Uh,... ouch. Might have underestimated it just a bit. I had all the bolts out of the diff. 'cept the top one on the drivers side. I took the nut off and tapped the bolt out a good deal before my last post during a break, leaving the diff to hang from that mount. I'd suggest to anyone considering this to make sure you have a large collection of odd ball 18mm offset wrenches, combo wrenches, crow's foot wrench, swivels, etc. Yeah, same old deal. Problem was the flange on the top bolt hit the exhaust manifold right at the junction with the cross over pipe. Niether had any give and I spent the better part of 2 hours getting it out(just the bolt). So now the diff's hanging there resting on the "trays" that bolt through the bushings. I did enlarge the access hole below the nut with a dremel so I could get a better fit on the nut when reassembling it later. Even with the diff still in there's plenty of room to remove the motor mount's through bolts, letting me lift the engine a few inches so I can raise the back of the diff. off it's shelf and lower it down. If the diff. bushings weren't shot I'd just as soon leave it in the truck b/c ther's almost enough room to work. I got a new bolt for the top bushing that's not a flange head so it should go in much easier.
Keep in mind the only things I've removed besides the trans and flexplate/starter is the wheel wells, front tires, 6 bolts on each side at the axle shafts and of course the diff. It's still full of coolant and oil and all wires/ hoses are untouched incl. the exhaust and IC system.
Doing the mounts during a front end rebuild would be easier since the center link is what's keeping me from dropping the diff as it is. I know as soon as I get it on the ground my suspension kit will arrive from Al Dunstan(you there Al? I NEED to have it on for HAN in early Aug.-j/k-call me) but if I ripped apart the front end now it'd be 2 more months.....
All told after only 4 hours my motor's no longer bolted to the frame, though the stock mounts are still in.Give me another month or two and I'll have the sicest stock turbo/chipped SY on the planet. Ever seen a coil spring, transbraked, caltrac/ goodyear slicked, alky injected SY with a built motor and stock turbo/boost? Pretty sad, I know. Next stop- big ass turbo. Gotta run; need to shower before hitting the bar tonight. Hell yeah.
Jeremy
