elbekko

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...

Mostly because we bodged it together instead of using a proper Bowden cable kit, no? Yup, plenty of room behind the winch, with the gearbox clocked back in the "normal" position.

Yes, but can you have them go around 180 degrees? That would be the easiest way to adapt this without modifying the gearbox a lot, I think.

Literal back-of-the-envelope sketch of how the current system could be adapted. Bowden cable wrapped around a pulley, with a spring pulling around the pulley in the other direction for the return. Would need a locking mechanism though, or a second cable to do the other direction.

Indeed. I wonder if I can come up with some other way of doing that linear motion on the ring gear. Because it feels sort of silly to go linear -> rotary -> linear. Maybe just some sort of push/pull bowden cable that peeks out of the grille somewhere. Damn feature creep, I don't have time for this!

No, this one moves the ring gear with an offset pin on the end that goes in a groove on the ring gear.