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suits you best, but they should not be still attached to the front cross member if you do remove them from the car. Remove the rack from the cross member as well, and the servo may need to come out. With everything removed from the car, the front of the shell can be lifted fairly easily by two people and placed on high axle stands, remember to chock the back wheels or put the handbrake on if it is still fitted.
A suitable trolley on which can be placed the new engine, box and cross member is a very useful piece of kit at this stage. The engine and gearbox can be put together, without manifolds and alternator, and the ally sump (including RS oil pump pick up pipe) and bell housing should already be fitted, Your cross member can be inserted underneath the engine and the mounts can be fitted. RS 2000 ally mounts look the best, but other ones can be fitted. A small amount of cross member may have to be trimmed away from near the ally sump, just for clearance.
You will need to remove the old gearbox mounts from under the tunnel and the stiffening cross member just behind the gear lever hole will also have to be modified for clearance. A small amount of ‘adjusting’ with a mallet may be required on the tunnel to clear the bell housing. There will be more adjustments to be made, but do not try to do it all at once as you will remove too much, it is better to take a little at a time and get it right. If your shell is supported properly on good ground and your trolley is sturdy and has good wheels, then five or six trial fits should not be a problem. Two strong people are required at all times for this part of the conversion.
If you are trying to do this from above with a crane, then you will have far more problems and you will struggle a good deal more. The angle at which you have to lower the engine prevents you from clearing the bulkhead and you can severely damage your car, so just remove the front cross member and do it from underneath, it is so much easier.
Once the engine and box are situated in the engine bay, your problems will start. Your exhaust manifold wants to be where your steering column is, your radiator will not fit, so you have to cut a chunk out of the lower front cross member and the top slam panel to ‘let in’ an RS 2000 radiator, your servo may have to go, if it hasn’t already, and just wait until you try to find a clutch cable that will reach around a four branch exhaust manifold without melting and still able to operate the clutch properly.
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