Hi - I know and you know that's what the manual says but... On my 67 I did remove the generator + fan, detached everything from the fan, and took the oil cooler out without dropping the engine. I was curious if it could be done, had time to take it step by step, and didn't hurry.
What I've learned - now that I've taken out the engine and tranny by myself, no other person helping - is that while I learned a lot doing it this way, it is really easy to take out our engines!
If you haven't bought "Secrets ,,," from Pellow, it's got a nice couple of pages of step by step. With a good floor jack, the rear of the car on ramps + e-brake + wheel stops, it was simple.
Taking off the generator, etc. wasn't hard, but all things considered, taking the engine out was pretty straightforward.
Sorry to hear you got towed
Oh - I bought a 68 912 in Phoenix this summer - sunroof. So now my tag line shows one driver and two projects (and a full garage).
Scott
69 912 #23078
68 912 sunroof
67 912 project