FD engine removal
 

Can I remove the FD engine without taking out the trans , like the manual says you have to take out the ,Exhaust ,driveshaft, long arm, and transmission, thats a bunch of work just to get the engine out.

you can leave the tranny in...but it's still a bunch of work to get it out, haha!

There is no reason to take out the trans unless you have a problem with it.

In some respects it's easier to pull the whole thing (if you have someone to help) rather than separating the two and joining them back together under the car.
I'd say it's pretty much flip a coin.

Yeah people find it easier to take out the whole thing. But personally I think leaving the tranny in is much easier. Cause it was a bitch to put it back in. You need at least two to three people to put everything back. But still the whole process is still a bitch. Prepare to spent at least two days.

IMO, if you are keeping the stock motor mounts, pull the tranny with it. IMO, its more of a pain to mate the tranny in the car with the engine during the reinstall with the stock mounts. If you are using aftermarket mounts, it's easy as you can just stick the mounts on at the last minute. ;)

I recently pulled my engine and wondered the same thing. I decided to follow the DVD from Rotary Aviation and pulled the engine without the tranny. The only tough part was reaching the top bolt on the bell housing. You will need a 14 mm wrench that is bent and about 12 inches long. We taped two box wrenches together with electrical tape and it worked like a charm! Like Mahjik said, it is easier to remove the motor mounts first to give you more wriggle room. I also pulled mine with the downpipe on rather than try to remove it with the engine in the car.

Hey that is a great trick, I figured that out after doing one or two the hard way.

If you pull the intake, which takes about 5 minutes, you can get right down in there with enough room for your hands.

Pulling the intake is what I did, but it still helps to have that 14mm flex socket and the 24" extension that the Rotary Aviation video suggests. I used that and had NO problems.

For that top bolt, I use a long double ended closed-end wrench (12mm on one side, 14mm on the other side). Sears sells a long one that works perfect. If you need to add a little torque to it, the 12mm side is slim enough to slip another longer bar on it (I use a bar from a floor jack) for that extra "umph".

reversiable gearwrench has about 30 degree angle and works great!

I dont know if this will help or not, but rotary resurrection has a good write up on engine removal:

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/3rdgen/techmenu.html

...I followed this just a couple weeks ago, worked great. Previously I always left the tranny in. IMO pulling both is easier. I'm also thinking I would rather have an easier time assembling the pieces out of the car even if it is more difficult to put the whole assembly back in.

...the tech advice on flywheel removal too...good stuff

I believe the person's name is Kevin that owns the website...Thanks Kevin!

'bout time someone started using that stuff. I've got thousands of hours in documenting and writing those pages, and thousands of dollars in website design.