Do I need to do anything specific to prep or support the rear drive shafts after the tranny is out to allow me to put the car back on its wheels to move it around?

 

just wrap the dangling cv with glad bag and zip ties and hang each with a wire, leave it loose around the axle and if you can hang them level they outer joint won't bind when you move it around...

 

this never occurred to me, excellent tip, taking off my bumper is easy but the realignment and insertion back on is a bit more difficult. Shock approach appears much simpler

 

Well that part wasn't too bad. Big thanks to all that have gone before and posted the tricks to try and pitfalls to avoid. I have a few suggestions for others that I'll post later.

 

Nice work!

 

Stirling stuff, keep up the good work!

Ian

 

You forgot one important step....a pic of you sticking your head through the engine bay.

I really regretted not doing that when I had my engine out!

 

 

Congrats! Keep us posted as you learn the cause of the problem.

 

I got a few hours on the engine once the kids were in bed.

-took the intakes off as a whole
-labeled all the dizzy plugs and routing for later assembly.
-removed clutch and DMF.
-ready to mount the engine to the stand and continue the tear down.

Any suggestions for when I encounter stubborn exhaust bolts? Say, like on the heat exchangers?

Peter

 

I've been lucky on both of my engine's exhausts. Use penetrating oil and give it time to soak in. The other advice is use good quality tools, you don't want to round or strip a nut. I have a 8mm 6" long Snap-on tool for removing the heat exchanger nuts and a Craftsman 13mm swivel socket. On other cars, I've used a MAPP torch to loosen rusty nuts/bolts.

 

I have read/heard that the trick when using heat to loosen stubborn bolts is to heat to cherry red, then wait til the cherry disappears and hit it with some penetrating fluid. The cooling action of the fluid will cause it to get sucked deep into the threads.
Correct, or am I making a maltov cocktail?

 

You are correct. I normally try penetrating oil by itself. If that doesn't work, then I try heat plus oil. I keep repeating until I win or the bolt breaks. Be careful but 99% of the time, you will win.

Note: if you re-apply heat, your torch is apt to ignite any existing penetrating oil or anything else combustible in the vicinity.

 

So I had a few hours tonight to try to mount the engine to the stand. Using the ATV lift, I raised and blocked twice, until the stand ring adapter measured the same height as the stand. Then, with 1/2" extra room, I lifted the stand onto the adapter ring. I then squeezed the wheels of my floor jack between the front stand wheels and lifted the stand to take the weight off the dolly. Popped out the wood supports, and voila. Plan from here is obvious. Strip show. I'll be performing. Sorry.

 

And per Vandits advice, I rotated the engine over and hit the exhaust studs and nuts with some pen fluid to allow time to soak.