First job was to get the NATO hitch off Degsy and replace it with the old drop plate. With the drop plate in position I worked out where the NATO hitch could be fitted and what it meant for the old ball hitch. I determined there was enough room for both but the higher the NATO hitch could be fitted the better. I marked out the bolt hole for the NATO hitch on the drop plate and proceeded to drill them out. I bought the 13mm drills, nuts, bolts and washers the previous day. I damaged one drill but before one hole was drilled. Next I got a 6mm drill bit and piloted the four holes. Next a 10mm then a 12mm. The 13mm bits where wreaked so I got the rat tail file out and set about opening up the holes. It was a bit tedious but with 30 minutes I had all the holes opened up to accept the 13mm bolts with a bit of wiggle room. I putt eh bolts through the hitch and hitch onto the drop plate. Is was a good bit and with a bit wiggle room. I took the hitch off again and offered the drop plate up the the rear cross member. I put a couple of bolts through the old hole to hold the plate in place. I marked up the holes for the cross member using the drop plate as a template. Next the holes where to be drilled. The 6mm went through first then the 12mm. The 12mm was long enough the reach the inner face of the box section rear member and using the hole in the outer skin that inner skin was drilled out. Then I ran the better of the two 13mm drills through all eight holes. The rat tail had to be used to tidy up the burs. I gave all the raw edges of the holes a coat of Hammerite paint, hopefully to keep rust at bay, then I offered up the drop plate together with the hitch. The wiggle room was needed but all four bolts slipped in fairly cleanly. I put the washers and nuts on the inside face of a rear member and nipped them up. I stepped back to make sure the drop plate was vertical as was the hitch. A small bump with the hammer to adjust the plate and the nuts were tightened. The holes for the four old bolts that held the drop plate where almost lined up. I ran the appropriate size drill each of the pair of holes and was able to replace those bolts. This was a result as the drop plate now has eight fixings instead of four.
With the drop plate secured it was an easy decision to replace fit the old towing ball, step and light socket into the old position. With everything secured I stepped back admire my handy work. The space between the top of the ball and the bottom of the hitch is a bit tight. However the NATO hitch has a trick up its sleeve. By removing a pin and flipping out a tag the hitch rotates and that makes room for the ball trailer hitch. The next job is to do a bit of painting to rust proof the new items and generally make it look tidy then to oil and grease all the moving parts. I have one last item to get which is a safety pin for the hitch lock. I hope to get a chain so the pin does not get lost.
