Adapter Plate

It's been over a month now since our last blog. We finally have the adapter plate made.

Went and saw a few local engineering firms but everybody was too busy for a small project like mine, I also wanted a small engineering workshop who would be interested in the project, somebody who cares. I was put on to Fastweld Engineering, I believe they are used to fabricating weird one off jobs. They quickly understood what I wanted.


It took a few weeks to manufacture as it was done in between priority jobs. We discussed if it should be made out of steel or aluminium. Steel is easier and cheaper to get but would take longer to mill, aluminium is a bit dearer but lighter and quicker to mill (which means less labour). We went for aluminium.

As you can see by the photos they have done an exceptional job. I was going to have the edges squared off but they have ground it to match the gearbox. Also the openings for the clutch and starter motor have been closed off with inspection plates, handy.

I think I need to go back a couple of weeks to show how the coupling and the plate looked. The coupling I got from Blackwoods and is in 2 pieces, each having a taper lock. I only use one taperlock onto the motor shaft (the rear half) as I can access it from the front when I unbolt the front half, the other I don't use but have had the center turned down and the spline part of a clutch welded into it. The whole process is all about centering everything, anything that is out of wack will show up later down the track as you put all the parts together. All the bloggs and articles I've read keep stressing the need for minimum tolerances when going for a clutchless setup. If we don't get this right I suspect that the spline on the gearbox will go west first. The coupling that I'm using will probably do the job but if I was to do another conversion I may look at other products.

This is a photo of the plate half done and fitted to the gearbox, nice work aye!!

The guys at Fastweld have done a great job and are really easy to work with. Thanks Dave and Chris!