I made it through. Have been busy as crap at my other site and rarely get a chance to check in anymore.
Christmas was good and New Years was alright. I got my health and my family so I guess it'll be a good one.
Welcome aboard. I think you'll like it here, we're all a little off in some way or another. And where is Tex anyway? Had the afternoon off again or something?
IIRC I didn't do the loosen the mounts thing. I did however have to remove the alternator to get my hand back behind there. That seemed easier than loosening the mounts.
I had a 1991 Lumina that was my wife's car, put close to 100K on it and didn't have anything big go wrong. I decided to due a tune up and after changing the plugs in it I decided to stay away from sideways motors. Good car though in my opinion. That sucks about the steep labor.
You should be ok, I've known a few guys that have them and they love them. There's not too many people out there that would just crawl under your truck to drain your oil.