It's all those reasons that I mounted it a couple inches forward of the "correct" spot.
--Fan shroud is a normal length (heck--I'm keeping the FJ-40 shroud)
--Shift towers in the right spots (no body work needed there)
--More room behind engine, before you get to the firewall
--T-case parking brake fits without modifying the crossmember
I think the oil pan clears the axle just fine, but frankly I don't know of a good way to check it. I've flexed it as much as I can with a bare frame/motor, and so far I'm good, and it looks like the bump stop will hit before the axle contacts the oil pan. I very well may add a crossmember (compression type) right under the oil pan between the motor mounts, since the ones I made to work with the 70 series motor brackets have a bit of a twisting moment on the frame....
But.... my 45 will have pretty much these exact same problems. It's got an H55f for it, and that will be in the "correct" position in my '76 body. Kevin's project here looks eerily similar to that.
As to the turbo lag: I kind of like a little lag for wheeling. The diesel has enough torque to crawl at idle, but if I were to mash the pedal down, then it will kind of lug and slowly add power instead of just bursting with quick power and spinning the tires. I like the turbo lag on my 2LT-E (stock intake, no intercooler), and the BJ-74 I've driven had maybe a little too quick turbo for my tastes. I kind of like a large diameter turbo that doesn't really do much at low RPM, but gives the real push at higher RPM (like on the highway).
Dan
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