oops

I've been, I think, fairly careful in the disassembly up to this point.  I realized something the other day, though.  I was relaxing with my Haynes manual, reviewing the 'pull the transmission' section when I realized that 'remove all of the bolts from the bell housing' came AFTER 'support the engine with a block of wood under the oil pan and use a chain to support the transmission.'  So... I need to do those things, I think.  Of course, rather than do them, I did a few other things this weekend.  Got another seat belt disconnected, swept out the interior a little more... then I did something really fun... I jacked up the rear end and took out the driveshaft.  It's surprisingly easy to take out... just four little bolts off of the U-joint at the rear and and then pull it out of the transmission.

Of course... I was supposed to mark the orientation of the driveshaft on the pinion so I could put it back the same way... <sigh>

Also came across this interesting bit... I have no instructions that say 'drain the transmission fluid' before pulling the driveshaft... however:

So that's great.  So much for my 'clean' garage floor.  Of course, the entire transmission is coated with coil and crud, so when it comes out that'll be nice anyway.  What I'm wondering if this means that the rear seal on the transmission needs to be replaced... of course if I'm going to have it out anyway, I should replace that seal as a matter of course while I'm at it.  Hoping to pull the engine this weekend, maybe I'll take the tranny out before that, we'll see how busy this week gets.

Here's the rear end.  I'm hoping the 'after' pictures look better... ;-)