4hrs and skinned knuckles has it finished. Anyone doing this on their back in the garage deserves a medal!

Now what do I do with this handful of screws!

 Worse things happen at sea! Well thats what swmbo said when WRENS came to sea!!!

mike & the mechanics wrote:

No with the rads still in place it would be a bit silly to take them off. Space is tight but the awkward part is getting the Alternator out past the turbo pipe work.

After reading the introductory part of this discussion, I decided to try it out on the parking lot.

The procedure, as described, works well. I'd just like to add that removing the front bracket for the alternator and also loosening the high pressure turbo pipe from the cylinder head, makes it even easier to wiggle, and not to forget, getting to the main power connector nut on the alternator. And then it's quite easy to get the nut back on, since it's possible to get your hand between the upper turbo pipe and the alternator. It's still fiddly, but just doable, unless you have really big hands.

Getting the turbo pipe back in place, making the threads on the bolts catch, is another problem. Starting with the lower, thinner bolt, helped me. The upper one is at 45 degrees angle, pointing downwards, so it's almost impossible to start with that one, since there is quite a lot of tension on the pipe. Took me about an hour, with very aching hands, afterwards.

I'd say the mentioned spent time is a bit optimistic. If you've not done it before (and you haven't, since you're reading this) is 6 hours for dismantling and the same for assembly. If I was to do it again, maybe I'd say 4 plus 4. Sticky hoses and bolts at awkward positions is what is costing most of the time.

-- R