Running chassis - Questions about ’76 Cherokee Chief

[Trosskyll]

Hi all.
Soon I will post up to date progress on my build thread.
I have a some questions. I will be grateful for your advice so I can finalize the last few items on this stage of my rebuild.

1 Fuel filler hose
2 Petrol tank clearance to axle and Quadratrac TC.
3 Propeller shaft orientation
4 Engine alignment
5 Used FSJ parts supply Ex. USA to New Zealand

1
The left over remnant of filler hose in the rear quarter panel on my truck is twice the size of the hose / tank entry pipes for my replacement tank. It is not going to attach to the inlet / breather pipes on the tank you can see.
* Where can I find these smaller replacement hoses? looks like I am missing a bit to join the hose I have to the metal tubes on the tank. The bends in the hose I have don't seem to allow fitting to the rear quarter and tank, and I think I am short a section.
* Are they available, or am I not looking in the right place on BJ's website? They show the larger filler hose type available.

Petrol filler - missing parts.jpg

2
I managed to find this for sale in New Zealand. I have refurbished, and installed today. Sometime in the past, the original tank was thrown away, along with all fuel lines, retaining strap and bracket. I made and installed these, but fitting things together proved to be a challenge!
* Vertical travel of the axle brings it incredibly close to the rear end of the tank! It looks like less than 1/4" clearance (- if that) when axle travels up towards the tank. Is this normal?
* What should the clearance be? Will the shackles allow clearance as the axle rises?
* I have welded a newly fabricated front bracket to the chassis. Have I placed it to far rearward? How much clearance should there be between the QT and front corner of the tank?
* What year is this tank from?

REALLY tight fit axle to petrol tank.jpg

Will spring shackle movement accommodate axle to tank clearance.jpg

Coffin tank - what year.jpg

3
My question is, have I oriented the front, and rear shafts correctly? i.e; slip joint on rear shaft up near the transfer case, and slip joint on front shaft don by the differential, with the cardan joint up at the T case. I needed to buy front and rear propeller shafts. Adam McDaniel of Jeep Recyclers could supply with no difficulty in packing and shipping to me in New Zealand. They arrived beautifully packaged, fully refurbished, and I am very pleased with them. I had to replace both front and rear shafts as the originals on the chief were butchered to accommodate the Toyota ASCO T Case.

Is orientation of prop shafts correct.jpg

[Trosskyll]

4
I notice that my T case mount is not sitting straight on the chassis crossmember. I assume it should be, but the holes provided limit where I can mount the T case cushion and stabiliser. The crossmember I used is from a J20. Can you confirm that I need to drill new mounting holes to correct the angle of the powertrain or is this correct. It does not seem right to me.

Engine not parallel with chassis.jpg

Looking for engine orientation to be straight.jpg

5
Used FSJ parts from USA to New Zealand
I currently have a large order with Jeep Recyclers, and a T case crossmember from a Chief is included. However, I have been waiting since November 2021 for my fully paid order to be dispatched. I am having no luck in getting an answer to when I could expect my gear to arrive at my place. In fact, I got a very prompt and friendly reply from Sebastian, but as he is no longer with Adam and Co., he can only pass on my message. I wait... and wait... and wait, in waning hope. In the back of my mind I am beginning to think maybe I need to switch to plan "B" - whatever that looks like. My problem is getting various parts from different private sellers to pack securely and ship to me in New Zealand; the individual effort required by all involved, and the high cost of many items to ship separately, apart from the fact that this opens me up to being taken for a ride by unscrupulous private sellers willing to take my money and leave me high and dry. So is there another trustworthy source for FSJ parts that I can rely on for efficent service?

[Trosskyll]

I just read thru this post of mine - Sorry there are quite a few questions all at once.
I am happy to slowly carry on by myself waaaay down here, but I will be very grateful to anyone who takes the time to answer a question or two of mine!!
New Zealand is finally opening up to a large part of the world at last, so feel free to jump on a plane and give me a hand, and I'll hand you a beer for your trouble

[Trosskyll]

Many thanks

[CBJoe]

Cool Build....just read through the old posts about taking this jeep down and refreshing. I'm also cleaning up a 76 Chief now as well. You may get an admin to move this post over from the build section to the Stock FSJ Tech Section. Hopefully someone else can confirm, but I'll take a shot at your first question.

1 Fuel filler hose

That tank looks to be from an 80 and later tank. Take a look at the following BJs link...you can see the diagram It may be that what you have in the picture is #4.....you need #3 and the two available hoses to complete the routing to the tank.

https://www.bjsoffroad.com/Fuel-Fill-an ... p_859.html

Cheers, Joe

[CBJoe]

Cool Build....just read through the old posts about taking this jeep down and refreshing. I'm also cleaning up a 76 Chief now as well. You may get an admin to move this post over from the build section to the Stock FSJ Tech Section. Hopefully someone else can confirm, but I'll take a shot at your first question.

1 Fuel filler hose

That tank looks to be from a later model tank. Take a look at the following BJs link...you can see the diagram It may be that what you have in the picture is #4.....you need #3 and the two available hoses to complete the routing to the tank.

https://www.bjsoffroad.com/Fuel-Fill-an ... p_859.html

Cheers, Joe

[Trosskyll]

Awsome - thank you Joe. Simple!! I never cast my eyes to the far horizon, and just did what Mum would call a 'boy's look'! They are on my BJ's list now.