Is that you, "Bolt Face" ??????

[NCL4701]

Now it’s off to the CNC Plasma cutter to knock out the “end caps” from a plate of “mystery metal"

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Now for the “fun part”……..TIG WELDING!!!!!!!!


I clearly need some practice, but it’s dosen’t go too bad.

It’s not NASA quality, but it should be “Rhino good-nuff"
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Sadly though…..The welds need to be “ground down” to make it fit…….

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Well now it’s time for another “test fit”, and I decide to bolt her in place before I try to locate and drill the Vertical holes.

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She’s looking pretty good, so I am stoked.

Now here is where things get “scary”……While I was putting it in, I “slightly boogered-up” the first thread (or2?)…….

Now normally this would not present a problem, however; I don’t have a damn 12 x 1.25 tap.

I started this project at “Zero Dark’Thirty” cause I could not sleep, so the only place that is open at 0600 is Home Depot…….So I quickly “calculate the odds” that HD will have a tap this size, and even though the odds are way, way, way against me…..What do I have to lose?


So I drive over, and walk in, wearing my “homeless guy apparel” and walk over to the “tool section”…...

As soon as I do, I hear a voice from behind me, and the following evolves…………..

Bolt Face: (BF from here on out): Can I help you?

Paul turns around, and BAM!!!!!!!

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I am instantly greeted by this lovely creature……(not actual pic….but damn close )



I sh1t you not…..She scared the F__k out of me……….(I visibly stepped back, reaching for my side)……..

Luckily, I caught myself before anything happened, and I quickly regained my “bearing”…...

I stammered for a second, then asked her(?)

Paul: Where do you keep your taps?

BF: This way…..

She politely walks me over and shows me the “abysmal selection” of taps (certainly not her fault though)

Then curiously asks me what I am working on…...

Paul: A Yamaha Rhino…..

BF: Oh well, you see our taps will not work for automotive work…..They are too soft. See you need special “Automotive taps”….They are labeled 11.8 not 8.8. Blah…blah…..blah…..

So she begins to explain to me basically how wrong I am…….But the really crazy part is that I get the feeling she is doing it with the best intentions…….I mean the way she was politely explaining herself was, well…a little endearing…..

I took a breath, and as I was about to give her a “tongue lashing” about how wrong she was about EVERYTHING!!!!…… “it" happened…...

Just like the “Grinch” I smiled and felt my heart grow 3 sizes, and at that second, I decided to just “smile like a jackass” and say things like…..

“Oh really?” and

“I had no idea”

I think I even threw in a …..”tell me more”……...

She was so full of shit, that she could not have been more wrong, about more things, in a shorter amount of time……But at least she was trying I guess…….

After about 4 minutes of listening to her “drivel”, I decided to just say “Thank you for the information” and walked away smiling/laughing/crying/shaking my head…….

Needless to say……There is reason “mail order” is taking the place of "Brick and Mortor” stores…….So I will have to continue this story, cause I had to take it back up north for a planned fishing trip…..

To Be Continued.

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Over the past few years I’ve saved a ton of hours by downloading the app for every hardware, home improvement, auto parts, and some other stores in my area. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Grainger, NAPA, Autozone, Ace, TSC, Walmart, etc. Particularly for stuff that may or may not be in stock, the apps will show if they have it, is it online order only, quantity in stock at the store, if it’s not in stock at your local store it may be in stock at another store within driving distance, etc. Very helpful when looking for something specific.

For example, I recently needed a 3/8” NPT tap. In about 15 minutes, I checked every suspect store within a 50 mile radius except for one wholesale plumbing supply, which I called. Didn’t need an $$$ set, just one tap. Ordered it from Home Depot because they had the best price, free shipping, and it was from their warehouse rather than a third party “marketplace” vendor.

If it’s in the store, most of them will show you exactly where it is in the store. Combined with self checkout, dressing like you’re homeless, and smelling like you use gasoline for cologne, having a store map with real time inventory data substantially increases your chances of avoiding the trauma of dealing with strange folks who provide questionable advice you don’t want or need. Also vastly decreases time consuming dry runs to stores that don’t have what you need.

More on topic, interesting project you have there. One of the first things we did with our little Mule was put a winch on it. Don’t use it often, but wouldn’t want to be without it. It’s great for moving larger than man sized obstacles off trails and the occasional self recovery. Mostly, it lets us drive into questionable situations knowing if we don’t make it, it’s not that big of a deal. It would be nice to be able to mount it front or rear as needed, but of course mine is stuck on the front. With a snatch block or two, it will do a lot more than just pull you out of a mud hole. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to do the fabrication you’re doing.

 

[utterchaos]

You should be able to get a single 12 x 1.25 tap at NAPA or other auto parts store. That’s a common spark plug size tap.

 

[Yooper]

Don’t leave us hanging like this! What grade did you order the tap in? 8.8 or 10.9?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Ok…..Well, it’s been a while, and I have many projects to finish, so this needs to get done.

I got the tap soon after I posted last, but the weather man was calling for 20+ inchs of snow and ice so i decided to head up to the cabin in case we lost power like we did last year for 5 days, I would be able to keep the wood stove going.

Well we never did lose power, but the ice storm had me "locked down” pretty good

Took me the better part of an hour with a propane torch to get into my truck





But now I’m back and I need to get this thing done.

So I tap the holes



Then test fit it and




mark/drill the side holes for the cross bolt






I used a piece of “all thread” to pass all the way through instead of coming up with a way to try and “fish a nut” in there, then try to hold it.






Everything seems to line up well, and its fitting very nicely, so it’s time for some paints.






Time to start wiring it up, and make some decisions…….







I have a rough plan on where to run everything, but the “plug in “ situation is a little perplexing, with the "bed tilting” adding some complexity to the whole equation.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

looking good so far.

Here are some pics of the front and back with the winch.




I even remebered to test the tilting bed







The wiring is pretty straight forward for the front.

I decided to put the plug on the front of the hood, as it is pretty easy to access

I started out with my angle grinder, to cut out the hole




But quickly learned it was the wrong tool for this job.

It just melted the plastics and overall was just too big.




after some trail and error using a variety of tooling, it ends up that a die grinder with a “burr bit” seems to be the best tool for “hogging out” the hole.





After some “test fitting” the receptacle is in and is wired up.






Now the back turns out to be an entirely different story.


I “hmmmmmed and Hawwwd” forever on where to put it…..In the end I wanted it in this area…..





So I “whip out the drill” and have at it…..



DAMN IT ALL TOO HELLL!!!!!!!

The second that drill pops through…I hit something.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Turns out, that there is a “bracket” of some sort in back of that area.




So this took me by surprise a little.

And YES, I know I should have taken it apart and checked BEFORE I drilled, but like the knuccklehead I can be, I “lept….before I looked”

This mistake was totally avoidable, and it took me while to “come to terms” with the fact that I just created a lot more work for myself….

But in my defense….I wanted that plug there “no matter what”, so in hindsight, I was going to be putting it there come “hell or high water”…….SO maybe it was a “Fruedian Slip?” instead of a mistake.



So I grab the angle grinder and start to “gently trim” small sections at a time, trying to save as much of that bracket as I can…...



But in the end, it was not to be.

I ended up trimming….and trimming…and trimming…..

Then I just got tired and said “F-it” , I cut that whole bitch out.





After I that, it was pretty easy to install the rear plug.















I am happy with the way it came out overall, and I had a pretty good time doing it.


It should do a good job of pulling my fat ass out of the snow, and I am sure the grandkids will have a blast with “grandpa’s new toy"


The End…………….