elbekko

Almost done now! Started off with fitting the other front plate. A bit of pondering later, and I decided to tack in some small pieces of plate to act as stops for the bend. A bit of help from the jack, as master Yoda I am not: And that worked beautifully. Half an hour of prep, five minutes of fitting. Had to adjust the tabs a bit, as measuring twice is obviously no use when you fail to read a ruler. Nothing the welder and grinder couldn't solve. The word of the day is "clamps". I brought some more from home today, and was still constantly looking for more clamps. All tacked up and ready for welding. Welded the outside of the seams, and threw some heavy stitch welds on from the inside as well. This is where the welder started to act up again. It just didn't want to get a good weld going there, just sputtering and generally being stupid. I thought maybe impurities had been blown into the back, and was contaminating this weld. Cleaning seemed to not help much. But I managed with perseverance. And then on to fitting the tow hooks. Bit of lay-out work, drilling out to 15.5mm (biggest drill I could find in the workshop). Then some filing to make it fit, along with some mild persuasion of Mr. Hammer. Both fitted and welded in. And then welded from the back as well. Nicely in line with one of the chassis bolts. That's not going anywhere Of course the welder wasn't loving life here either, and the other side just refused get a proper weld started again. I'm wondering now if maybe I have the gas set too high and it's blowing out my puddle in enclosed spaces? On the other hand, I can hear the tone of the wire feed motor change when the torch isn't in the sweet zone, so the torch probably is dead. Seems like it gets worse as it heats up. So probably the liner? Or the whole torch, but it'll need a conversion to euro torch... gets expensive quickly Somehow the adapter seems to cost almost as much as a torch... Started grinding the welds. Thick disc leaves a very uneven surface, but the flap discs die fairly quickly To finish off, I tried fitting it on the car. I wanted some motivation. That failed The twist in the body from previous accident danage is too much, and is stopping the bumper from seating properly. Rest day tomorrow, more on tuesday...

Lots of progress made today After fixing the dent in the chassis, started by fitting the side plates: Put some washers in so hopefully things still fit after welding. Then got distracted making some tow hooks. On friday I picked up 1m of 16mm round bar, for the princely sum of €5. Found a wonderfully old-school metal shop not far from home: Super friendly people, too. So, got on with trying to make these tow hooks. To fit between the chassis plates, they have to be 8cm wide. Found some pipe to bend them around, and then muscled it sort of into shape. This, predictably, did not go very well. Heavy work, everything moving everywhere but where it's supposed to go. But it turned out ok, after almost two hours of fighting it: For the second one, I tried being a bit more intelligent. Stuffed some dead tree carcass into the pipe to prevent it from collapsing. Went well after sharpening the end of the pipe. The (ab)using the press to push said form tool into the rest of the bar. Had to make a notched extension piece so the press could reach the bottom of the bar. Going well: Muuuch nice, even if I had to finish it off in the vice. (Left is try 2, right try 1. Then threw the top plate on: Started welding things up:. And then tried to fit one of the front plates. This kicked my butt for a good 3 hours. But I managed: Just need to drill a hole in it for the tow point. And then do the other side... The welder did fine. Although I think a new liner or torch is in order, when there's a bit too much bend in the torch tube, it starts struggling to wire feed. More on sunday...

Pop over to Wales on saturday for Summer Sisters?

You overestimate my ability to not royally screw up

Not. Then again, I can throw my tyres and old bumper on, and drive around. But would be really nice to at least get the bumper sorted...

That's cheaper than I thought they were. If you're buying a new grease gun anyway, that's a no-brainer...

What we usually do is get the engine and gearbox somewhat aligned, and then put some long threaded rods into the bellhousing holes. This keeps everything aligned while trying to get the splines to engage, without the pressure of bolts. Then usually you can push on the engine while rotating the crank and it'll pop in.

Very nice!

None so far. Have been busy with other stuff like work and not melting in the heat. Yesterday's workshop time was spent on fitting the roof tent to the Merc, and didn't feel like getting changed and doing welding afterwards. I'll probably try to spend some more time on this this weekend. And it'll be without Filip's help, as he's at Graspop the next few days. After many years of going, I've decided it's no longer worth the back pain and huge crowds... but Filip is still crazy enough to go

Nice write-up, interesting That's quite the hot air intake.

That's too bad. Might've been a good opportunity to have it looked over by a lot of experienced people... but I do get not wanting to drive a car you don't trust very far.

The issue is parking it somewhere... Weekend of the 24th.

Looking forward to the first year where I don't break anything now that I bring the car on a trailer Will be good to see you, and everyone else, again. It'll also be interesting to see how the dog reacts to off-roading...

Yup, booked everything now. The ferry hurt

38kg

The thought had crossed my mind (I think it's Trail Mater that has a similar setup). But it would need two with the freespool pointing backwards. But again, there shouldn't be any need anymore

Could do. But as said, the point is moot, as it looks like I'll be able to run the freespool lever as it is by cutting out the top plate.

That looks like a bit different freespool design from mine though? Butbnice solution.

Dry fit of the winch in the cradle, looking pretty good: Started tacking up the cradle to the bottom plate, using those washers as a 1.5mm spacer between the plates. Little bit of extra room for the winch + better weld penetration. Fit it up, took a bit of persuasion, due to this: Looks like the RH chassis leg is twisted and bent inwards a bit. There's a dent in the rad support crossmember just underneath there, I think that's putva bit of twist in the end of the chassis rail. Not sure what the best way would be of trying to fix that.

Looks pretty decent. Could you fit those extensions with a pin for road use?

No, the wire feed motor was broken. Would work perfectly, then start stuttering. I had cleaned it up, but still the same. Fitted the AliExpress one now: And I guess I can be happy with a weld like this:

Revisited this while staring at it together with my resident engineer. Looks like it should indeed be possible to cut out the top plate at an angle from the winch mounting feet to the chassis plate. And then the freespool lever only needs a small notch to be able to sit where it sits now. Plan coming together And now, in the name of scope creep, see if I can get the damn welder to behave...

Yeah, that looks like it'd work perfectly. Agreed, but:

Maybe, but that would take a lot of strength away in the line between the winch bolt holes and the chassis bolt holes. So I'd prefer not to.

180° because that's how far the lever needs to turn to operate the ring gear. That's a nice design, should definitely work (if you can keep the crud out of it)! Looks like a job for a 3D print. If only I got along with mine... Probably not, no. And worst case I can operate it by reaching into the back of the bumper (will be harder once the skid plate is on). But preferably not...