Well, the past few weeks have been interesting. I got the winch welded, but it was not an easy job. The guy I took it to, Parker Welding in Pensacola, apparently did not know how difficult this job would be. Kudos to them, they stuck by their original price, even though it took three entire days to build. I’m really impressed with their quality of work, and would definitely use them again.
Once we got the bumper home, it needed to be painted right away to avoid rusting. I did an etching primer, then finished off with truck bed liner. The fumes gave me the best migraine ever, even with the garage door open. Loads of fun. More of the fun came when it was time to install the winch. I had my little sis, my dad, and my girlfriend helping hold the 200 pound bumper/winch combo up while I scrambled to get the twelve bolts lined up. Alas, I did not know that a section of the radiator needed to be removed for the winch and bumper to fit. I also found out that the control box would not fit nicely next to the winch body. Nothing a few more holes can’t fix. insert “that’s what she said” joke.
Trying to find all the damn hardware 
Holding up the bumper, those smiles are fake
Once sufficient curse words were uttered, the bumper eventually lined up and I was able to get a few bolts started. After that, it took another 4 hours to tighten everything up, drill holes for the winch control box, and loosen/rearrange the fit of everything. I’m confident that I would pay a professional next time, as this was a bitch. But once she was on and fitted correctly, she purred like a kitten. And looked pretty sharp.
Once she was ready to try out, Cas and I traveled to Pine Log State Forest, and got everything tightened up. She should be good now for long term storage.
And that was it! I’ve been staying in the truck for the last week trying it out. Been going pretty well. A few pointers… Park on flat land. Actually, that’s it. The only point. But it’s important. So now, it’s three more days with my current job in Panama City, then it’s permanent move to Pensacola. At least until I leave March 4th.
Nokuse Sunrise 
The Grendel driveway