Dakota/ other projects are kickin my old A$$
Whew! When it rains it pours in Idaho!
Removing a engine from a 4 X 4 is no freaking joke! Chit is HARD!
The shop manual is SO terrible it might as well be 2 pages:
1...Remove engine
2...Re-install engine
There's a permanent crossmember back rear of the trans / transfer which anchors the T bars. You cannot drop the tail of the trans/ transfer down to gain access to the bell housing bolts "up over the top" because the transfer hits it. I made an "executive decision" to cut the crossmember and will then rebuild a "bridge" bolt in later
I gave up today, trying to pull the engine. I'm going to pull the transfer off the back, then pull the engine and trans as a unit. It is so tight around the firewall/ bell area I can't get to anything.
Pulling one T bar was frustrating. There's a roll pin driven in from the top of the A arm to keep the T bar from walking forward. I "manufactured" a tool using a bolt and long connector nut to form a "screw jack" to jack the roll pin up. The T bar was stubborn. I screwed with them for most of a day and finally got one of them clear.
Fortunately, someone put a "pipe" in place of the cat. This formed a "great place" to whack the pipe in two, to remove the head/ Y pipe. I'll put a sleeve connector on there when done.