Hiya
@rafterk I believe you won't have too many surprises along the journey, especially since you will have the donor car to practice on before gutting the host vehicle.
The removal goes like most, you remove and disconnect what you need to do before hooking up a cherry picker. That includes the front of the car: headlights, grill, condenser and radiator. I will share a few of the many details relating to my method.
* I start by removing the front of the car, , battery, battery tray, horn assembly, air filter/washer fluid tank and coolant recovery tank. All for having room to see and access the engine better.
* The P/S pump can be removed from it's bracket and laid aside without opening the hydraulic hoses.
* I find it provides more room to access some vital bits by discharging the A/C and removing the radiator, condenser, hoses and compressor individually.
* I remove the exhaust manifold shield and use the #5 manifold runner as the rear lift point by wrapping a small chain around it and attaching the chain to my lift bar. I don't use the front lift hook. Instead I run a bolt deeply into a bolt hole in the front of the head.
* The engine wire harness can be stripped completely off the engine, but it continues back over the starter to the transmission. I find it easiest to disconnect each and every connection, remove the ECM and brackets, disconnect the harness from under the fuse block and other couplings, and then when it's clear of the engine compartment, I strap it up off the engine up over the firewall, onto the cowl.
I struggle every time with two of the transmission to engine bolts that are obstructed by fiddly brackets with bits attached to them. If you find an elegant method for dealing with those, good onya!
MRRSM made some spot on suggestions, and I second the idea of deep maintenance while the donor engine is on the stand. I don't agree with his suggestion of replacing the motor mounts. I have not yet seen one of them fail and would not hesitate to retain them if they pass a visual inspection.
If either the host or donor vehicles happens to be AWD, then there is a subset of details to share when contemplating an engine removal.
Cheers,
Rick