When I drilled my front mounting holes I drained as much as the motor as possible and set it standing vertical on the bellhousing on the floor. I still had quite the oil run down. I would recommend drilling the holes at 4 points on each hole as to help make a square form. I did use the template as help. I'm not sure if Cletis has brute strength, but my plate was very tough steel and filing was going to require a lot of work to uniform a square.
