WAYNE - I always do PTO work thru the grill screen area. Everything has to come out the frt anyhow, it's tight but enough room. My 70 deoesn't have it's screen in and the 72's comes out with just twisting two little conical springs.
I even pull & install engines with the grill casting still in place. My 72 has lights but I relocated the V/R to back inside the frame under the seat. And my lights have soldered connections, so I'd either have to remove the head light panel or cut & resolder the wire for the lights. And I don't think the straight pipe on the K321 in the 72 would be considered a "proper muffler", but allows room for PTO work.
I look at it as more work, more hardware to remove, keep track of & reinstall, and two less large and somewhat fragile pieces to have to find room for to set around the shop (hood & grill separated). Plus the PTO rockshaft & lever would be floating around loose. It only takes a minute to loosen the turnbuckle with one 7/16" open end wrench and it's out of the way.
The 70 is a "work in process", but eventually will be almost a twin to the 72 in a lot of respects.
The 982 is almost totally stock and will stay that way, to get that Onan out I think grill removal and slide the engine forward would be easiest. That big 4 gal. gas tank & firewall would have to come out otherwise.
I guess I look at it this way, when I replaced the vacuum pump in my PSD, the factory HELM manual started out; 1. Drain radiator; 2. remove radiator; 3. remove serpentine belt; 4. remove fan; 5. remove three bolts from vacuum pump & remove pump.
I started with item #5, and a half hour later opened my second beer with the NEW vacuum pump installed even after switching the pulley from the old pump to the new pump. That's how the Ford dealer service techs make their money, their standard labor rates are based on factory manual operations, but they find ways to do it quicker with less work for the same money! You might not always be able to use power tools or impact tools, but the work gets done quicker.
