Day 6, the day the engine came out:
After practicing the day before, we came prepared... we thought. First order of business was to deal with the pesky stuck exhaust bolt. The JB weld socket to the nut trick worked. Funny, a few days later I was talking to my son in Houston telling him about my new found trick and he told me there was sockets on the market these days with "teeth" that you beat onto the stubborn nuts to keep them from stripping. Maybe next time...
Just as practiced, we installed the engine leveling tool (a must for this type of project), the cherry picker and pulled the engine off the mounts. We supported the transmission with a floor jack and a block of wood. The floor jack accessory transmission holder would not work because of framing under the transmission would not gain access. Once we had the transmission and the engine lifted and supported, they separated easily using a pry bar.
This is where we hit our first speed bump... The oil cooler prevented the engine from moving forward enough to clear the transmission completely. After removing the oil cooler, the engine had enough room to move forward and out the engine came.
By taking it an inch at a time, we was able to guide the engine out the driver's side door. It doesn't take much time to write about the experience, but it took the better part of a day.
