Paul, I made this engine several years ago, and like you did not like the brackets in the origional design. When I made the cylinder I just left the bottom portion square from the origional 1 inch block, and drilled two small holes which were spotted from the base. I do not remember how deep i made the holes, but they did not break into the bore. The two holes were tapped 4-40 using a bottoming tap since the holes were about .125 deep. It worked well. Good luck. Art