I appreciate the thought Jay but I don't feel like I'm breaking new ground. Hell if I worked in a Porsche shop I would have been fired already for taking too long. Or smiling too much.
Besides, Wayne already wrote the book which I've found to be super helpful. The Bentley manual does cover engine removal and it was really great to have another reference. Past cylinder head removal though, the Bentley manual goes dark.
I'm mostly writing to add to the database of "how to" and things I learned along the way.
I guess now would be a good time to confess a couple of mistakes I've made. A sort of "confessions of an idiot with tools" section. In no particular order...
1) The dip stick tube is not flexible. The book says to guide the tube down as you lower the engine, and I'll swear on a stack of "Excellence" magazines that somewhere it says to push the dip stick tube and wiring harness into the engine compartment.
That is one brittle piece of plastic, so DO NOT push it. That tidbit will save you about $57 on your next Pelican order. Last night I noticed that there is a disconnect on the tube, so either no one noticed that in time, or it's not accessible until after you get the engine out. I saw reference in another thread today about someone else who broke his but was going to fabricate a new one. That would be tricky to do and still get an accurate oil level reading, so I hope that poster has all the pieces and can measure carefully. Certainly not an impossible feat, you would just have to think it through.
2) There is an instruction that tells you to drain the coolant using the coolant drain plug and the picture is a bit vague. I still don't know where the coolant drain plug is, but I
do know where the oil pressure relief valve is. It's right were a coolant drain plug should be.
In my case I had it scoped out, and shoved a big metal tub under the car to catch the coolant, blocking off much of the light from my drop light. My typical trick when draining fluid is to crack it loose before shoving the catch pan under it and then spin it quickly and let it fall in the tub to be fished out later.
I remember thinking it was odd that not a whole bunch came out. Later I thought it was also odd that I was getting so damn much coolant out of every hose connection I broke even though I had already drained the coolant.
Imagine my surprise when I pulled the tub of clean coolant out with some oil floating in it, and WTF was a spring and piston doing in my coolant drain?
No harm done really, but like I said "uh. you're fired". Other than that, it has been smooth sailing.