Made an effort this past weekend...
Decided to just pry out the slender rear main seal...and tap in another - hardly any hassle. Glad I did not have to pull the entire plate off.
Back together it went - easier knowing a few of the tricks required like disconnecting the steering shaft, lowering the powerplant subframe like 5 inches!, and using a trans jack!
Did have to bleed the clutch as line was disconnected and had not been done before...minimal issue. Bit of a challenge to access (don't drop the tiny 8 mm wrench into the bellhousing! I put a ziptie on it...) and you have to lower the cradle/engine/trans to do so, but the bleeder was on the top of the slave so that was a nice advancement over the ZF I used to work with. It also uses the brake master for a reservoir...glad I had a willing 15 year old helper who got to 'drive' the machine.
My bigger challenge was when I lowered the engine cradle so far that the pins were no longer 'registering' and become misaligned. Considering the weight you are dealing with (the entire engine/trans could drop out!). I was a bit cautious on how to get past lip to reset. Some prying and finagling the bolt tensions was all it took. I plan to buy new front cradle bolts considering how things were dangling...
Looks much better when it is back together and running...one start up and no leaks or smoking wires as of yet...
and hear it not roar (in Germany at night...don't wake the neighbors!)...video below:
Now to pull the blower off and send out for some porting and pulley change (less boost!)