I've found it hard lately to get the time to work on the project, i made one attempt at removing the engine and had to replace it when i ran out of time. The engine stand i ordered has now arrived (several weeks late) and i'm going to have another go, armed with some new knowledge and more extensive manuals.
All that's left to be done before removing the engine is to remove the mounting rubbers and the flexplate to torque-convertor bolts. (which i couldn't do by myself as the crank-shaft simply rotated with the torsion of the ratchet.
The quality of the photos isn't great (phone camera) but you can see the level of preparation so far.
-The radiator hoses were all removed (including those carrying various oils)
-The fan cowl was the removed.
-The radiator itself was unbolted and removed.
-All hoses and wires on the engine were photographed/documented and then disconnected.
-Instead of removing all the wiring from the engine, the engine loom was disconnected from the ECU and Relays under the drivers seat and passed through the bulkhead hole just to the (engine) right or starboard of the heater assembly in the dash.
-Judicious/mildly excessive/insane use of cable-ties held all hoses out of the way.
-The exhaust system was disconnected (on the starboard this was done at the manifold to downpipe join, on the port however this had to be done at the head to manifold join as the other bolts were rounded and seized)
-On earlier models, the front panel (runs in front of the top of the radiator) is simply bolted on, in my case it was welded and i had to drill these welds out.
-The throttle was disconnected.
-Fuel lines were disconnected (with care because of residual fuel pressure)
-The Haynes manual was scrutinised for whatever the hell "that thing" was, several times.
-The the transmission oil cooler pipes were detached from the engine and the oil cooler assembly was removed to allow greater clearance for removing the engine.
-The alternator was removed.
-The lower bell-housing cover plate was removed (easy as pie)
-The bottom few bellhousing to engine bolts were removed (not too bad)
-The remaining bellhousing to engine bolts were removed (insanely difficult) access for these bolts is ZERO, and they were all nicely seized. This task took up a day and a half of dawn-to-dusk work.
-I checked that everything other than the flex-plate to TC bolts and the engine mountings were removed.
-MOST IMPORTANTLY, several (in double figures) cups of tea were consumed while admiring the beast, and it's middle-of-progress heart-transplant.
