How about a plated sandwiched between the front cover and water pump to brace
an oil pan baffle plate with ears on the rear only. You could also add the
plate to the 12A front mount position to brace the ears.

Lynn E. Hanover.

That might work if you put the front cover in a mill and milled off
three quarters of an inch from the front cover face that bolts to the front
end housing. The 3/4 inch thick sandwich plate could be milled
out where the metal was not needed and to save weight.

Unfortunately all the upper load would then go through
one little 5/16th or 9 mm bolt located just under the water pump.
If you did not mind relocating the water pump it could be
made to work as some water pump bolts at the top of the front end housing
could then fasten the plate to the top of the front end housing.
Those bolts look like about 8 or 9 mm also.

I am sure that is the way Mecanair did it.

Paul Lamar

  I was thinking more of a 1/4" plate that would pick up all of the water pump studs and all of the front cover bolts. That, and the plate across the stock mount studs would handle vertical loads and the oil baffle plate the fore and aft loads. A 1/4" spacer between the stock oil pump sprocket and the distributor drive would keep that working, and a 1/4" spacer between the water pump flange and the pulley would keep that even.

Lynn E. Hanover

I don't think a 1/4 inch plate would take the resultant fore and aft cantilever 
loads at the top of the engine. The loads are in the ballpark of  2000 pounds.
I still think a 3/4 plate would be required.

A 3/4 inch spacer between the e-shaft flange and drive pulley might work well 
enough to keep the water pump in more or less the stock position. Puts a bit 
of bending load on the end of the e-shaft however. A third gen 
front cover and mag pickup on the e-shaft would simplify things.  

One would still have to mill the front cover in any
case as the shaft seal would be in the wrong place on the e-shaft.
There is enough meat on the front cover to lose 3/4 inch and still
have things work. This sure isn't the low cost or the easy way to mount 
the engine.

The milling of the front cover and 3/4 plate would be the expensive part.

Paul Lamar
 
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