i am contemplating taking the engine out of my vitara to do some work on it. i dont think i need to now, but may need to later on in near future, so i'm trying to decide whether to do it now or later.

i was wondering if anyone could give me a descent rundown for taking the motor out. whats more difficult, and what to watch out for.

i have an 8 valve carby 1600cc, no air con, no power steering, and not much to it really.

if i drop the gear box out, and take off the extractors, and intake manifold, diconnect any vacuum and brake lines, and all the other cables, i should be right, right?

i dont have a shop manual..... yet, but is this about it? how many engine mounts are there?

should i leave the gearbox on and pull it all out together? what about the radiator?

i sorry for the silly questions, its just that i've been working flat out to get more money to fix it up, so i haven't had a great deal of time to go and take a good look.

any help, advice, and tips would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Steve

p.s, if i do pull the engine out, should i upgrade the clutch? i'm guessing 99% will say yes, and so, what type to use, and who's using what?

thanks again.

Here you go, scroll down to the 1.6L Section:

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1d/f5/55/0900823d801df555.jsp&eraseCrumbs=YES

Obviously the pics may be slightly different than your Aussie Kick. I'd go back with a stock Suzuki clutch. I've heard too many horror stories about aftermarket clutches, especially Centerforce.

if i drop the gear box out, and take off the extractors, and intake manifold, diconnect any vacuum and brake lines, and all the other cables, i should be right, right?

p.s, if i do pull the engine out, should i upgrade the clutch? i'm guessing 99% will say yes, and so, what type to use, and who's using what?

Just taking a quick mental walk-through, I'm guessing you might want to disconnect the fuel line, too.  
EDIT:  Well, if you take the whole intake manifold off, I guess you'll have that covered, eh?

I have upgraded to a Centerforce clutch, but discussing this with other Kick pilots, many are still running stock clutch, with no problems.  I had the opportunityy, while I was re-gearing my transfer case, so I went ahead and installed the cheaper of the two Centerforce units.