Blood Spilt

You would have thought the lesson would have been learned last time!  Obviously not, because today I decided to attempt to fit the winch to the 4WD.  Wasn't I going to wait for the grandson to arrive and undertake the work?

The bull bar I fitted to the front of the 4WD several years ago will accept a winch.  However, unlike other bull bars, there is almost no clearance between our bar and the front of the vehicle.  I didn't want to remove the bar to fit the winch.  It's heavy; awkward to handle and a two person task.  However, if I removed the grill behind the winch I might be able to drop the winch down into the gap.

This would be the third time I've removed the grill and it's a right bugger of a job.  Moreover I'd forgotten how I'd done it on the previous occasions. 

Several hours later it was out.  But not before I'd lost blood from all the scratches.  I blame our GP for this.  He is the one who put me on blood thinners and that; combined with thin old skin; results in me bleeding a the slightest knock or scratch.

After removing the grill I realised I had fitted a voltage sensitive relay (VSR) on the bull bar precisely where the winch needed to go.   I remembered I'd previously done this because I couldn't find another suitable location in the engine bay for the VSR.  Now it would need to be relocated!

The new location will reorient it almost vertically to one side of the cavity behind the bull bar.  This required a new mounting plate.  Using some of the steel from the old camper trailer power distribution board I slowly and carefully cut out the new plate.  The jigsaw will cut steel if I run the blade at a very slow speed.

Usually the winch control box is mounted on top of a bull bar where it's easily accessible.  Our bar is too close the body of the vehicle to do that and I had to identify a position behind the grill.  Eventually I decided on a position on the right.  This meant I need to relocate the horn.

Eventually I managed to mount the control box [A] and relocate the horn [C] to the left of the box.  The VSR [B] was mounted below the control box.

The VSR at an angle of about 70 deg.

Time to complete all the cable connections.  Oh No!  The cables aren't long enough to reach the winch terminals!  Now I will need to make new longer cables before I can refit the grill.