man on the moon

It's not the pain so much as the fact I might hit 120 pounds soaking wet. I don't have the mass to move the transmission. If I push on it, I'm the one sliding across the floor! It took a lot of (hours of cursing) finagling to get the d/r swap in place and happy, and that was after the epic battle with the roll pins. Otoh, with the motor I can hook my knees behind the grill or wheel well and get the leverage I need to put things together/apart, no problem at all. I can see the air impact wrench being a problem--since it's a low torque bolt set I just used a hand ratchet. (And I don't have an impact wrench). I guess the moral of the story is: do what you need to do based on the tools, skills, and other resources (friends?) at your disposal!

I replaced the solenoid (I think that's what it is) that has two vacuum lines coming off it. The one that sits on the intake manifold. My gas mileage has improved significantly and this is only the first tank of gas!

I've replaced the clutch by sliding the motor forward, and swapped the motor out which requires pulling completely, of course. You do need to disconnect the heater lines, fuel lines, air intake boot, and wiring harness. None have enough stretch in them to go where you need. I also recommend disconnecting the radiator hoses. There are four bolts that hold the motor and tranny together, two exhaust studs on each head, two motor mounts, and the pitch stopper. When you slide it forward it helps to rest the motor on something (get the mounts down onto the cross member in front of their holes, for example) so you don't just POP off the transmission. If you aren't replacing the transmission, you won't need to pull it out from under the car, but you will still have to move it supported on a jack while laying on your back under the car. I don't care for that, but if you don't mind that method isn't too bad. I just find moving the motor easier for me. ETA: I have small hands, the 8 inch gap is not a limiting factor for me, but it's something to consider if you are large in that department.

If you have a friend, they can be your engine lift. The motor is not that heavy. Put ropes or straps around the block, put a pole through, and lift from both sides. Unless you can get the car up and a jack underneath it, I really don't recommend pulling the transmission. It's way more trouble and will result in much cursing--especially if you are alone and without a lift. (I swapped mine out last fall using only a small hand jack and yeah...don't do it). When I've 'pulled' the motor for the clutch, I don't even pull the radiator (twice now)--just remove the fans and pulleys/accessories/belts on the front and slide her forward. Put some a piece of thin plywood against the radiator to keep from bashing it in. I use a jack like you would use to change tires to lift her enough to clear the motor mounts and wiggle/slide. This I can do alone, easily (and without much cursing) and I'm only 120 pounds dripping wet. You need a full metric wrench and socket set (ok, you probably won't use the 11 or the 13 mm, but close enough!) and a clutch kit. It's not a bad time to replace hoses, plugs, etc as well if you have the cash on hand. You will need to partially drain the water from your motor due to undoing the heater lines. No need to drain the oil unless you want to. *ETA: You want a hydraulic floor jack, not the cheap crappy scissor or bottle jack that comes with the car. A small totable floor jack is sufficient.

The easiest way to tell is to pull the air boot off the intake and see if the injector is squirting gas. It looks like a hose, there is no mistaking if the injector is firing. If you are alone, roll up a piece of newspaper and stick it down into the throttle body. Crank for a few seconds, and check to see if the paper is wet/smells like gas. And keep in mind that even if it ISN'T firing, that doesn't mean the pump is bad (though it may be). A bad coolant temp sensor (the one at the thermostat, not the radiator one), a broken timing belt (which you said it wasn't), and a bad crank angle sensor (in the distributor) will all keep the injector from firing and/or the pump from turning on. If you can see or pull the ECU from where it sits under the steering column, set the key to 'on' and note the code/codes it blinks at you, if any. Six short codes is all clear. If you unplug the battery for a few seconds it will clear the codes, then try to start the car again and see what pops up.

Napa has orange bulbs that will fit those corner lights, I did a similar thing and spent most of a day hunting the damn bulbs. I can dig out the part number (aka pull the bulb and eyeball the code) if you haven't done that last bit yet. Hadn't thought about wiring the parking lights to the old turn signals, I am hunting for real fog lights but that will be a little something in the meanwhile!

If you live in an area with a lot of cold and/or dry you may want a battery that is sure to start and/or not dry up if you let it sit too long. Mostly cold, though. If it is sealed properly, outside humidity shouldn't have a dramatic affect. *Runs downstairs to check the battery water*

The stub itself should not move much. The axle, however, will sometimes have a small amount of play like what you are describing. Or my front two did, anyway, and searching the forum others have mentioned it as well. Get the axle off and double check, but I would guess it's play in the axle DOJ cup and not the stub.

Before you spend time and a dime on the suspension, check your tires. Are they worn down? Worn evenly? No odd, rough, uneven, bumps, some more/less worn than the others? Are any worn unevenly? It could be suspension, but a walk around with eyeballs--or even a quick alignment at a shop (about $50-$90) will rule this out before you get into the time of trouble shooting your suspension.

EA82, not studs, 9 bolts iirc, though it could be 10. Either way, the chilton's manual misses one, but you can work it into the pattern they do show.

D'oh, I forgot about the EA81 lacking the hatch. The rest is good to learn, thank you!

Does the hatch door in the rear still open with the rustoleum? I've been debating ways to keep the hinges active as I want to put bed liner in. Different product, but similar concept.

It's a pain to pull, but it will make your life infinitely easier.

My current favorite story in this regard is something like this: One day last fall I noticed a lot of oil sprayed all over the inside of my hood. I determined it wasn't a gasket, but wasn't sure what it WAS. After some thought a friend persuaded his apartment manager to let me park in their apartment lot long enough for me to figure out what it was. (I have street parking). Pretty quickly figured out it was the PCV valve, but tore it all apart and did the heads anyway as it was time. I had a second pair on hand that were milled, so it was just a matter of tearing things apart, cleaning, swapping in new parts, and spending half my life tightening those damn head bolts. Takes for freaking ever. Anyway, when the apartment manager came by in the afternoon after I had everything apart, I told him it was just a little oil leak, he could see I was scrubbing (with a brillo pad) on a really black part (a piston head) and that it should all be back together by morning. (It was). Had to get up at 6am the next morning to finish bolting the valve covers on, then left a note that "the engine is all together, just letting the sealant dry for a few hours". And went to work. Bolted the accessories on that night after work and drove it home. Not sure I want to do it in that much of a hurry again. EVER. But it can be done in as little as 8 hours with proper prep, as long as you allow 24 hours after you finish for the silicone to set.

Right turns with some 'Gs', or any right turn--even one out of a parking space, for example? Could also be a loose wire that slides just enough to the left when you turn right...maybe not. That's really weird. Could be you give it less gas when turning right?

Unless everything lets go at once, you'll be ok doing 1000 miles. If it's getting normal mileage that's two tanks and change, and running at a constant speed and temp the whole way. I'd be more concerned if it was off/on/off/on/off on all the time.

May look bad now, but those vans are sweet when they are shiny and running

Can you not get clamps and antifreeze at your local gas station/hardware store?

You left out "a lot of curse words". Or is that specific to my method?

Not so much low mileage as lucky. The timing belt cover bolts are held in by round 'nuts' with little teeth that bite the plastic. In theory they hold firm in the plastic while you turn the bolt, but in reality they usually come loose and spin endlessly. Or the plastic cracks ever so slightly and puts no pressure on the nuts, causing them to spin endlessly... Easier to just rip them off and get it over with (or use zip ties to hold them on).

I strongly recommend checking and/or replacing the clutch while you have the motor out (or at least the clutch related bearings). Have fun with the motor--it's an easy and fun one to work on

There is a spacer with some free play in the middle of the hub. If you look into the hole where the axle will come through you may see it has slid out of position. Just use a finger to put it back, hold it until the tip of the axle is in place to hold it, and shove. Make sure to move your finger! Once the tip of the axle/cv joint thingie is sticking out, thread the axle nut on and use that to 'grab' with whatever you have on hand--screw driver, bearing removal tool, etc. Thread as needed, but don't crank on the nut until the whole thing is properly seated.

I had a similar reaction. I caught up on the thread this afternoon and am still rubbing my eyes this evening. Good to know about the at v mt. Makes sense since I've read all the "take the drive train with you when you swap at/mt..." bits. Just didn't connect that dot with the wheelbase dot for some reason. Guessing the 0.2 inch difference in the wheel base is not significant as long as there is enough lip to bite and hold the bits together (that is to say there is a little play built into the system that accommodates the small difference). Or there is no difference and the guy who made the chart I linked to just measured poorly.

I am considering trying these guys: http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/guide1.cgi No idea whether it will work or not. A dealer or bigger parts store should be able to help. There is one NAPA I have to go to here for the more unusual requests as the other shops have only a limited inventory and/or clueless guy/gal behind the desk. I know they have to fill a shift, and people need jobs, but if all you know how to do is look in the computer and say "that's not stock for this car!"...I'm at least asking for the supervisor, if not going to another shop. And I don't mean for unusual things--I've gotten that asking for belts, hoses, and bulbs of which there are dozens and we just have to look through them until we find one that meets my needs. Moral of the story, try a few more shops (a bigger one, preferably) or a dealer. If nothing else the dealer will be able to order what you need.