CarYenta

Thanks for the tips! I'm here to learn, not for praise so no worries. The blue painters tape ripped 😂 so I added a few extra layers. Managed to not actually scrape it however. I raised the front of the car up as suggested and that definitely helped in getting the propshaft lined up as well. The top tunnel gaitor I didn't realize was elastic, so it made it over the hand brake no problem, silly me. Had to remove 6 carefully placed zip ties to unplug the heated seat connectors :/ I put a pan under the transmission plug and drained the fluid as recommended, worked great. Except then I had to remove the engine again to change the chain lengths, plugged the hole, put engine back into the car at a large tilt, and unplugged it expecting no fluid to come out. Suffice it to say, that was real dumb! Poured out all over me. Alas, engine is in! Engine mounts on, transmission mounts not quite all the way on. I'm going to install one of the 4 carrier bolts upside down (nut inside the car) as there's two or three extremely stiff wires blocking the bolt from coming in through the top. I guess people in England have to worry about MOT inspection but not I. I had to take off in total: the intake manifold, radiator, intercooler, oil cooler, super charger reservoir, supercharger, alternator, and two pulleys. Also, I was as close as I could get the hoist at one point, it was touching the sway bar, so had to manually push to swing the engine over the upper cross members. I'd recommend anyone thinking of the smaller harbor freight 1 ton hoist to get one with a longer reach. The transmission is a little skewed and is touching the tunnel on the left side. I plan to play around with a pry bar while tightening to see if I can get it centered better. Here's going in before removing the upper left alternator and just below black pulley, with a jack under the transmission to help level it with the propshaft: From underneath helping align with the prop shaft: My askew transmission: Engine in from top with a few things being reinstalled: And done for the day

Oh interesting, I will try again! Stock handle.

The issue is my hand brake handle appears to be glued on. There are no grub screws. I have to take that off?

Mated the transmission tonight, decided to give the engine-in a go. Quickly realized that indeed, the radiator and oil cooler needed to be removed or else the hoist can't move for enough back. Managed to jam the transmission into the bottom frame rails as the box-bars at the bottom are quite a bit narrower than higher up. Jacked up the rear so ji could guide it in better for a re-try. Thought it was going to make it, but the supercharger and mount are barely in the way. Giving up for tonight and have to take that off. I'm a little confused about: 1) when I pull the cap off the end of the transmission to mate the driveshaft, am I going to get a face full of transmission fluid?? 2) how to attach the two wires at the top of the transmission 3) how to remove the hand brake handle to pull off the center console trim 4) the two bolts at the very bottom of the transmission bell housing are not used, right? They were attached to the dry sump skid plate.

Noted - the feet are quite longer than where the engine hangs. If it feels tippy at all I'll move the top arm a few notches back.

Engine and transmission about to be mated. I managed to lift the engine out of the crate 180 degrees backwards, doh! Questions: Does the transmission spline and throw out bearing require any lubricant? Do I put locktite on pretty much everything? Or nothing? What is the engine mount torque of the main center bolt? Cheers!

Prepping engine bay. Removed intercooler and rotrex fluid can, engine mounts, moved some wiring and tubing around. Hoist getting prepped, car moved over a bit since my garage door opener motor was in the way Going to try to keep the radiator on.

Step 1 complete, car delivered to garage!

Excellent! I really hope everything is smooth and easy.

Is the rear undercoating needed for non-carbon fiber arches?

It is still a build kit, there's just a bit less to do on 620's compared to other models as the factory doesn't want one to mess up the flagship or CSR's? Unsure why that is

Car is almost here! In the meantime, I can't find a single 620 S with a 5 speed engine/transmission install guide or build blog other than the official Caterham guide. Can someone point me in the right direction?

My 620 is at port right now and I paid about 10% extra. Car is not yet in my driveway so we'll see if that's final or not.