Toyota Repair: 96 Camry Front Engine Mount, bolt holes, gotchas


Question
I plan on replacing the front engine mount in my 96' 4 cylinder automatic Camry with 153K miles.  I purchased the Factory Service Manual from Toyota but there is suprising little information on how to replace it.

The process seems straight forward.

1.  Support engine
2.  Remove 3 bolts securing insulator to the front crossmember
3.  Remove bolt on top of insulator connecting it to the bracket.


However one of the bolts, the one closest to the radiator, securing the insulator to the crossmenber appears to be screwed in from the bottom.  Do I need to put the car on some ramps and remove the plastic engine cover to access this bolt or can I do it from above without jacking up the car?  If I do, should I put the car on ramps loosen the front bolt and then drive it off and attack the other bolts?

All I have is a floor jack and some ramps.  I have read that the bolts can be difficult to loosen.  Any other advice or hidden gotchas would be greatly appreciated.  

Answer
The lower plastic cover needs to be removed to access that front bolt, remove it and then remove the other two bolts from the top, remove the upper bolt from the mount, then lift up the engine enough to remove the mount, install the new mount with the top bolt first but leave it loose then lower the engine until the lower bolt holes line up and install the bolts but do not tighten any of them until they are all started in the threads by hand, once they are all installed they can be tightened one by one until tight.