Least painful way to change oil filter tree gasket?

As mentioned in my rebuild thread the oil filter tree gasket has failed just after the motor went back in the car. I really REALLY don't want to pull the entire motor out again so I'm thinking what would be the next possible option for access.

My current thoughts are to pull the drivers side exhaust and dump off, steering knuckle and starter motor to access the circlip for the wastegate actuator rod and remove the top two bolts with a ratchet spanner (bottom two bolts are fairly easy to access from under the car).

Once the top two bolts are out there should be plenty of room to pop the tree off the block without fouling on the manifold or turbo.

Any failures with this plan I'm not thinking about?

 

I was pretty sure it's impossible to get it out with the turbo and manifold installed, top bolts are too long.

 

I've got a spare motor on the stand with the tree still on, will bolt a manifold on tonight and check to make sure. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Is it dripping or pissing out? If you put the wrong bolts (too long) the oil will piss out.

 

Absolutely pissing out once the engine runs. The bolts seem to do up tight on the alloy housing though, doesn't feel like they have bottomed out before securing the housing.

 

We had that trouble on Cara's car. Wrong bolt that looked just right. Was a touch too long and we had oil out everywhere when it was started.

 

Here's hoping that's the issue, will be a holy grail fix for sure!

 

Get someone else to do the job while you grab a chair and beer and just watch... Should be painless.