Speedy88 wrote:Am I just being a whiny bitch?
i'd say yes, the CVT gearbox is about twice as heavy (and not to forget about 3 times bigger) as the manual 5 speed and i did that all by myself a few weeks ago with just a jack and a pair of axle stands
you want to get the rear axle high enough for jack + gearbox to slide under it, that's the easyest way. i've also kept the car lower once to put the box on the jack from under the car but that resulted in a sore back a day later, it's not a pleasent position for heavy lifting.
about the handbrake cable, on your car you can simply undo the nut where the single cable goes further into 2 cables to each rear wheel, this is located right above the center of the gearbox. you can indeed disassemble the subframe if your rattle is low enough (and with use of a high socket) to clear the cars flour but, in the end that's more of a bitch to do..
a good trick is a piece of strong plywood to put the gearbox on and get it level, finding the balance on the jack is much easyer after that, that way it won't fall off that often
