Solid Shaker Plate Mounts for the C81

[ri702bill 8,327]

First, a special thanks to Marc @Tuneup fo selling me a good used set of four Z-K Machine solid aluminum replacement Mounts.

My old original mounts were "pooched" - the rubber was deteriorated and had the "firmness" of Silly Putty. I had quite a bit of engine movement, particularly when engaging the PTO.

Decided not to pull the engine, rather, decided to lift the engine still attached to the Shaker Plate , block it in place, and change the mounts.

Did 2 modifications to the mounts - noticed evidence of thread marks from the previous install, and I counterbored the underside of the thru holes to clean out the threads - gave them a tad more wiggle room for installation. Flycut the tops to clean - removed about .010 material. I bought some stainless 5/16 SAE flatwashers and opened the hole for a snug fit for the 3/8" mounting bolts.

You DO need to loosen the rear angular cast iron frame block to allow some movement to get the 4 mounting bolts in, and leave the 1/4" bolts on the ears loose too. Loctie blue on all the fasteners....

I plan on leaving the original S-shaped ground strap off, I have added an additional ground as seen in the second picture from the starter to chassis - per @peter lena Just need to tidy up what I removed yesterday.

Bill

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by ri702bill

[Moparfanforever 850]

Good ideas. 👍 I put some solid mounts on a C101 and you definitely have to loosen one of the mounting blocks. 

[peter lena 8,634]

@ri702bill  thanks for the reference , at that wide open build / set up stage ,  is a great time to get out the  WHAT IF  STAGE  , SHEET , typically look at intended function , and what you can do to make it easier / better , like your lift strap , makes secure moving easy  , have a few 12 footers  from work rated at  12 k vertical  lift , good stuff , keep it going , pete 

[ebinmaine 67,567]

Nice work there Bill.  

[JoeM 7,874]

Went a cheaper way using 1/2" x 1 1/2" flat bar. Works good and I too had to loosen up the mounting blocks.

[ri702bill 8,327]

But I got these at a fair price, mailed to the house. What you have works great too...

Bill

[Tuneup 1,433]

Now, that was a satisfying weekend! Al I got to do was put a blow-up Minion in the yard. Nice job!

[Rob R 966]

On 10/23/2022 at 10:04 AM, ri702bill said:

First, a special thanks to Marc @Tuneup fo selling me a good used set of four Z-K Machine solid aluminum replacement Mounts.

My old original mounts were "pooched" - the rubber was deteriorated and had the "firmness" of Silly Putty. I had quite a bit of engine movement, particularly when engaging the PTO.

Decided not to pull the engine, rather, decided to lift the engine still attached to the Shaker Plate , block it in place, and change the mounts.

Did 2 modifications to the mounts - noticed evidence of thread marks from the previous install, and I counterbored the underside of the thru holes to clean out the threads - gave them a tad more wiggle room for installation. Flycut the tops to clean - removed about .010 material. I bought some stainless 5/16 SAE flatwashers and opened the hole for a snug fit for the 3/8" mounting bolts.

You DO need to loosen the rear angular cast iron frame block to allow some movement to get the 4 mounting bolts in, and leave the 1/4" bolts on the ears loose too. Loctie blue on all the fasteners....

I plan on leaving the original S-shaped ground strap off, I have added an additional ground as seen in the second picture from the starter to chassis - per @peter lena Just need to tidy up what I removed yesterday.

Bill

 

 

 

Did mine last week what I found that help immensely was to Point the mounting bolts on a belt sander this enabled me to get them started easily 

[ebinmaine 67,567]

3 minutes ago, Rob R said:

 

 

Did mine last week what I found that help immensely was to Point the mounting bolts on a belt sander this enabled me to get them started easily 

 

@ri702bill @Rob R

Forgive my lacking knowledge here as I've not done these. 

 

Why not just lift the engine and brackets together?

Then bolt from the bottom up like any other Kohler?

 

Does the angle make a good "challenge" ?

 

 

[ri702bill 8,327]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

@ri702bill @Rob R

Forgive my lacking knowledge here as I've not done these. 

 

Why not just lift the engine and brackets together?

Then bolt from the bottom up like any other Kohler?

 

Does the angle make a good "challenge" ?

 

 

Challenge - yep!!

[Rob R 966]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

@ri702bill @Rob R

Forgive my lacking knowledge here as I've not done these. 

 

Why not just lift the engine and brackets together?

Then bolt from the bottom up like any other Kohler?

 

Does the angle make a good "challenge" ?

 

 

Yes the Angle does create an issue and with any machined part (don't know what the accept tolerances were) and with no give (like the OEM rubber) you will always have an issue getting the four bolts to start threading w/o cross threading.... also the tractor is 43 years old and has not been a trailer queen..... so this makes things difficult to line up perfectly, when I coned the threads I could center by pushing down and getting the four to thread correctly. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Rob R

[ri702bill 8,327]

The closest anology I can think of  - it's like trying to install an intake manifold on an older Chevy V8 . Once you set it down, it can only move 2 ways - it can slide while guided by the Vee surfaces, or rock a bit up and out of the opposite Vee. That is why you loosen the rear Vee block.

@ebinmaine - access to the front Vee bolts from below can be a challenge - the front axle is in the way - reinstallation means lowering everything in place and fishing with the front bolts.

A side note - when I got the pair of C81's, one had the engine already removed. He had unbolted the front motor mount thru bolts (easy to get to) and removed the frame bolts to the rear Vee block,

He said he found it to be a lot easier that way to reinstall......

Edited October 25, 2022 by ri702bill