Well Hemiman, I'll just say this with all respect. All of the info you just posted is not correct. Please allow me to do a David Spade imitation from those TV commercials:
The Jeep 4 cyl bell housing has the same bolt pattern (engine side) as the Vortec and other GM engines, (60deg V-6's & 4 cyl, Northstar V-8's).
NO! The Vortec 4.2\3.5\2.8 looks similar to the GM 60 degree pattern, but they are NOT the same. None of the holes will line up. I can send you a pic of a 60 degree bell next to a Vortec bell if you like.
This dates back to when Jeep used the GM Iron Duke 4 cyl.
NO! The Iron Duke has a Chevy V8 bolt pattern. The AMC\Jeep 2.5 inherited the 60 degree pattern when AMC used GM 2.8L V6's in Cherokee's.
The Vortec 3500 uses the NV-3500 trans which shares the same bolt pattern as the AX-5 used on Jeep 4 cyl engine.
NO! The Vortec 3500\2800 both use a transmission called the MA5 which is a derivative of the Isuzu AR5 which is a derivative of the Toyota R150 and Jeep AX15.
Advance Adapters makes a plate to convert Jeeps from AX-5/NV-3500 to an NV-4500. I may have issues with input shaft length on the NV-4500 relative to the depth of the Vortec bell housing. But it's pretty close, so it looks doable.
NO! The good news is, you've got the CORRECT 3500\2800 bellhousing to get your project moving so you didn't dump money down the Jeep bellhousing rathole. Anyway, the adapter you need from Advance Adapters is for the Jeep AX15 to NV4500 (NOT AX5). So don't order the wrong item.
[img]http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3219[/img]
http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/showthread.php?t=4740 I hope this is helpful. I'm eager to see your results!
Greg
