Repowering Case 1830 with Ford inline 6

phlegm · May 8, 2015

Two years ago, my Dad bought this unit from the neighbor. The unit had already been repowered once, losing the original Renault/Continental TR688 (rated at 30hp) and having it replaced by a GM 2.5L 4cyl.
It was parked when the 2.5L started smoking and knocking, and had been parked for an unknown number of years. My Dad started tearing it down and has a couple 2.5L GM motors at his place and had planned on simply replacing the existing motor with one of the same. He started tearing into it and found that the brakes needed to be rebuilt also, so he tore those apart as well. And then in an unfortunate turn, his health prevented him from reassembling it. So after sitting at his house for almost 2 years with no motor, and the brakes apart; I loaded it up on a trailer and brought it to my house.

The engine bay virtually void of anything usable, wiring harness is a nightmare, nothing but a rats nest of black tape and wire nuts. This picture was taken after I started pressure washing out the 1-3" of garbage from the bottom.

I eventually got to a point where I could see color on the pump and the steel lines on the right hnad side, but the wiring is complete trash.

This is the pump side of the adapter box that mounts between the main pump and the motor.

Here is the inside of that same box, pay attention to the lovely torch marks on the right hand side, that is where the Previous Owner (PO) clearanced the box to make room for the 2.5L motor swap/repower.

Next up, we have the bellhousing adapter plate, this is a real beauty, the owner torched the bellhousing hole larger, and used the same torch to create the new bellhousing bolt holes, he slotted them for extra clearance. He also had to add material to the top and bottom of the adapter, the bottom because he torched through it, and the top to capture the bellhousing bolts.

This is how the adapter box looks when the parts are set together, the back of the motor bellhousing would bolt to the nearest plate, and the hydraulic pump to the rear plate. You can also see the torched view holes on the right side.

So at this point, I don't have the original motor, I don't have the last repowered motor (gm 2.5L); what I do have is a collection of Ford inline sixes (144/170/200/250/240/300). The 240 and 300 are a bit much for a machine of thise size, after all this thing was designed for a 30hp motor. The 144 (2.5L) doesn't run, but the 170 2.8L does, as do all of the 200's that I have. So I'm going to use the 170, it is out of a 1970 Maverick. I bought it for $20 off craigslist a couple years ago from a guy who did a v8 swap.
This is what it would look like if I could use the small i6 bellhousing.

Unfortunately for me, Ford never made a flexplate with a ring gear attached, and I don't have any flywheels for the small 6.
Luckily for me, I am a member of a Ford 6 cylinder website and late last year, I created an adapter that lets me use a small 6 cylinder motor on a Small Block Ford (SBF) bellhousing.
Ford Small 6 to SBF Adapter -- Photobucket Gallery
This picture shows the small 6 block spacer plate at the top, my conversion/adapter in the middle, and a stock SBF block spacer plate at the bottom.

When you bolt the adapter to the block, you can then use any SBF transmission behind a small 6.

So with that in my arsenal of parts, I am going to use a standard SBF bellhousing pattern for the engine side of the Case adapter box.
It will fit roughly like this, I'll have to buy a piece of 3/8" and I'll make a new adapter.

It won't be quite as elegant as the small 6 pattern would have been, but it will allow me to swap in any of my i6 motors if I should happen to have serious motor problems.
How about some important measurements.
The stock Adapter box is 5" deep, 16" wide 12" tall.
My desired repower motor is 31" long from bellhousing to harmonic balancer/waterpump.
My so my entire installed length will be 36", and eventually I'll have to figure out where I'm putting a radiator.
For what its worth, 36" puts me right about here.

Giving me about an inch and a quarter behind these brackets that the previous owner added.
Which is almost enough space...

If I didn't also have to figure out where to put a radiator.
Although, I'm not terribly worried about that, the previous owner already provided the idea for what I'd need to do, he created some extension plates out of 3/8" steel to move the rear swing door out for more clearance.
You can see them in this picture, they are black and kind of ugly.

I've got more thoughts and ideas. But I also need lunch..

Any comments, suggestions, or critisism is welcomed.

Tazza · May 10, 2015

I was wondering if it would be too long as well, but with the rear extensions that seems to be covered.
One thing to watch, the engine will sit further back, this means your centre of gravity will go further back too, meaning it will be more prone to tipping without a load in the bucket. You may need to fill the front tyres with water to add weight, but see how you go.
The working is going well, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

phlegm · May 11, 2015

Tazza said:
I was wondering if it would be too long as well, but with the rear extensions that seems to be covered.
One thing to watch, the engine will sit further back, this means your centre of gravity will go further back too, meaning it will be more prone to tipping without a load in the bucket. You may need to fill the front tyres with water to add weight, but see how you go.
The working is going well, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I've only had this thing in my possession for a week as of Sunday (5/10), and expect to have the motor mounted by the end of this week. The main reason for using the Ford i6 was that I have an over abundance of them, and had been looking for a project. If I didn't already have a ton of them, I'd be considering other options.
Not much was done over the weekend since it was Mother's Day on Sunday. I unloaded it off the trailer and then used the lawn mower to pull it into the shop. A floor jack was used under the front end to assist in making the 90 degree turn to get it parked. Next to the Case 1830 is a 1963.5 Falcon Convertible 260/4speed, my other project for this year.

As for engine weight, so far the only number I've been able to scare up is roughly 350lbs for the 2.5L GM that came out of it, according to

gm 2.5L iron duke weight? hotdog parts? -- Pirate4x4 forum
And the 170/200 should weigh about 365lbs according to

Average weight difference between 6 cyl & V8
So the weight won't be terribly different, but with 2 extra cylinders, it will move the weight distribution back a bit.
Eventually after I get the motor and radiator installed, I'll turn my attention to making that back cover a complete box, not just the small gap fillers the PO used. I may mix and match steel sizes, maintain 3/8" for the main spacers and then use 3/16 or 1/4" to fill the gaps. I will also create a beveled/slanted filler panel for the bottom edge, so the back cover does not have that straight/flat edge to dig into the dirt with.
If the rear weight gets to be too much, before I fill the tires (tyres) with calcium chloride (CaCl2), I would probably try making my own concrete wheel weights, like this.
More Homemade concrete wheel weights! -- MyTractorForum.com

That way I could remove them if not needed, and I don' thave to worry about CaCl2 leaks eating through the rims if I experience a leak.
Since I do not have a bucket, I plan on creating my own quick attach mounts up front, which will add a few pounds. Something like this.
CASE IH 1845C uni-loader skidsteer hitch conversion adapter
There isn't a weight listed on that one, but eBay has plenty of this type of quick attach conversion equipment listed, they average 125-150lbs. Which may be enough to offset my new rearend weight.

my problems for this week, mounting the motor. I need to buy a peice of 20" x 20" x 3/8" flat steel.
On that piece of steel, I need to transfer the bolt and alignment pin holes from the original bellhousing plate.
Original Bellhousing plate.

After the plate is bolted up to the original adapter box, tween pump and motor, I need to devise some method of transmitting the center line of the pump hole to the new bellhousing plate. I am open to ideas on this one, so far my coworkers have told me to
a laser, not really sure how that would work.

I had the idea to measure the pump drive hole and find a peice of pipe that is the same diameter and drop it through the hole, then mark its circumference with a wax pencil, then after disassembling the box, I'd mark the center of the wax drawn circle, which should be pretty close. FWIW, the pump snout hole is 3.25" diameter.

Once I get the center hole lined up, I'll lay the SBF bellhousing block spacer plate over it and mark the bellhousing, starter, and alignment pin holes and drill them to spec.
Then I will use my spare SBF C4 bellhousing, bolt it to the newly created SBF bellhousing bolt pattern and using a metal wax marking pen again, I'll reach inside and mark the inner edge of the the flexplate relief.
Then I'll unbolt the aluminum bellhousing from the bellhousing plate, and cut out the flywheel/flexplate hole.
I loosly mounted the stock adapter box back into the skidsteer and roughly approximated the bellhousing location like this.

Or out of the skidsteer it would look about like this.

I can see that I should be OK on the starter side, and I may even be OK on the bottom. However for the top and right side of this picture I will end up using a torch or plasma cutter to make space for the flexplate. Once the cuts are made, I'll create boxing plates to cover the cover the flexplate back over.

The last peice of the mating puzzle is going to be this

The smaller of these two parts slides onto the splined portion of the main hydraulic pump. The bigger of the two used to be bolted to the 2.5L flywheel.
My idea is going to be to use a Ford 157tooth C4 automatic transmission flexplate. I will remake the bigger adapter to bolt into the stock torque converter holes, the center shaft I will extend through the plate so that it fits snug into the crank pilot bushing relief, according to my caliper the center hole on my 170 crank is 34.88mm which translates to 1.375"; luckily that number agrees with the hub size for a lot of aftermarket torque converter. I will buy another sprocket to have welded onto the shaft, I just need to buy a sprocket with a center hole, and find out what size that hole is. for those keeping track..
Running tally for parts.
Case 1830 Skidsteer $200 (Dad paid to neighbor, Dad gave to me for free)
Ford 170 Motor/C4 trans $20 off Craigslist
Gas $20 to cover 180miles round trip with a trailer, I was going there for a birthday party anyhow, so I'm only counting a little bit due to the lower than average MPG, it was $60 total.
Alternator 100amp $0

Tazza · May 11, 2015

phlegm said:
I've only had this thing in my possession for a week as of Sunday (5/10), and expect to have the motor mounted by the end of this week. The main reason for using the Ford i6 was that I have an over abundance of them, and had been looking for a project. If I didn't already have a ton of them, I'd be considering other options.
Not much was done over the weekend since it was Mother's Day on Sunday. I unloaded it off the trailer and then used the lawn mower to pull it into the shop. A floor jack was used under the front end to assist in making the 90 degree turn to get it parked. Next to the Case 1830 is a 1963.5 Falcon Convertible 260/4speed, my other project for this year.

As for engine weight, so far the only number I've been able to scare up is roughly 350lbs for the 2.5L GM that came out of it, according to

gm 2.5L iron duke weight? hotdog parts? -- Pirate4x4 forum
And the 170/200 should weigh about 365lbs according to

Average weight difference between 6 cyl & V8
So the weight won't be terribly different, but with 2 extra cylinders, it will move the weight distribution back a bit.
Eventually after I get the motor and radiator installed, I'll turn my attention to making that back cover a complete box, not just the small gap fillers the PO used. I may mix and match steel sizes, maintain 3/8" for the main spacers and then use 3/16 or 1/4" to fill the gaps. I will also create a beveled/slanted filler panel for the bottom edge, so the back cover does not have that straight/flat edge to dig into the dirt with.
If the rear weight gets to be too much, before I fill the tires (tyres) with calcium chloride (CaCl2), I would probably try making my own concrete wheel weights, like this.
More Homemade concrete wheel weights! -- MyTractorForum.com

That way I could remove them if not needed, and I don' thave to worry about CaCl2 leaks eating through the rims if I experience a leak.
Since I do not have a bucket, I plan on creating my own quick attach mounts up front, which will add a few pounds. Something like this.
CASE IH 1845C uni-loader skidsteer hitch conversion adapter
There isn't a weight listed on that one, but eBay has plenty of this type of quick attach conversion equipment listed, they average 125-150lbs. Which may be enough to offset my new rearend weight.

my problems for this week, mounting the motor. I need to buy a peice of 20" x 20" x 3/8" flat steel.
On that piece of steel, I need to transfer the bolt and alignment pin holes from the original bellhousing plate.
Original Bellhousing plate.

After the plate is bolted up to the original adapter box, tween pump and motor, I need to devise some method of transmitting the center line of the pump hole to the new bellhousing plate. I am open to ideas on this one, so far my coworkers have told me to
a laser, not really sure how that would work.

I had the idea to measure the pump drive hole and find a peice of pipe that is the same diameter and drop it through the hole, then mark its circumference with a wax pencil, then after disassembling the box, I'd mark the center of the wax drawn circle, which should be pretty close. FWIW, the pump snout hole is 3.25" diameter.

Once I get the center hole lined up, I'll lay the SBF bellhousing block spacer plate over it and mark the bellhousing, starter, and alignment pin holes and drill them to spec.
Then I will use my spare SBF C4 bellhousing, bolt it to the newly created SBF bellhousing bolt pattern and using a metal wax marking pen again, I'll reach inside and mark the inner edge of the the flexplate relief.
Then I'll unbolt the aluminum bellhousing from the bellhousing plate, and cut out the flywheel/flexplate hole.
I loosly mounted the stock adapter box back into the skidsteer and roughly approximated the bellhousing location like this.

Or out of the skidsteer it would look about like this.

I can see that I should be OK on the starter side, and I may even be OK on the bottom. However for the top and right side of this picture I will end up using a torch or plasma cutter to make space for the flexplate. Once the cuts are made, I'll create boxing plates to cover the cover the flexplate back over.

The last peice of the mating puzzle is going to be this

The smaller of these two parts slides onto the splined portion of the main hydraulic pump. The bigger of the two used to be bolted to the 2.5L flywheel.
My idea is going to be to use a Ford 157tooth C4 automatic transmission flexplate. I will remake the bigger adapter to bolt into the stock torque converter holes, the center shaft I will extend through the plate so that it fits snug into the crank pilot bushing relief, according to my caliper the center hole on my 170 crank is 34.88mm which translates to 1.375"; luckily that number agrees with the hub size for a lot of aftermarket torque converter. I will buy another sprocket to have welded onto the shaft, I just need to buy a sprocket with a center hole, and find out what size that hole is. for those keeping track..
Running tally for parts.
Case 1830 Skidsteer $200 (Dad paid to neighbor, Dad gave to me for free)
Ford 170 Motor/C4 trans $20 off Craigslist
Gas $20 to cover 180miles round trip with a trailer, I was going there for a birthday party anyhow, so I'm only counting a little bit due to the lower than average MPG, it was $60 total.
Alternator 100amp $0

I like the wheel wights, i can see them being a pain to mount.
That is a cheap machine so far! You sure are getting the work done quickly.

phlegm · May 12, 2015

Tazza said:
I like the wheel wights, i can see them being a pain to mount.
That is a cheap machine so far! You sure are getting the work done quickly.

I don't normally work on any project fast, I usually stare at them, pondering what I'm going to do with it, wondering how badly do I need to get it done. And most project don't need to get done, so they don't. But this one I've had a couple years to think about what I want and expect out of it, so I am fairly confident that I'm building what I want.

I'm hoping I don't need wheel weights, between the assumed added 125-150lbs for a proper quick attach plate between the lift arms, and my 240lb frame.. the weight of the i6 may not be a problem at all.

I know it is not the same model, but this Case 1945B is for sale locally.
I hope I have less into mine by the time I'm done rebuilding it.
Case Loader - $6500 (Jamestown, ND)

I am under no grand illusion that this creation is going to be the most awesomest loader ever, two years ago we built a new barn and I borrowed this one from my wife's cousin.

and it was a dirt moving machine.
All told, I moved about 550 yards of dirt with it. The trucks would bring it in, 96 yards per day and I built up this location. So that the dirt barn floor is roughly 8" higher than record flood level in my area.
From This

To This

over the 6 days, dirt was brought in and I leveled it out.

Eventually ending up with a 55ft x 70 ft spot that was "mostly" level.

It took Morton (the building company) 5 days to construct this entire barn, it was amazing to come home each day and see how much more had been done. You can see the evelation change , there is roughly a 3ft drop on the South side of the barn, I eventually backfilled around the barn, and filled the inside of the barn with washed sand. And even much later, I filled in the area to the South with another 100 yards or dirt to make the grade a little less dramatic.

But in all honesty, I don't need a machine like that for most of what I do.

My main purposes are going to be pulling out fence posts, hopefully moving round bales (15 per year), scooping horse poop out of the barn stalls, back scraping or box blading the driveway, moving dirt as needed, normal boring stuff that is too much for a lawnmower, probably perfect tasks for a tractor, but easier to manuever. I kind of like it without the ROPs on it, seems like there would be better visibility and less worry about clearance when driving into buildings. I WILL be building a ROPs though.

So back to the project.

Yesterday I measured the 170 crankshaft snout so I can extend the drive adapter into the crank, it is 1.375" diameter. I needed a crank spacer to get the flexplate farther away from my crankshaft due to the i6 to SBF adapter plate, there are 6 bolt holes in it, they are on a 2.75" diameter, the bolt holes are .450 diameter, and the bolt holes are all 60degrees apart.. except 2 of them. One is 64 degrees and the one next to it is 54 degrees, this is how Ford makes certain that the flywheels and flexplates only go on in one specific direction.

I also measured the flexplate to find out where the stock torque converter bolts were originally. Again, they were .450 diameter holes, on the circumference of a 10.5" circle. I also determined that I wanted the center hole to be 1.40", so that when I get the shaft lathed for the drive (between crank and sprocket) it will be 1.375 going through the 1.4" hole, which will give me a little bit of a gap, but when MIG welded, won't be an issue at all.

I hand drew what I wanted and then asked my coworker to convert it into CNC/DXF drawings.

My Scribbles

His computerized versions.

For grins, I dug out the 170 from the corner of my shop, I need to degrease it and get it painted. But I also wanted to see how well it will or will not fit, just sort of eyeballing it.

Sorry this one is blurry

FWIW, I made both engine lift brackets, and the bellhousing adapter shown in those pictures.
Time to go see if they have time to cut me some 1/4" flat plate..

Tazza · May 12, 2015

phlegm said:
I don't normally work on any project fast, I usually stare at them, pondering what I'm going to do with it, wondering how badly do I need to get it done. And most project don't need to get done, so they don't. But this one I've had a couple years to think about what I want and expect out of it, so I am fairly confident that I'm building what I want.

I'm hoping I don't need wheel weights, between the assumed added 125-150lbs for a proper quick attach plate between the lift arms, and my 240lb frame.. the weight of the i6 may not be a problem at all.

I know it is not the same model, but this Case 1945B is for sale locally.
I hope I have less into mine by the time I'm done rebuilding it.
Case Loader - $6500 (Jamestown, ND)

I am under no grand illusion that this creation is going to be the most awesomest loader ever, two years ago we built a new barn and I borrowed this one from my wife's cousin.

and it was a dirt moving machine.
All told, I moved about 550 yards of dirt with it. The trucks would bring it in, 96 yards per day and I built up this location. So that the dirt barn floor is roughly 8" higher than record flood level in my area.
From This

To This

over the 6 days, dirt was brought in and I leveled it out.

Eventually ending up with a 55ft x 70 ft spot that was "mostly" level.

It took Morton (the building company) 5 days to construct this entire barn, it was amazing to come home each day and see how much more had been done. You can see the evelation change , there is roughly a 3ft drop on the South side of the barn, I eventually backfilled around the barn, and filled the inside of the barn with washed sand. And even much later, I filled in the area to the South with another 100 yards or dirt to make the grade a little less dramatic.

But in all honesty, I don't need a machine like that for most of what I do.

My main purposes are going to be pulling out fence posts, hopefully moving round bales (15 per year), scooping horse poop out of the barn stalls, back scraping or box blading the driveway, moving dirt as needed, normal boring stuff that is too much for a lawnmower, probably perfect tasks for a tractor, but easier to manuever. I kind of like it without the ROPs on it, seems like there would be better visibility and less worry about clearance when driving into buildings. I WILL be building a ROPs though.

So back to the project.

Yesterday I measured the 170 crankshaft snout so I can extend the drive adapter into the crank, it is 1.375" diameter. I needed a crank spacer to get the flexplate farther away from my crankshaft due to the i6 to SBF adapter plate, there are 6 bolt holes in it, they are on a 2.75" diameter, the bolt holes are .450 diameter, and the bolt holes are all 60degrees apart.. except 2 of them. One is 64 degrees and the one next to it is 54 degrees, this is how Ford makes certain that the flywheels and flexplates only go on in one specific direction.

I also measured the flexplate to find out where the stock torque converter bolts were originally. Again, they were .450 diameter holes, on the circumference of a 10.5" circle. I also determined that I wanted the center hole to be 1.40", so that when I get the shaft lathed for the drive (between crank and sprocket) it will be 1.375 going through the 1.4" hole, which will give me a little bit of a gap, but when MIG welded, won't be an issue at all.

I hand drew what I wanted and then asked my coworker to convert it into CNC/DXF drawings.

My Scribbles

His computerized versions.

For grins, I dug out the 170 from the corner of my shop, I need to degrease it and get it painted. But I also wanted to see how well it will or will not fit, just sort of eyeballing it.

Sorry this one is blurry

FWIW, I made both engine lift brackets, and the bellhousing adapter shown in those pictures.
Time to go see if they have time to cut me some 1/4" flat plate..

There is no reason why your machine won't do the same job as the newer tracked machine could, it may just take longer is all. I moved a few hundred cubic metres of dirt at my parents place with an older 743, it took a while, but i got it done.
Some projects i do the same, you look it over, think about how i will tackle it, generally when i'm trying to sleep i get ideas of what i should do......

gearbox · May 12, 2015

Tazza said:
There is no reason why your machine won't do the same job as the newer tracked machine could, it may just take longer is all. I moved a few hundred cubic metres of dirt at my parents place with an older 743, it took a while, but i got it done.
Some projects i do the same, you look it over, think about how i will tackle it, generally when i'm trying to sleep i get ideas of what i should do......

When I repowered my 500 with a water cooled Vanguard I put the radiator above it with a electric fan . Seemed to work out well for me Gearbox

Tazza · May 13, 2015

gearbox said:
When I repowered my 500 with a water cooled Vanguard I put the radiator above it with a electric fan . Seemed to work out well for me Gearbox

That is a pretty good idea. Bobcat mount theirs up high, may help prevent damage if you were to back into something.

phlegm · Jun 3, 2015

Tazza said:
That is a pretty good idea. Bobcat mount theirs up high, may help prevent damage if you were to back into something.

Been delayed.. out sick one week, the next week trying to get Spring work done at home before last week, which I spent in Montana on vacation.

But I'm back on it now and this is where I am.

Good Bad or Ugly, I needed to find a way to transfer the pump center line from the pump side to the bellhousing side. The double roller chain and slightly worn sprocket teeth will allow for a certain amount of misalignment, I'm hoping this is 'close enough'

This is what I came up with.

Starting with a piece of high density particle board (remnant of a speaker box build)

I laid down my square and marked out a 22"x22" L shape.
The original adapter box is 16" tall by 19" wide.
I put a mark at 9.5" with a pencil

I also put a mark at the center of the adapter box with a marker.
Initially I put original adapter box onto the board with the flange side down, I marked all the bolt holes.
Also seen here is the cardboard mockup that I made yesterday morning. It is a potential shape for the final adapter, but as you will see later, it won't work because I forgot to take into consideration the flex plate hole.

Then I flipped the adapter over, lined up the 9.5" measured mark with the centerline mark on the adapter and the straight edge along the marked line I made with the square.
And I marked the pump snout hole and the square carriage bolt holes.

Again, using my square, I lined it up to go straight through the carriage bolt holes and the pump snout hole. I knew the snout hole is slightly undersized from the original, but that's ok because it is undersized symmetrically. I used the outer hole edge dimensions to figure out what the center of the hole location is.

I did the same for the vertical center measurement.

And now I have all the critical holes measured.

The rest of this is academic since I won't be using this for creating the plate, but I wanted to get a feel for where everything would lay.
For the final part, I will take the measurements for the flange bolt holes and the pump snout centerline and combine them with the provided SBF bellhousing information to create a much more accurate plate.

I used the dimensions from the previous link and picture

And measured up 8.40" on the outer flange lines, then used my pencil to connect dots. I then measured out from center 2.550" and put down some additional marks.
I then used those marks to roughly (and I mean very roughly) locate the 157 tooth bellhousing spacer plate over top of the pattern that I have down so far.

And it gives me this.

I measured the stock flexplate and it is 13.5", so I drew a 14" diameter circle that will need to be opened up to allow the flexplate to pass through.

Wrong or right, I decided that I will be leaving off the far right bellhousing bolt (not using it) so I can retain the original 19" wide dimension. I will still have 5 bolts and 2 alignment pins.
Also in that drawing you can see that the top 2 bellhousing bolts are going to require additional height (0.59", but I'm rounding up to 1")
And the hole for the flexplate extends below the original plate, so I will be adding an inch down there as well. Bringing the final plate dimensions to 18" tall x 19" wide.

I grabbed the original bellhousing plate because I really should cut/drill those bottom 4 horizontal holes, they are used for the stock rubber mount brackets.

But I don't think I will be including them in the part that I will have plasma cut, I'll drill them. As you can see I can only use 3 of them.

phlegm · Apr 7, 2016

phlegm said:
Been delayed.. out sick one week, the next week trying to get Spring work done at home before last week, which I spent in Montana on vacation.

But I'm back on it now and this is where I am.

Good Bad or Ugly, I needed to find a way to transfer the pump center line from the pump side to the bellhousing side. The double roller chain and slightly worn sprocket teeth will allow for a certain amount of misalignment, I'm hoping this is 'close enough'

This is what I came up with.

Starting with a piece of high density particle board (remnant of a speaker box build)

I laid down my square and marked out a 22"x22" L shape.
The original adapter box is 16" tall by 19" wide.
I put a mark at 9.5" with a pencil

I also put a mark at the center of the adapter box with a marker.
Initially I put original adapter box onto the board with the flange side down, I marked all the bolt holes.
Also seen here is the cardboard mockup that I made yesterday morning. It is a potential shape for the final adapter, but as you will see later, it won't work because I forgot to take into consideration the flex plate hole.

Then I flipped the adapter over, lined up the 9.5" measured mark with the centerline mark on the adapter and the straight edge along the marked line I made with the square.
And I marked the pump snout hole and the square carriage bolt holes.

Again, using my square, I lined it up to go straight through the carriage bolt holes and the pump snout hole. I knew the snout hole is slightly undersized from the original, but that's ok because it is undersized symmetrically. I used the outer hole edge dimensions to figure out what the center of the hole location is.

I did the same for the vertical center measurement.

And now I have all the critical holes measured.

The rest of this is academic since I won't be using this for creating the plate, but I wanted to get a feel for where everything would lay.
For the final part, I will take the measurements for the flange bolt holes and the pump snout centerline and combine them with the provided SBF bellhousing information to create a much more accurate plate.

I used the dimensions from the previous link and picture

And measured up 8.40" on the outer flange lines, then used my pencil to connect dots. I then measured out from center 2.550" and put down some additional marks.
I then used those marks to roughly (and I mean very roughly) locate the 157 tooth bellhousing spacer plate over top of the pattern that I have down so far.

And it gives me this.

I measured the stock flexplate and it is 13.5", so I drew a 14" diameter circle that will need to be opened up to allow the flexplate to pass through.

Wrong or right, I decided that I will be leaving off the far right bellhousing bolt (not using it) so I can retain the original 19" wide dimension. I will still have 5 bolts and 2 alignment pins.
Also in that drawing you can see that the top 2 bellhousing bolts are going to require additional height (0.59", but I'm rounding up to 1")
And the hole for the flexplate extends below the original plate, so I will be adding an inch down there as well. Bringing the final plate dimensions to 18" tall x 19" wide.

I grabbed the original bellhousing plate because I really should cut/drill those bottom 4 horizontal holes, they are used for the stock rubber mount brackets.

But I don't think I will be including them in the part that I will have plasma cut, I'll drill them. As you can see I can only use 3 of them.

Wow, lost almost a year on this project. Its not that I didn't think about it, or trip over it everytime I went into the shop, its just that it is such a low priority that it is hard to get traction some days. Between the previous post and now, I acquired an 8.5" flywheel and decided to go with the small i6 bellhousing pattern. Also, I found a few cans of an old implement paint that is a very good match, so motor painting will be my future. a few weeks ago I drew up the measurements for the new adapter plate. Here the project sits in pieces, currently it is holding up the new hood for the '68 Mustang (in the box)

The shop is always a mess, it seems that every project leaves remnants to remind me that I do actually work... rear shackle hanger bracket from the 1975 F250 leaf spring swap, master cylinder left over from the full brake rebuild on the '68 Mustang, old battery from the '94 GMC. I just noticed that there are also header bolts for the '75 F250 hanging from the back of the skidsteer. Old adapter box and plywood.

Tracing the original parts onto the board, X-marks the center.

Again, I laid the small i6 block spacer plate onto the wood template.

I marked 11" diameter hole for the flywheel and transferred the hole locations from the i6 spacer plate onto board, I colored them in so I could easily identify them.

Artitsts rendition using measurements from SoCar72's dimensions, I did not re-measure.

I picked up a piece of steel from a local hardware store, its bigger than I need, but bigger is better. I tried stretching steel once, it wasn't pretty.

Its hard to see in this picture, but I drilled two of the bellhousing bolts and all 3 of the starter bolts.

The neighbor has a small cheap chinese plasma cutter, I asked him about his opinion of it, because they are fairly cheap on Amazon for the current version (hovering between $270-400 for a Lotos LT5000D -- non-touch) The CUT50D that I am using must be touched to metal to ignite.

Making the first few cuts proved that I am not good with a hand held plasma cutter

I completed the large circle cuts.

I had to re-cut a few sections in order to get the metal to fall free. Also note that I cut part of my welding table top because I wasn't paying attention.

My handheld cutting left some very ugly scars on the steel, I used my 4" grinder to smooth out the wrinkles, its not perfect, but then again it doesn't need to be.

The real problem was that I didn't open up the center hole big enough for the flywheel/ring gear to fall through. I'd mark this up to not enough measuring or verification.

So I cut it again,

and I used the grinder to clean it up... again...

The flywheel easily passes through the hole in the center, tonight when I get home I'll use several drill bits to open up the bolt holes and look for my tap/die set for the starter holes, and I'll trim the sheet down to the size I need. So far, I think the problem with plasma cutting is me, not the torch. But the touch to ignite feature sucks a little. And my 6 gallon HF air compressor couldn't keep up with it either. Overall, seems like it would work for most of what I do.

phlegm · Apr 7, 2016

phlegm said:
Wow, lost almost a year on this project. Its not that I didn't think about it, or trip over it everytime I went into the shop, its just that it is such a low priority that it is hard to get traction some days. Between the previous post and now, I acquired an 8.5" flywheel and decided to go with the small i6 bellhousing pattern. Also, I found a few cans of an old implement paint that is a very good match, so motor painting will be my future. a few weeks ago I drew up the measurements for the new adapter plate. Here the project sits in pieces, currently it is holding up the new hood for the '68 Mustang (in the box)

The shop is always a mess, it seems that every project leaves remnants to remind me that I do actually work... rear shackle hanger bracket from the 1975 F250 leaf spring swap, master cylinder left over from the full brake rebuild on the '68 Mustang, old battery from the '94 GMC. I just noticed that there are also header bolts for the '75 F250 hanging from the back of the skidsteer. Old adapter box and plywood.

Tracing the original parts onto the board, X-marks the center.

Again, I laid the small i6 block spacer plate onto the wood template.

I marked 11" diameter hole for the flywheel and transferred the hole locations from the i6 spacer plate onto board, I colored them in so I could easily identify them.

Artitsts rendition using measurements from SoCar72's dimensions, I did not re-measure.

I picked up a piece of steel from a local hardware store, its bigger than I need, but bigger is better. I tried stretching steel once, it wasn't pretty.

Its hard to see in this picture, but I drilled two of the bellhousing bolts and all 3 of the starter bolts.

The neighbor has a small cheap chinese plasma cutter, I asked him about his opinion of it, because they are fairly cheap on Amazon for the current version (hovering between $270-400 for a Lotos LT5000D -- non-touch) The CUT50D that I am using must be touched to metal to ignite.

Making the first few cuts proved that I am not good with a hand held plasma cutter

I completed the large circle cuts.

I had to re-cut a few sections in order to get the metal to fall free. Also note that I cut part of my welding table top because I wasn't paying attention.

My handheld cutting left some very ugly scars on the steel, I used my 4" grinder to smooth out the wrinkles, its not perfect, but then again it doesn't need to be.

The real problem was that I didn't open up the center hole big enough for the flywheel/ring gear to fall through. I'd mark this up to not enough measuring or verification.

So I cut it again,

and I used the grinder to clean it up... again...

The flywheel easily passes through the hole in the center, tonight when I get home I'll use several drill bits to open up the bolt holes and look for my tap/die set for the starter holes, and I'll trim the sheet down to the size I need. So far, I think the problem with plasma cutting is me, not the torch. But the touch to ignite feature sucks a little. And my 6 gallon HF air compressor couldn't keep up with it either. Overall, seems like it would work for most of what I do.

This morning I had some major plumbing issues at the house, so while those guys took care of the dirty business, I got busy making progress on my adapter plate. The 5/16 tap called for an "F" bit, but I ain't that fancy so I used a few drill bits and ended at a .25" Then used a 7mm wrench on the square part of the tap.

Three starter bolts, threaded through the plate

I drilled out the bellhousing bolt holes to 1 size larger than 3/8" (I forgot to look at the size) and then bolted the adapter to the block

I forgot the block spacer plate, which is required to accurately locate the starter in relation to the crank centerline. so I took the plate back off, drilled the holes out to 7/16", put the spacer plate in. I will eventually have to figure out if/how to cover the lower portion of the hole.

And then I bolted up the flywheel. Somehow I lost 2 of the bolts :bang:

I hint of the future yellow color that will be on the block.

I've got an issue with the starter. The hole pattern I drilled was provided by SoCar72 for a 8.5" bellhousing. The block spacer plate is for use with a small i6 C4. The starter was spec'd for a 1965 Mustang with a 3.3L/2.77. And somehow that one bolt spacing is off. I'm going to have to run it past the parts store, hopefully this is a packaging error and easily remedied, otherwise I don't know why it would be skewed like this.

But did I let that stop me this morning? No I did not. I replaced the rubber fuel line and fuel filter at the carb. I made a small fuel line to put into a jug of fuel. I snagged a coil power hose off one of my spare motors and hooked it up directly to the distributor, and after a little cranking and running using carb cleaner. It runs on its own. [youtube]https://youtu.be/eTo8jY6cghE[/youtube] I found out the hard way that I forgot to check that valve cover for a gasket, when I poured oil in, it ran right out .. And I like that hissing sound at the end, my initial guess is that the head needs a valve job. Next steps are going to be making the drive flange adapter from motor to hydraulic pump. Once I have the adapter made, I'll install the motor, make sure the engine is in alignment with the pump, which will leave me with the next most interesting issue. I will need to clamp or weld the motor adapter plate to the pump adapter box so I can figure out where to drill the bolt holes. I'll get the motor mounts figured out at the same time. Once those are settled, I still have to figure out.. cooling system (radiator location) exhaust routing (muffler under cover or over) throttle governor mounting and linkage routing. Alternator mounting. I'm going to need a full set of gauges in a visible location too. For exhaust routing, I am starting to think about doing a similar setup as my Industrial 300 has.

farmshop · Apr 8, 2016

phlegm said:
This morning I had some major plumbing issues at the house, so while those guys took care of the dirty business, I got busy making progress on my adapter plate. The 5/16 tap called for an "F" bit, but I ain't that fancy so I used a few drill bits and ended at a .25" Then used a 7mm wrench on the square part of the tap.

Three starter bolts, threaded through the plate

I drilled out the bellhousing bolt holes to 1 size larger than 3/8" (I forgot to look at the size) and then bolted the adapter to the block

I forgot the block spacer plate, which is required to accurately locate the starter in relation to the crank centerline. so I took the plate back off, drilled the holes out to 7/16", put the spacer plate in. I will eventually have to figure out if/how to cover the lower portion of the hole.

And then I bolted up the flywheel. Somehow I lost 2 of the bolts :bang:

I hint of the future yellow color that will be on the block.

I've got an issue with the starter. The hole pattern I drilled was provided by SoCar72 for a 8.5" bellhousing. The block spacer plate is for use with a small i6 C4. The starter was spec'd for a 1965 Mustang with a 3.3L/2.77. And somehow that one bolt spacing is off. I'm going to have to run it past the parts store, hopefully this is a packaging error and easily remedied, otherwise I don't know why it would be skewed like this.

But did I let that stop me this morning? No I did not. I replaced the rubber fuel line and fuel filter at the carb. I made a small fuel line to put into a jug of fuel. I snagged a coil power hose off one of my spare motors and hooked it up directly to the distributor, and after a little cranking and running using carb cleaner. It runs on its own. https://youtu.be/eTo8jY6cghE I found out the hard way that I forgot to check that valve cover for a gasket, when I poured oil in, it ran right out .. And I like that hissing sound at the end, my initial guess is that the head needs a valve job. Next steps are going to be making the drive flange adapter from motor to hydraulic pump. Once I have the adapter made, I'll install the motor, make sure the engine is in alignment with the pump, which will leave me with the next most interesting issue. I will need to clamp or weld the motor adapter plate to the pump adapter box so I can figure out where to drill the bolt holes. I'll get the motor mounts figured out at the same time. Once those are settled, I still have to figure out.. cooling system (radiator location) exhaust routing (muffler under cover or over) throttle governor mounting and linkage routing. Alternator mounting. I'm going to need a full set of gauges in a visible location too. For exhaust routing, I am starting to think about doing a similar setup as my Industrial 300 has.

Plasma cutters really shine with cutting guides. I built a simple circle cutting tool out of a few pieces of scrap. Now I can cut circles from 2" up to 24". That aside quite the project you have taken on

Tazza · Apr 10, 2016

farmshop said:
Plasma cutters really shine with cutting guides. I built a simple circle cutting tool out of a few pieces of scrap. Now I can cut circles from 2" up to 24". That aside quite the project you have taken on

I too have found cutting anything other than a straight line with a plasma look like i did them with m eyes closed. That is why grinders were invented

Coal Burner · Aug 5, 2016

Tazza said:
I too have found cutting anything other than a straight line with a plasma look like i did them with m eyes closed. That is why grinders were invented

Looks like a great project. Reading all of these posts inspired me to try it myself about 3 months ago. Just finished last night....with a Kubota 1105T diesel engine swap. The Renault motor was still running but I was tired of the lack of power and maintenance costs..just the points and condenser was over $100. If I can figure out how to post them I will post some pics of the adapter plate I made for the motor and the driveline adapter that bolted to the Kubota flywheel. A couple of motor mounts and modification of the radiator support were the only major fab items I had to do luckily.

Hotrod1830 · Aug 5, 2016

Coal Burner said:
Looks like a great project. Reading all of these posts inspired me to try it myself about 3 months ago. Just finished last night....with a Kubota 1105T diesel engine swap. The Renault motor was still running but I was tired of the lack of power and maintenance costs..just the points and condenser was over $100. If I can figure out how to post them I will post some pics of the adapter plate I made for the motor and the driveline adapter that bolted to the Kubota flywheel. A couple of motor mounts and modification of the radiator support were the only major fab items I had to do luckily.

The Kubota swap would be a great thread topic. There are still lots of these old 1830's out there. We would love to see pictures of the swap. gather up your pictures and start a thread topic on it.

phlegm · Sep 15, 2016

Hotrod1830 said:
The Kubota swap would be a great thread topic. There are still lots of these old 1830's out there. We would love to see pictures of the swap. gather up your pictures and start a thread topic on it.

Its been a while, but progress has been made.
I had the flywheel machined with a recess and 4 threaded holes for the drive adapter.

The stepped lip will help ensure that the center drive can't wobble out of round.

Up top, I solved my carburator/governor issue.
My Dad had a power unit off of an old Versatile 400 swather that ran the same Ford 200, he gave me the carb, linkage to the governor, governor, governor mount bracket, and the special thermostat housing with governor mount bracket.

And then after a lot of foot dragging, and waiting for one of y'all to show me how you get the motor in and out of one of these things; I finally decided to just do it.
With a standard engine hoist, you can't go straight in, because there is a huge solid bar across the top at the rear of the skidsteer main body.

I kicked around a few ideas, and then decided that the lowest tech solution was the route I'd take. I moved the engine up into the rear of the skidsteer as far as I could go until the chain hit the solid bar. Then I put a long 2x6 board under the motor that reached up to the engine/pump adapter box and all the way out the rear of the skidsteer. I lowered the engine down onto its oil pan on this board.

I used muscles to slide the motor forward father into place, then I had to use a floor jack to lift the rear of the skidsteer far enough to slide the legs of the engine hoist under the main body. Then I reached over the top of the bar and lifted the engine back off the board and moved it the rest of the way back into the engine bay and used a combination of ratchet straps, prybars, and the engine hoist to get the engine aligned to the pump adapter box.

I've got half of the bolts in place to attach the engine bellhousing adapter plate to the pump adapter box, plus the two alignment dowels.
Engine drive flange to pump input drive looks good.

Originally I had planned on a 180 degree u-bend for the exhaust, down then back up and out the top. But now that the motor is in there, I don't see that as an option.

Plan A: run the exhaust under the motor and up the other side, then out the top to an external muffler.

If this doesn't look like it will work, I'll go with.

Plan B: Build a new header that has an exit so that it goes straight up and out the top.

So working forward with plan A.

Somewhere along the line, I picked up this U-shaped exhaust.

It has the shape I want, but the dimensions are all wrong. So I started cutting and welding.
I cut the flange off and bolted it into place.

I cut the original u-bend very near the center and used a couple tack welds to hold it together for test fitting.

At first I cut the pipe too long, then I tack welded it together at the wrong angle, but finally I got the first bend tack welded into an orientation.

I hope to get to the rest of the exhaust soon.
And then I'll get motor mounts built.
I do have a slight interference between the oil pan and crossover fuel tank compartment, but I think I'll be able to lift the motor just enough to clear it.

Tazza · Sep 19, 2016

phlegm said:
Its been a while, but progress has been made.
I had the flywheel machined with a recess and 4 threaded holes for the drive adapter.

The stepped lip will help ensure that the center drive can't wobble out of round.

Up top, I solved my carburator/governor issue.
My Dad had a power unit off of an old Versatile 400 swather that ran the same Ford 200, he gave me the carb, linkage to the governor, governor, governor mount bracket, and the special thermostat housing with governor mount bracket.

And then after a lot of foot dragging, and waiting for one of y'all to show me how you get the motor in and out of one of these things; I finally decided to just do it.
With a standard engine hoist, you can't go straight in, because there is a huge solid bar across the top at the rear of the skidsteer main body.

I kicked around a few ideas, and then decided that the lowest tech solution was the route I'd take. I moved the engine up into the rear of the skidsteer as far as I could go until the chain hit the solid bar. Then I put a long 2x6 board under the motor that reached up to the engine/pump adapter box and all the way out the rear of the skidsteer. I lowered the engine down onto its oil pan on this board.
I used muscles to slide the motor forward father into place, then I had to use a floor jack to lift the rear of the skidsteer far enough to slide the legs of the engine hoist under the main body. Then I reached over the top of the bar and lifted the engine back off the board and moved it the rest of the way back into the engine bay and used a combination of ratchet straps, prybars, and the engine hoist to get the engine aligned to the pump adapter box.

I've got half of the bolts in place to attach the engine bellhousing adapter plate to the pump adapter box, plus the two alignment dowels.
Engine drive flange to pump input drive looks good.

Originally I had planned on a 180 degree u-bend for the exhaust, down then back up and out the top. But now that the motor is in there, I don't see that as an option.

Plan A: run the exhaust under the motor and up the other side, then out the top to an external muffler.

If this doesn't look like it will work, I'll go with.

Plan B: Build a new header that has an exit so that it goes straight up and out the top.

So working forward with plan A.

Somewhere along the line, I picked up this U-shaped exhaust.

It has the shape I want, but the dimensions are all wrong. So I started cutting and welding.
I cut the flange off and bolted it into place.

I cut the original u-bend very near the center and used a couple tack welds to hold it together for test fitting.

At first I cut the pipe too long, then I tack welded it together at the wrong angle, but finally I got the first bend tack welded into an orientation.

I hope to get to the rest of the exhaust soon.
And then I'll get motor mounts built.
I do have a slight interference between the oil pan and crossover fuel tank compartment, but I think I'll be able to lift the motor just enough to clear it.

I was wondering how you were going to govern the speed, good to see that you managed to fit a govenor to it.
It has been a while since you posted, but you have made some great progress, i get you're itching to get it up and running to see how it runs.

phlegm · Sep 19, 2016

Tazza said:
I was wondering how you were going to govern the speed, good to see that you managed to fit a govenor to it.
It has been a while since you posted, but you have made some great progress, i get you're itching to get it up and running to see how it runs.

I've had the engine running already with the original YF 1bbl carburator. I posted this URL in a previous post, but it got sort of buried in the text.. https://youtu.be/eTo8jY6cghE I got the exhaust head pipe all cut and welded back together. Original.

Cut/welded/reground

I am going to weld on flanges and on this side so i can easily disconnect/reconnect if I need to do any maintenance. I am also going to make a bracket that welds to the exhaust pipe and bolts to the block for additional support of the exhaust system. And I'm going to get a piece of flex pipe so I don't have to deal with any vibration/engine movement between top and bottom halves of the exhaust system.

I am going to cut a hole in the floor and build a small funnel also to aid with oil changes.

I did have to switch from a full height fuel filter to a half height unit, the full height one was too long to get fit on. There wasn't enough space between the block and fuel tank.

I did make a mistake in that I did not try starting the motor with the current Holley carb after swapping it onto the motor. I tried starting it yesterday, and it did pop a couple times but no start. I'll get that figured out soon enough. I am thinking about putting in a heater for winter. Does anybody have a recommendation for where? And would there be any advantage to plumbing heat into the hydraulic motor area? Something that I've always found intriging is that people say they swapped the motor and it is al.most a 1 liner in their build thread, but knowing the amount of work that has to be done, I am a little let down that people don't show more of their work. I've got a bunch of things to fix on this thing after I get it running.. Cooling system The brakes need to be rebuilt/upgraded New ingnition switch Charging system Replace the gauges and their associated wiring I need to add some external lighting

Tazza · Sep 20, 2016

phlegm said:
I've had the engine running already with the original YF 1bbl carburator. I posted this URL in a previous post, but it got sort of buried in the text.. https://youtu.be/eTo8jY6cghE I got the exhaust head pipe all cut and welded back together. Original. Cut/welded/reground I am going to weld on flanges and on this side so i can easily disconnect/reconnect if I need to do any maintenance. I am also going to make a bracket that welds to the exhaust pipe and bolts to the block for additional support of the exhaust system. And I'm going to get a piece of flex pipe so I don't have to deal with any vibration/engine movement between top and bottom halves of the exhaust system. I am going to cut a hole in the floor and build a small funnel also to aid with oil changes. I did have to switch from a full height fuel filter to a half height unit, the full height one was too long to get fit on. There wasn't enough space between the block and fuel tank. I did make a mistake in that I did not try starting the motor with the current Holley carb after swapping it onto the motor. I tried starting it yesterday, and it did pop a couple times but no start. I'll get that figured out soon enough. I am thinking about putting in a heater for winter. Does anybody have a recommendation for where? And would there be any advantage to plumbing heat into the hydraulic motor area? Something that I've always found intriging is that people say they swapped the motor and it is al.most a 1 liner in their build thread, but knowing the amount of work that has to be done, I am a little let down that people don't show more of their work. I've got a bunch of things to fix on this thing after I get it running.. Cooling system The brakes need to be rebuilt/upgraded New ingnition switch Charging system Replace the gauges and their associated wiring I need to add some external lighting

You can always add a block heater that goes into the water jacket of the engine. Other types mount to the sump to warm the oil too.
Just how cold does it get there?

Repowering Case 1830 with Ford inline 6

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