r 72 vvt gearbox removal

hello all,having a noisy bearing drone,I thought it was time I got the gearbox off,and having read how difficult it was to drop down oast the cross member,I didn't know what to expect,well,if you take both front prop shafts off,and remove the gear selector housing bracket s and the bracket that mounts the rear mounting and exhaust mounting,there is loads of room.the trouble is accessing the starter bolts,and the top bellhousing bolts,especially the nearside top one which is the worst of all,and seemed to be the tightest.Splitting the box from the engine wasn't too bad a few taps with a lump hammer on a block off wood started it off,then I gently levered it apart,when it came off all at once,but is not that heavy you cant hold it,though it is quite heavy,so some form of support woud bea good idea,but then you cant get at the gearbox to pull it off the splines.There is no need to remove the transfer box,at least not on the vvt r72 cars.So all in all,all be it with plenty of cursing,lol its not really as bad as what you expect,though maybe the earlier cars are more of a struggle.It has though taken the best part of 3 days, but that was due to other commitments,and the cold weather,leading to frequent breaks to get warm again,its no fun doing it on your front garden.it does however take an assortment of socket extensions and universal joints,and on the nearside top bellhousing bolt,a block of wood to lever against the socket bars ,to keep the socket square on the bolt,I had to use a breaker bar on the bellhousing bolts to start them off.but its all about patience more then anything else,though the access is difficult,and made worse by the fact its difficult to see the top bellhousing bolts,also the breather pipe on top of the gearbox is totally out of sight,I dint know it was there until it came off as I lowered the gear box.I was tempted to try stripping the gearbox myself,but thought better of it, so tomorrow,its going to a gearbox specialist to have the bearings replaced,though how long they will last remains to be seen.I bought the r 72 kit off e bay,and as there was no problem changing gear,it should be ok,cost will be around 180 pounds,according to the estimate.So its worth the effort involved in taking the box off yourself if you have the time.Hope this is of interest.