Thanks for the write up, it made the disassembly go much quicker.
I needed a slide hammer to get the reverse idler shaft out though what a PITA. Darn Michigan winters eatin' away at my car. I had some slick snap ring pliers, you adjusted them by turning the handle so they locked into posistion. I set them to the lock ring opening and tapped them with a hammer and bingo! 10 seconds a ring for removal.
I did have to play around with the shifting forks to get the shaft to come out. 2 and 3 needed to be moved up or down a bit to get 1 out because of the check ball/shaft on the side of the shaft facing the differential. Same with 2, 3 needed to be moved up a bit before I could get the shaft out for 2. After that it was a breeze. Definately not a project to be scared of.
I've added Thermoblok spacers to my intake mani, and I'd have to say that removing the tranny and opening it was about the same if not easier. I haven't put it back on yet though so we'll see.
Here's why the tranny needed to be dropped:
http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=171741
