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

Ok, in case anyone was curious, this is what I have been working on for about a year, off and on. I've taken it on a couple of test runs as I got it more road-worthy and have worked out lots of bugs. Fat Fabrication finished up the winch bumper right after Mogfest and I'm just now getting the wiring and hardware details all done. I felt like I got the truck far enough along now to finally post some pics!

It's a 1979 (first year of the G-class) 300GD built by Steyr-Puch and Mercedes. These are also hand-made, in a building close to the original Pinzgauer building, in Graz. This one has a turbo diesel Mercedes 5cyl. 617A engine, which was also in the older diesel Mercedes cars in the 1980's. 33" tires. Lockers front and rear as stock. 4-speed man.. Much like the Pinz, its transmission and transfer case are divorced and also has a 3rd mini drive-shaft. Top speed is around 70-75mph though I cruise at about 62 in it.

Not a lot of mods to tell about so far, other than the winch bumper. Andre built the bumper after I spent seemingly endless hours thinking about how I wanted it. We ended up cutting into the factory bumper to keep a stock look, much like the old C303 bumper design. I added some new fully rotating recovery shackles and just now put on the new Hella Micro DE lights. I made new wires to extend the solenoids under the hood. It will be hooked up to a wireless controller soon... hopefully $$. I've had the Amsteel synthetic rope and the Superwinch sitting in a box for a really long time and its very satisfying to finally get it installed onto a real 4x4!

This is what it looked like some time ago. The original color was white so its right now, although the new paint job was done by some moron. Anyway, its come a long way.

Fat Fab starting the winch bumper. Sorry for the cell-phone quality pics.

Very nice!
....now all you need to do is replace those Merc badges with PUCH ones to complete the transformation.

Thanks. I've been thinking about it! You can actually get this very cool original here, but I can't afford it anytime soon. Used ones aren't exactly laying around in many spots.

http://fourbyfourclub.com/W460Accesorie ... hGrill.htm

Sweet! Very nice Vince.
I've lusted after a couple of those I've seen but so far have resisted. It gets more difficult to resist when I see yours.
Happy Trails!

Funny, I was just thinking about one of those after I realized that a Unimog 406 would have to wait a while, and my better judgment told me that I don't need two useless offroaders (Say hi to my better half Liz)

How common are those in the US? I "might" be able to swing one of those, especially if it was a diesel.

That is SWEEEEET!
Love that is has the TD!
Winch looks factory - very nice job

Nice package Vince, what kind of mpg is that td delivering?

Thanks for the comments. They are not that common the US, esp. the two door diesel which is probably about as rare to pass on the highway as a Pinz. It gets around 18-20mpg though I haven't had a chance to really test that out yet. I've heard as high as 23mpg but thats pushing it. It's bigger than it looks, about the same height as a 710 so not that great with aerodynamics.

Great looking, Vince. A keeper.

Those projector lamps fit in real well with the bumper (but then look who made it!).
What brand are those lamps?

Hella makes them, who also made the lights on that truck back in 70's. These new DE's are still stamped with a "Made in Germany" statement. Rarely seen these days. Unfortunately Hella also makes a shi**y sub-brand called Optilux which is Chinese and wont be touching my stuff, no matter how attractive their prices are.

Great purchase Vince! You'll love it! It's in great shape.

Having the diesel is quite nice, I must say.

Next year we'll see about fabbing a swing away spare/jerry can/hi-lift rack for the back. Interior space is primium on this truck.