all assembled! but back apart again ... totally forgot from back in the day, the soft top jeeps have a different t-case clocking than tin-top. 13deg down for soft, 26deg down for tin. the 231 was hitting the floor

you can see the tail housing is cast to accept both patterns. 10deg is even zero hole overlap.
at this very moment the printer it building me a drill jig. i made it for a 12deg drop, 2 lower than the xj would have been factory. should be more than enough crossmember clearance, will help with the front driveshaft angles, and should still be above the crossmember.