Taking Stock

This is the side the mount will be attached to. I laid the engine with the deck facing me to make it easier to work.

Thickness

Here is the plate steel I used to create the engine adapter. It's a bit thick, but the only other pieces available were thin enough to concern me.

Template

I started with a piece of cardboard the size of my plate steel.

Rough Fit

After assessing the situation, I cut the cardboard down to a size that would fit the three bolt holes I intended to use, with a tab on one end that would need bending up to join properly with the dizzy bolt hole.

Circle Finding

Finding a bolt hole can be tough sometimes, but not with cardboard. A deadblow hammer and thick cardboard make for easy marking!

Results

Here you can see the impressions made with the hammer in the cardboard. This makes locating the holes on the template a piece of cake!

Final Impressions

The final cardboard template.

Layout

Here I've taken the cardboard and marked my steel. Since I only need about half of the plate, I figured I'd go ahead and make two adapters and maybe sell of the spare... Man, I'm an idiot!

Fraternal Twins

No, they're not identical, but that's what you get with thick steel, hand tools, and an out-of-calibration hand-eye set. They'll get the job done, though.

Prelude to a... erm...

I've cut the pipe I made available for this. It's about as thick as the plate. I'm not too worried about this stuff not holding!

First Signs of Trouble

There's something to be said for a good set of drill bits. I didn't have any, but I soon did! My first set of bits got part way through one hole, and then just gave up the ghost. Drilling thick steel is no picnic!

Welded

After using a half bottle of oxy/acetylene gas each to pre-heat the steel, I was able to get decent penetration on my welds. These are NOT coming apart!

Final Analysis

I wish I'd just found someone who made these things and ponied up the dollars for one! I spent a lot of time and money on these adapters, and buying one would have been the smart thing to do. But these are serious adapters! No worries about them holding my block and transmission. I'm more worried about whether my stand will take the weight than I am worried about my adapter...