Disassembling the Engine

With the engine on the stand remove the alternator, power steering pump, intake plenum, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, and all 3 plastic timing covers. Use plastic baggies and labels to keep all of your bolts separated so you do not have to dig through a bolt bucket. If you are going to re-use the timing belt make sure you mark it in the direction that it spins so that it is put back on in the right direction. Remove the timing belt, tensioner, and spring. ( I purchased a new spring from 3sx.com for $7, a new tensioner from Advance Auto for $25, I think). Remove the water pump, oil pan, valve covers, and oil pump.Using an end yoke holder, remove the crank pulley. If you have problems removing the oil pan, with the engine bottom pointing down, carefully put a flat head screw driver in between the oil pan and the block and pry up. (the reason I say pry up is because you do not want to dig the point of the screwdriver into the gasket surface of the block)
You will need an 8mm hex bit to remove the head bolts (if you are re-using the old head bolts be sure to keep them organized so that they go back in their original positions) . When I was removing the head bolts I discovered one that was stripped so I went out and bought a set of Craftsman bolt extractors from Sears.com (best $20 ever). The head bolts are hex bolts and do not have a hex head so removal can be a nightmare when they are stripped. If you run into this problem you can either weld another bolt onto the head and twist it out or you can place one of the extractors over the head tap it on with a hammer and twist it out with a breaker bar.

After removing the heads make sure you mark which head goes on the what side of the engine. Place the heads on a towel or on something soft so that you do not scar the gasket surface. Turn the engine upside down and remove the 8 bolts that hold on the girdle.  Unbolt all of the connecting rods and remove the end caps ( if you have problems removing them you can place a towel over the end cap and use a set of vise grips to wiggle them loose.) You should remove these one at a time ( pull one cap off, push the piston out with a thin piece of wood, and put it back together and label it with the piston number). Remove the rear main seal assembly, then remove the crankshaft.  Place all sensitive parts on towels to keep from getting scratched (i.e., crankshaft, rods, heads, etc.)   If you have a parts cleaner then you can soak these parts to clean them, if not, you can use Purple Power to soak them in.If you use any cleaner to clean any engine parts be sure to rinse and properly dry the parts. I used Gunk Engine Bright gel because it is thick enough to stay on the parts and it does a good job to remove the grease(caution Engine Bright Gel has to be rinsed with water so make sure all steel parts are completely dry or they will rust, then coat the parts in a thin layer of clean engine oil or reassembly lube)