Build Thread 85 CJ7 Rebuild, Labor of Love

[gert]

That’s gonna be pretty neat

 

[Belizean]

Nice !

 

[Ultrunner]

Started modifying my AX15 with the Novak adaptor plate for the GM bell housing. Engine and drive train will be going in soon.

AX15 with original bearing retainer.






Pulled the factory bearing retainer and cleaned off the gasket material.


Dry fit of the Novak adaptor.



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[Masscj7]

Shiny parts!


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[Ultrunner]

Small victories. I got my Novak in-tank fuel pump/filter/pressure regulator assembly in.

A lesson learned, the fuel pump was hitting the bottom preventing the assembly from seating fully, which also prevented the collar nut from going on. Had to loosen a hose clamp and slide the pump up a little which fixed the problem.


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[Masscj7]

Very clean. I would suggest that don’t use any permanent mounting locations yet for the frame rail items. Now that I have my tub on and my exhaust run, I’m second-guessing running my fuel lines on the inside of the frame rail given the close proximity of the exhaust. Wondering if I’ll have to wrap my lines or try to move to top of frame or try to pull fittings and snake inside the frame.


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[Ultrunner]

Very clean. I would suggest that don’t use any permanent mounting locations yet for the frame rail items. Now that I have my tub on and my exhaust run, I’m second-guessing running my fuel lines on the inside of the frame rail given the close proximity of the exhaust. Wondering if I’ll have to wrap my lines or try to move to top of frame or try to pull fittings and snake inside the frame.


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Great suggestion. I think I’ll be good to mount the filter it that back corner of the passenger side rail and cross member, but I’ll certainly wait to mount the pressure regulator until after exhaust is run.


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[Ultrunner]

Dropped in the engine today.



I’m leaving the hoist attached until I set the angle and get the bell housing and trans set up.

Any lessons learned from anyone who has done a SBC 350 with AX-15 are welcome. Not sure if I have to move my cross member.


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[Ultrunner]

Finally got my bell housing alignment done. What a painful process. So many iterations of turning offset dowel pins and installing and removing the bell then cranking the engine over.

The RobbMc offset dowel pins are awesome. They make the process way easier.





Final measurements achieved .001” offset up on the vertical and .002” left on the horizontal, well within the .005” tolerance.




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[Masscj7]

So much precision for a vehicle that Jeep slapped together with whatever parts they had laying around


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[Ultrunner]

I was able to get my engine-transmission setup complete. This was way more involved than just sliding the tranny on and bolting it to the block.



Measuring the adjustable throwout bearing was not as straightforward as I’d expected. But got it set along with the pivot stud and I think it looks good.



Then was the dry fit of the tranny to make sure everything aligned and mark the Novak support plate bolt locations on the cross member.



Once all was complete I then verified engine driveline angle was b/w -3 to -5 deg and that the engine was straight in the frame then bolted everything together and tightened the motor mount bolts to set it. It was a good feeling removing the hoist.


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[Masscj7]

It’s also nice to move the engine hoist out of the way. What’s Novak piece do, allow you to use the factory holes in the crossmember? It looks like a nice little trick bracket.


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[Belizean]

Is the bracket for just that trans or universal or do they have different ones. Don;t remember seeing that when i was online getting parts.