1. Roll ALL windows up. You will be removing your battery and the windows won't go up once the battery is out.
2. Attach a 19mm 6-point socket with a breaker bar onto crank pulley bolt- click engine over to bust the bolt loose (works like a charm).
3. Disconnect the hood struts where they attach to the hood. You can use a cord tied between the hood latch and the spoiler (or something else behind the car) to secure the hood in a near vertical orientation. If you are doing this project outside, just remove the hood. You won't like the outcome when a stiff breeze blows your hood backwards onto the windshield. If you remove the hood, mark or scribe the hood location on the brackets prior to removal - this will aid reinstalling the hood later. JJ: 5 more minutes and the hood is off. MUCH easier and safer. Just remember to put a couple towels on the roof of the car. Lift hood off and set it down on the roof.
4. Remove the bottom engine cover if you still have one
5. Drain the tranny fluid, engine oil, and coolant. Do this as you perform other tasks. You might think it not necessary to drain your expensive synthetic transmission oil, but if you don't, it will come out the rear of the transmission while you are pulling the engine out with the hoist, so do it now.
6. Open gas door and remove gas filler cap - leave door open. JJ: Gas filler cap can be left on approx one half turn, but still loose. LEAVE the cap loose. The gas will expand and push out the open fuel line.
7. Remove battery JJ: Just disconnect it.
8. Remove glove box
9. Remove ECU
10. Unplug rest of connectors up there - HAC, ABS
11. Pull main harness grommet the off firewall from the outside w/ small flatblade screwdriver. Pull the main harness and connectors through the grommet hole.
12. Remove center console interior piece that radio goes in.
13. Put transmission in neutral.
14. Remove gear shift, but leave in car.
15. Stuff a rag in the gearshift hole of the transmission. This is to prevent dirt, undercoating, foreign objects, etc. from getting in your transmission.
16. Remove turbo heat shield. JJ: Don't need to unless the turbo elbow has to come off.
17. Remove the exhaust. Depending on your exhaust, it may be easy to just remove the downpipe (can take elbow off if you must). If the nuts and bolts between the downpipe and the second cat are impossibly frozen, you can remove the entire exhaust as a unit. Remove the three downpipe to turbo elbow nuts first. Use a 14mm 6-point socket and a universal joint with a long extension
18. Remove driveshaft. Separate the driveshaft from the differential first (14 mm fasteners). You can use the parking brake to keep the driveshaft from rotating as you loosen the fasteners. Drop the carrier bearing assembly and remove the tunnel brace. The driveshaft pulls straight out from the rear of the transmission. Some have successfully pulled the driveshaft from the transmission by lowering the center bearing and the brace in the tunnel, but leaving the driveshaft bolted to the differential. JJ: You're making ALOT of extra work removing it from the diff. You don't need to. Just leave the driveshaft alone, it will slide out of the tranny on it's own. Then when you reinstall you drop the center bearing and the bar across the tunnel. Stick the driveshaft back in the tranny and bolt the center bearing/bar back in.
19. Remove speedo cable from tranny. Stuff a clean rag in this opening also. JJ: There's a joint about 1.5' from the tranny - cable splits in two. It's right next to the cat I believe.
