zimmy said:
use a rope to hold the shaft
up when ur ready to reinstall....z
That's what I did too (probably because you told me to!).
Through the shifter hole. Just looped it under the shaft and pulled the rope up and weighted the ends or tied it or something. Got the engine/tranny "close" and slid it in, then just kept backing in the engine.
General thoughts from a recent first timer:
Even though I had a tilt mechanism on my hoist, I still struggled to get enough angle to clear coming and going. I was alone though. Add a helper and that's probably quite a bit easier.
Hoist arm was just barely long enough to reach far enough to in/out. I had the whole car high on stands so my hoist "legs" could clear alright but plan for clearance under the car as the hoist moves in and out, axle stand placement and such, room to crawl under.
Getting the radiator bolts out and back in was harder then the engine pull.
Getting the sequence right as motor mount detachment, reinstall is important too. Look it up here. I forget already, but it's something like remove the engine plate from the mount bracket on the left but remove the whole mounting bracket on the right....don't quote me on that.