jeepdreamer
Expedition Leader
Not sure how many have seen the movie Thor but there is an amazingly cool Pinz featured as the main vehicle! That HAS to belong to someone on here!?! Me likey!! 
Pinzy In Thor!
- Thread starter jeepdreamer
- Start date
scottishpinz
Adventurer
Pinzgauer is excellent expedition vehicle.
Here's mine:
http://www.pinzgauer.4x4man.com/Pinzgauer.html
Here's mine:
http://www.pinzgauer.4x4man.com/Pinzgauer.html
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Good flick, watched it two Saturdays ago.
http://www.pinzgauer-td.com/apps/videos/videos/show/12942304-thor-new-movie-2011
PS, nice rig Scott!
http://www.pinzgauer-td.com/apps/videos/videos/show/12942304-thor-new-movie-2011
PS, nice rig Scott!
jeepdreamer
Expedition Leader
bldeagle10
Explorer
if you don't drool over Natalie Portman and the Pinz you need to get out... the combination of the two was like something from a dream! lol
how hard is it to get a hold of a Pinz here in the US?
lil more info on the actual Pinz from the movie...
http://forums.oausa.net/viewtopic.php?p=24125&sid=332a8b27fd9a0aac69342c0573967f09
how hard is it to get a hold of a Pinz here in the US?
lil more info on the actual Pinz from the movie...
http://forums.oausa.net/viewtopic.php?p=24125&sid=332a8b27fd9a0aac69342c0573967f09
bldeagle10
Explorer
I want one bad but they are generally out of my price range at the moment.
bldeagle10
Explorer
^I do that a lot. I always see something snazzy and think "that would make a good expo rig"
I can't get a really good shot of the engine bay, I know it is mounted between the front seats... I wonder if you could shoe horn a jeep 4.0 (4.7 stroker) in there...would be sweet.
I can't get a really good shot of the engine bay, I know it is mounted between the front seats... I wonder if you could shoe horn a jeep 4.0 (4.7 stroker) in there...would be sweet.
Last edited:
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Yup saw the Pinz in Thor too. It is a diesel and not the older style we see a lot of in the USA. I think the diesels are legal to import now since they came out in the 1980s. IIRC they are 714 (4x4) and 716 (6x6) for the diesel models.
I bought a 712 (6x6) back in 2003. My truck was an ex-racing truck from Europe that had been owned and used by Mike Warn in the 1994 Transylvania Trophy. It was dubb'ed "The Warn Pinz." The truck was a 1975 and imported by Sean from Expedition Imports in 2000. It was originally an ex-Austrian military Pinz so a little different then the Swiss ones which are much more common.
I paid $18,000 for the truck back in 2003. The truck was rough as it had been neglected for nearly 10yrs. After the 94 Trans Trophy Warn could not import the truck into the USA (not 25yrs old yet) so they sold it to a guy in Germany who used it as a support vehicle. When I got the truck it still had "Adventure Morroco" stickers on the side. I dumped close to $20k into the truck getting it up to par. 7 new tires is not cheap!! We put 716 coil spring on the front of it which are a lot stiffer then the older springs. That helped a lot with the exo-roll bar and so forth. I had Rancho 9000 adjustables all around on it. I had the truck a couple of years and thens old it locally for $20,000.
They are fun trucks. The 6x6 handles very well on pavement. Off-road it drives like a tank, lifting tires is normal and common. Traction wise it will drive through just about anything and will climb grades you thought could never be climbed. They also have 17-18" of ground clearance. I forded it through about 4ft+ of water. The alternator light would come on when you started getting to deep in the water! Beyond that they suck off-road. Very easy to tip it over on it's side, I did it in my truck once super easy. With very limited axle articulation it just heavily limits the truck. They are easy to work on though, I did the clutch in mine and it was the easiest clutch I have ever changed. The ZF 5spd tranny is so light one guy can pick it up and carry it around! Parts are available but also expensive. The clutch for mine was over $700!!
A number of companies still import them. Swiss Army Vehicles is one and a very good place to buy a truck or parts from. Eurotruck Importers is another but they have gotten away from the Pinzies a lot in the last 5yrs. The trucks are loud as can be and also very hard to heat. If you have the diesel heater they will keep you warm but the diesel heaters are expensive and often the vinatge ones in the trucks need work. I never had mine working. The split axle boots are a joke and only meant as a field repair. Due to the orientation of the axle boots they get damaged often if you wheel the truck hard. Putting in a one piece boot which is all that should be used is a HUGE job. You can get a petronix kit for them along with a few other small mods. For the most part though these trucks are not easy or good to modify. My 712m cruised nicely at 55mph and could do 65mph but it would be screaming at that speed.
Here is a couple pictures of my old Pinz....
more pictures at.....
http://www.rmp-o.com/phpBB3/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=628&g2_page=5
and my thread about it here on Expo
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/32521-The-Warn-Pinz...?highlight=
They can make a good overland truck but have a few downfalls. Top end speed being one of them. Parts being another. Security if it is a soft top being yet another. Noise being another issue. You can sound deaden them but it will never be a Lexus in terms of being quiet. If you had one all dialed in mechanically, had a good source for parts and had it set up to keep your stuff safe. Well, it could be a very good Pan Am truck and also fun to drive down to South America. There were a few aftermarket fiberglass tops made for these trucks as they were sold in limited numbers to the public. A fiber glass top would be ideal for an overland Pinz. I have only seen one though in the USA. Radio trucks are super top heavy so not very good for much besides pavement and dirt roads. The guy I bought mine from was/is a HUGE Pinz collector/enthusiest. He had one set up with a hard top on the cab so it was basically a 6x6 pickup.
I bought a 712 (6x6) back in 2003. My truck was an ex-racing truck from Europe that had been owned and used by Mike Warn in the 1994 Transylvania Trophy. It was dubb'ed "The Warn Pinz." The truck was a 1975 and imported by Sean from Expedition Imports in 2000. It was originally an ex-Austrian military Pinz so a little different then the Swiss ones which are much more common.
I paid $18,000 for the truck back in 2003. The truck was rough as it had been neglected for nearly 10yrs. After the 94 Trans Trophy Warn could not import the truck into the USA (not 25yrs old yet) so they sold it to a guy in Germany who used it as a support vehicle. When I got the truck it still had "Adventure Morroco" stickers on the side. I dumped close to $20k into the truck getting it up to par. 7 new tires is not cheap!! We put 716 coil spring on the front of it which are a lot stiffer then the older springs. That helped a lot with the exo-roll bar and so forth. I had Rancho 9000 adjustables all around on it. I had the truck a couple of years and thens old it locally for $20,000.
They are fun trucks. The 6x6 handles very well on pavement. Off-road it drives like a tank, lifting tires is normal and common. Traction wise it will drive through just about anything and will climb grades you thought could never be climbed. They also have 17-18" of ground clearance. I forded it through about 4ft+ of water. The alternator light would come on when you started getting to deep in the water! Beyond that they suck off-road. Very easy to tip it over on it's side, I did it in my truck once super easy. With very limited axle articulation it just heavily limits the truck. They are easy to work on though, I did the clutch in mine and it was the easiest clutch I have ever changed. The ZF 5spd tranny is so light one guy can pick it up and carry it around! Parts are available but also expensive. The clutch for mine was over $700!!
A number of companies still import them. Swiss Army Vehicles is one and a very good place to buy a truck or parts from. Eurotruck Importers is another but they have gotten away from the Pinzies a lot in the last 5yrs. The trucks are loud as can be and also very hard to heat. If you have the diesel heater they will keep you warm but the diesel heaters are expensive and often the vinatge ones in the trucks need work. I never had mine working. The split axle boots are a joke and only meant as a field repair. Due to the orientation of the axle boots they get damaged often if you wheel the truck hard. Putting in a one piece boot which is all that should be used is a HUGE job. You can get a petronix kit for them along with a few other small mods. For the most part though these trucks are not easy or good to modify. My 712m cruised nicely at 55mph and could do 65mph but it would be screaming at that speed.
Here is a couple pictures of my old Pinz....
more pictures at.....
http://www.rmp-o.com/phpBB3/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=628&g2_page=5
and my thread about it here on Expo
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/32521-The-Warn-Pinz...?highlight=
They can make a good overland truck but have a few downfalls. Top end speed being one of them. Parts being another. Security if it is a soft top being yet another. Noise being another issue. You can sound deaden them but it will never be a Lexus in terms of being quiet. If you had one all dialed in mechanically, had a good source for parts and had it set up to keep your stuff safe. Well, it could be a very good Pan Am truck and also fun to drive down to South America. There were a few aftermarket fiberglass tops made for these trucks as they were sold in limited numbers to the public. A fiber glass top would be ideal for an overland Pinz. I have only seen one though in the USA. Radio trucks are super top heavy so not very good for much besides pavement and dirt roads. The guy I bought mine from was/is a HUGE Pinz collector/enthusiest. He had one set up with a hard top on the cab so it was basically a 6x6 pickup.
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
No...you can not shoehorn any motor into these trucks. A couple of VW diesel conversion have been done but it ended up looking like a hack job and ruined a lot of the advantages of the Pinz. You would have to see pictures of the conversions to know what I mean.
These trucks have a unique central tube chassis. The frame is not your standard ladder frame. Rather it is a HUGE central tube with your drivelines encased int hat. Diffs are built into the central tube and have 2 ring gears. The independant axles come out of the central tube because the diffs are incorporated into the central tube. Basically without a body a Pinz looks like an ant. The body, tranny, engine and t-case are mounted to the central chassis and as such you have basically zero options on how you could modify one.
A Pinz has the best e-brake I have ever seen on a truck. Thing is because the e-brake attaches to the back of the central tube and is part of the driveline....well, if you drive the truck with the e-brake on it can cause some expensive damage!
The Pinz is not a truck to be modified. Rather it is to be enjoyed as it was built. I also feel it is just a toy. Very few people would daily drive a Pinz or take it on long trips. You certainly can do that but there are way better choices for trucks out there to do that in.
For a truck to take the family or friends out in, take it out and bash though some mud or climb some seriously steep grades it is great. Wheeling it in the rocks sucks. So as I say IMHO it is just a toy and can not even do what most $15,000 toys can do.
I loved my Pinz, it was a lot of fun but I will never own another one. To expensive and to limited in it's off-road capabilities. Not to mention you can't modify them.....
scottishpinz
Adventurer
RMP&O "Yup saw the Pinz in Thor too. It is a diesel and not the older style we see a lot of in the USA"
Sorry, the Pinz or really should say Pinzgauers, as several were built to look identical, in Thor were old petrol aircooled trucks with the newer front grill cover from a diesel truck added.
A friend of mine has a re-engined Pinzgauer with a diesel merc motor so it can be done, but its not easy and the original setup is pretty sweet anyway.
The hardtop Pinzgauers lock with dead locks and some run fairly quiet (mine does). Parts are available and can be shipped worldwide. Best of all it is easily field maintained and extremely well built and reliable. I've been to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, France, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in mine. They are extremely capable off road.
Sorry, the Pinz or really should say Pinzgauers, as several were built to look identical, in Thor were old petrol aircooled trucks with the newer front grill cover from a diesel truck added.
A friend of mine has a re-engined Pinzgauer with a diesel merc motor so it can be done, but its not easy and the original setup is pretty sweet anyway.
The hardtop Pinzgauers lock with dead locks and some run fairly quiet (mine does). Parts are available and can be shipped worldwide. Best of all it is easily field maintained and extremely well built and reliable. I've been to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, France, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in mine. They are extremely capable off road.