probably don't hose down the inside

I need relatively small car, not big russian " gruzavik"......russian word for lorry.
Russian cars are famous for their bad reliability....so many Czech people had them and everyone hated them for this.
I will spend 5 months in Russia next year doing research for future trips, I can speak russian language, have friends all over Russia so only thing which I need is proper offroad car
When I have one, we can organise Pinzgauer expedition to Russia or Central Asia. We always travel on low budget/do not worry about money/, only expenses are fuel and food. Food is cheap everywhere if you know how to cook
We have Eberspacher D2 heater in our Mitsubishi and it is the best modification which we have for winter camping.

I'd keep your cage very lightweight. The last thing a Pinz needs is more weight up top which greatly affects stability off-road.

VinceAtReal4x4s wrote:I'd keep your cage very lightweight. The last thing a Pinz needs is more weight up top which greatly affects stability off-road.

I have same problem with our Delica.
My plan is to fit long range fuel tank and water tank underneath, so it should help with stability. I did the same with our Delica.