I purloined a few precious minutes and snuck out to the garage for the first time in a while. The little bit of progress I’ve made probably doesn’t warrant a post, and I normally would have waited until I actually got the engine bolted in place, but my progress has been so slow the last few months that I figured I should provide an update.
My engine mounting plate is designed to use two of the existing engine mounting points on the Benelli frame. However, the Benelli engine was mounted with rubber isolators. I have decided (for a couple of reasons) to solidly mount the front of the engine. I’ve heard from several sources that mounting an engine with a combination of solid and rubber mounts is a really bad idea. That usually ends up increasing transmitted vibration, unless you are an expert in things harmonic and know something about the levels of gravitivity and polarity.
So I made up a couple of tapered alloy bobbins that fit very snugly into the conical isolator mounting rings. These will go in from the bottom, simultaneously centering the mounting bolts in their holes and allowing the bolts to torque up tight. I have some 1.25″ diameter alloy stock coming, which will be bored out and act as the top spacers for these mounts.
