Good luck!
I swapped mine while I had the gearbox out, even with good access it was awkward getting the connections off the old, getting the old out and the new into position and fitting the hoses onto the new.
Mine is a '99 with 130k, I only replaced it because I heard horror stories and thought I should replace while I had access. There was oil in every port so probably the old was probably failing - that reminds me I still have it to cut open and look at the diaphragm on the old one.
The vacuum lines are a little fragile (aged rigid plastic), and the o rings inside them had hardened making them a total pig get off and then back on. The force required to pull them off whilst trying not to snap them is a lot.
I replaced the o rings after a while of struggling then when I ran the engine there was an air leak from one (identified using a home made smoke machine). The o ring had got damaged when I pushed it on (almost impossible to vget it on straight and push it in the correct plane, so I had to get in there and swap the o ring again.
The online guides make it sound easy, and it might well be if your car is a lot younger.
noblebenn said:
I work on my cars because I enjoy it
So do I but this was not much fun. I wouldn't contemplate doing it again without either A) dropping the engine or b) dropping the gearbox and having replacement rigid vacuum lines on hand.
It would be a doddle if the engine was dropped. I reckon I could do it blindfolded with the engine dropped.
If you car has never had the over gearbox brake line changed it might be worth dropping the gearbox at least. Its not that hard.