Yes I did and I have to say I would do it again with it on. All in I would guess it took me 15 to maybe 20 hours total time and I did it over two weekends because I’m in no hurry to run the car in the snow. Instructions get a little "light" towards the back end on the process but you can figure it out no problem.
My advice is:
Step 9g - you will need the studs to re-install so don’t damage them when removing (as I did),
Step 11 - the tensioner is REALLY tight, you will need a 19mm 3/8 drive socket to clear the car’s frame (1/2 drive will not clear frame) and a cheater bar in order to get the leverage to make this puppy move – no cheater bar = no leverage = no movement,
Step 14 - Ain't no way you are going to get a drill in there to drill out the pop rivets so plan on cutting them out, I used a sharp chisel/hammer and they came right out,
Step 22 - angle in the SC passenger side first - its really a tight fit, also I don’t feel that it is necessary to install the gasket until you are ready to mount the SC so after you get it in the car you can mount the gasket to the studs just before finally placing the SC on the studs. You will want to re-install the "triangular bracket" removed in Step 9d which supports the wiring harness, this is the best time to do this (I did it later),
Step 26a&b - do this before you mount the SC into the car so you have lots of room to do it right, my wires did not need much in terms of "extra", I would have been screwed if they did after I had everything in,
Step 26 - the actual alternator install needs 4 hands,
Step 32 - took me a long time before I could comprehend what they were talking about... the bracket that holds the fresh air valve needs to be bent 180 degrees towards the engine compartment, I found the easiest way to do this was with the valve on but that means you need to disconnect the hose that connects it to the canister, its best do it so you don’t have to disconnect the hose as it will fit perfectly. It’s a bitch to get a new clamp on the canister side, you might try to connect the valve/can to the bracket from the engine side and bend the bracket and disconnect and install from wheel well,
Step 32 is a two man job, 1 to man for the tensioner (see step 11) and the other to slip on the belt.
Other than # 26 & 32 I did the whole job solo and had no problems Also; take blue painters tape and label all plugs (both sides), I forgot where the fresh air valve plug was inserted for about 1 hour and it would have been 10 seconds if I had placed a piece of tape there, its easy to see the tape and make sure you have everything connected and painters tape also leaves little to no residue. My final thought is that I placed every part from each step in a baggie and labeled the bag with the step and the # of parts and any info on how they were correctly places so when it came to putting it back I knew where they went, what order and what size socket/wrench I needed.
Good luck, it’s easy and fun.
