I did go ahead and pick up a cast iron pan off of ebay for about $20 including shipping. It's pretty amazing the weight and burly difference between the aluminum and the cast iron.
The 149 is currently a little bit busy being completely torn down. This is from a few nights ago, but it's now down to only a frame. I never could get the hydraulics to work correctly with the drill (my other posting) and that worries me a little bit, but i am going forward with it.
