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Awesome question. I have the same problem, and have been looking into it for some time. I'm a little short of $$ right now, so the project is on hold, but... My M is from 1951, and is late enough that the bolt patterns are compatible with the Super-M hydraulic pump. Assuming you are not as lucky, there are at least three ways to handle this. One way is to drill and tap the front plates of your engine to match the Super-M hydraulic pump. One bolt will have to be cut flush with the housing (i.e. plugged), and then drilled in the right place. I always had the heebie-jeebies about this idea. Another way is to replace the front timing cover stuff with Super-M parts. This will give you the right mounting setup. About $600. The third way is to prowl about, looking for an M&W hydraulic pump. M&W designed a hydraulic pump precisely for this problem. It fits between the distributor and the front plates, and has the standard M bolt patterns. Good luck getting parts, and expect to pay good money. Last quote I had on this was $600, but that was from a rip-off artist. Keep checking E-bay. Either way you go, be cautious about your timing gears. You might want to go ahead and upgrade to the Super-M timing gears. The M gears were not designed for the load of a hydraulic pump. Some people have said that this is not a problem; others have told me horror stories about breaking the front of their engine. There is another conversion that uses a chain off the crank nose to drive the hydraulic pump. I thought of rigging a pump off the belt pulley drive (not live hydraulics, though). So there are several do-it-yourself-engineered solutions. Then, of course, you will need to replumb all the hydraulic lines. Oy! I like the PTO extension idea. It sounds like a nice quick solution to me. Low $$
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