"The Ho" (17)

Winch (continued)

Grill cut out to receive the winch assembly

The installed winch

The next job was to install the control box and remote control...

Most people fit the winch control box and power supply to the top of the winch motor, in fact, that was where it was designed to go but we decided to move it away from the winch because of the space available. Moving it to inside the engine compartment would also protect it from damage. There wasn't much space in the engine compartment but we decided to move the activated charcoal filter and mount both side by side.

Before and after fitting the winch control box

Rather than keep connecting and disconnecting the remote control we decided to run it from the control box, through the firewall, into the cab of the car. We found a removable plate just below the internal fusebox and to the left of the brake pedal and so ran the cable through that...

Winch remote control cable

Seventh Trip

After finishing installing the winch on 30th March 2006, it was time to test it out. Once again it was off to Coal Creek. This time we treated "The Ho" a bit rougher than normal and put some minor dents in the bodywork. If I'm driving I usually ensure that anything we hit is on the passenger side, this time the car slid into a tree on the driver's side and I demolished the driver's mirror.

This is what the external mirror on "The Ho" should look like...

and here's one that's been smashed into a tree
Oddly enough the glass is still intact

Ever since we've had it, for some reason, now and then we'd find power steering fluid had sprayed over the engine. We can't find an obvious leak but we think that under certain circumstances, under a heavy load, like when we're trying to get out of a rut, there's a high pressure leak somewhere. "The Ho" just recently has been a bit difficult to start. The starter sounds fine and the battery has plenty of power but the engine won't turn over. We think that this is a fuel fault and needs to be traced.

This page created 30th March 2006, last modified 15th April 2006