In order to rubber-mount the front of the engine to match the rear, I purchased some vibration-isolating mounting pads, commonly used for electric motors, and air conditioner compressors. The integral M10 studs are the right diameter, but…OH NOES!
The studs are too short. Only a couple of threads are visible above the crankcase mounting boss. I thought about mounting them to an adapter plate in front of the engine, but that would be pretty ugly, and the mounting points would be cantilevered quite a distance from the closest mounting points on the frame.
Then I made a discovery.
There is a cavity under the front of the engine large and deep enough to accommodate an M10 nylon locknut. It was slightly off-center, but I could install the vibration damping foot in a tripod arrangement. That way, the adapter plate didn’t have to extend beyond the front of the frame or engine.
I still had the cantilever issue to deal with. There was nothing to prevent the front mount from rotating under the weight of the motor. So, I cut the upper stud off a second isolator block and ground it flat. I could bolt that to the plate behind the unmodified one. Even though it is not bolted directly to it, it bears the weight of the engine in line with the mounting axis, preventing any tendency to sag or rotate. I had to mount that one off-center to the left, but that’s where it fit. Asymmetry is fine here.
I used some angle iron to create the sides of the “tray” and bolted it all together. Here is the completed mounts without the engine:
And a couple views with the engine bolted in place.
It’s a bit kludgy, but it works. The engine is securely mounted but somewhat isolated from the rest of the chassis. I’m very happy with this.