Did anyone pull the engines on a sport without removing the sofa or separating them from the gearbox?

We can't get them out, once pulled out of the gimbal they get stuck under the back rest of the rear sofa. Maybe if I remove the water pump I can squeeze them out.

Tilt and turn it,,, they will come out. My new sport has the top of the back seat hinged so it tilts forward, makes it much easer.

Definitely hinge the rear seat forward,we always take out the seat when we work on the engines,just a lot easier.See attached photo. Bud

Wouldn't hinging the bench seat create a negative structural loss?.......I mean, the bench seat on my sport backs right to (what appears to be) an engine wall bulkhead.......is it not necessary?

Scippy,attached are some additional photos.You can see how the seat is hinged from the front so you can access pumps,batteries.There is a structural wall/stringer however it is usually lower so you can have easier access to the engine compartment. Bud

Folding the back seat is cheating. :-)

I'm not big on working with plastics and rebuilding the rear sofa wont happen this season or the next but maybe some day. I'll remove the water pump after summer and try it again.

Mark, it looks like you have a cross over without bypass, do you know yet what temperature you are running? Mine feels a bit to cold so I'm changing to a 160 degree stat.

Remove the back seat? You haven't lived until you have stood on your head throught the back seat storage hole to remove the motor mount bolts.

That's funny!!

With a Volvo setup mine come out fairly easy with a little tilting and turning., My back seat was fixed in place.

Thank you
Jim

I actually put my shoulders on the valvecovers and stuck my head down between the engines so I could reach the bottom bolt on the engine mount plate.