I just tried mine, moves freely in and out, does require a little effort and may be harder to do in the tight area. Is the shaft sticking out about 3" or 5"??

Draco
I'm probably using the wrong terminology. Its the shaft going into the transmission. I've already jacked the motor back to its place and I'm trying to put the rear motor mounts back in (which are not aligned by 1/4 inch of course) to reassess the situation. I really didn't want to drop the tranny. Scratching my head now.

Its about 3" I'd say.

Yes, INPUT SHAFT, yeah, must be careful, good looking ahead.

Just use a BFS and flex the cross member into alignment. Don't worry it is meant to do that.

You said you don't want to drop with the trans but really, it's the easiest way to go out and in. Just mark your shift coupler so you know where it was before you take it off, unhook the two sensor wires, remove the chassis ground strap, unhook your battery if you haven't already and take the wire off the starter, take the clutch cable off the clutch arm, take the axle shaft bolts off each side and when you lower the half shaft take a wire tie and put it through one of the bolt holes to keep the assembly together, pull the two transmission mount bolts and then lower the engine while slowly pulling toward the back of the car.
I've taken the engine and trans out by myself and reinstalled by myself twice now. It's really not that difficult once you figure out what to do and how to do it. Just take good notes as you take things off. If you get nervous about something, PM me and I'll send you my phone number and try to talk you through it. I'm not an expert but I've dropped a few engines out of these cars now and have a decent feel for it.

No need to mark the coupler if you remove the CONE allen head screw. It only goes back one way.

I am just curious at what angle he has his gear box that is making it so difficult to pull the engine. It can be done, I have seen it. More work but possible.

Good point, That's what I get for drinking a beer (or two or so) on this beautiful cool afternoon. I blame it on Sam Adams for bringing out their Octoberfest!

Indeed Brother Indeed. :D

I'm looking at dropping the tranny too, now. I just reattached the motor, and the top mates with the transmission perfectly, but the bottom has a 1/4 + inch gap. I hope I just need to put the jack under the motor and jimmy it into place and there's not anything misaligned in the transmission. I have removed the jack and motor mount bolts are in so there's no tension on anything.

Is the clutch fork seated on the TO bearing guide? If so then a little shimmy with the jack and it should mate fine.

Yep, jacking the engine a bit brought it in to alignment. Yahoo! Need to eat before proceeding. I hope the transmission/engine come out without drama.

Just go slow and steady Brother :D You will be fine. Remember lift point is further forward to balance the two properly.

Draco, the motor dropped easily, but the final 4-5 inches I needed to clear the fan, put the input shaft solidly against the top of the tunnel.

Will do, thanks.

Patience is your friend here. Take your time and it will come down easily.

Jack the car up more In the rear or take the fan off and anything else on top to make clearance.

I had the rear way up, exhaust and all the air box and CIS off before lowering my 3.3. The shaft hit where yours does and had to make sure the shaft was in before it would come out. Bumper off too.

I thought about taking the fan off too. Nowhere have I read that it would be this much trouble. I read in the Haynes manual "lower engine assembly while allowing engine to tilt backwards as assembly is removed from rear of car", regarding removing the engine/transmission together. How the heck can you do that if the engine/transmission is on a flat cart? I just can't see how I'm not going to have the same problem with the transmission shift rod and fan clearance. I'm about ready to just say heck with it and reconnect everything. A Saturday and Sunday wasted with no results.

I believe Haynes is referring to those of us without a lift. where the tilt is automatically assumed due to the rear end sticking up.

I rear bumper when I saw a race team do that to swap out an engine at the track. That 3-4 inches really helps.

Are you using a lift, or is the back end just raised?
If a lift, I have used this tool to drop my engine multiple times. Makes it easy...
Pelican Parts - Product Information: PEL-PW-2563

It allows you to adjust the removal angle just right.

I looked at it, but thought it was just for jacks?