Its a much bigger PITA if you take them all the way off versus just taking the radiator support out there is really no need to remove the fenders or mess with the A/C to remove the engine other than unhooking the a/c lines.....

 

As it was, I had several bolts break off when I took the rad support out... The condenser has to be moved out of the way no matter the method if you take the front off either way. The hoses and compressor still have to be dealt with all the same. That aspect is the same if the fenders stay or just the support is pulled. Only real difference is the wiring harness.

 

Just an update. I spent most of 5 days working on it but got the engine swap done over New Year's weekend. I had Friday off work and took Thursday and Monday off. Had a buddy helping me Friday, Saturday, and half the day Sunday.

Pulled it all apart and got the motor almost ready to pull Thursday. Got it out and swapped some of the parts over on Friday. One major issue we ran into was that the "new" motor had original IP & injectors in it so we swapped mine from my motor over to the replacement motor. One of the injectors in the replacement motor was so stuck that it unthreaded in the middle leaving the bottom half in the hole. That took a couple of hours to get out, but we finally did get it out.

Saturday we got the rest of the injection system, alternator, vac pump, etc. swapped over and the motor back into position.

Sunday we got everything buttoned back up and I got 'er started before knocking off for the day. Monday I put the hood, radiator, support, grill, bumper, etc. back on, and cleaned everything up. Drove it home Monday night. Ran like a champ and drove like a different truck. No more smoking, no more stinking, runs smoother, more power. Seems better in every way.