I got it all welded up, and tried it out. Works perfectly. The shorter profile of having it bolted directly to the plate means the engine is just about even with the ends of the legs on the stand. Very nice.
When you are making this plate, make the thin area that goes down to the lower bolts thicker than my template by about 1/4" (to the outside). It makes things stouter. I will have more pics on this later. It supports the engine very nicely, and rotates nicely without the head. (better than I expected).
