OK. The TBA is out of its nest.

Before anything else, for the convenience of anyone else who may have to suffer through this job, let me mention a critical point that is not mentioned in any of the dozens of other posts here about TBAs:

The rear breather hose on the TBA is *not* a slip-on over a barbed connector, although you could easily be fooled into thinking that it is by its appearance, and although it *is* a slip-on on the other end of that hose.

It's actually held on to the TBA by a squeeze clamp hidden down around behind. And yes, you can get the clamp and hose off -- I just did -- but you are going to have to rotate the TBA up on the left side simply to get a rough visual on the situation, and to be able to get a tool on the squeeze clamp.

If you don't own a set already, let me commend to you the extra-long needlenose pliers sold by Harbor Freight. As with anything from Horror Fright, don't expect to pay much, and don't expect them to last -- these are six months old and already in worse shape than my 20-year-old Craftsman short needle pliers -- but for some jobs, they are great.

Second critical note: you should *not* be doing a TBA removal without a powerful shop vacuum around. I have a real monster of a vac, and I'm glad to have it.

Removing the TBA is going to leave behind a lot of stirred-up dirt. Also, pieces of the TBA-to-manifold gasket will probably come off. Mine stayed mostly in one piece, but one chunk broke off and was lying beside the intake opening. The gasket is a hard phenolic resin type material, and I think that even a small piece of it would greatly disagree with the engine's digestion on restart.

So, *immediately*, before doing anything else, as soon as the TBA is free, remove all remaining gasket material, get the vacuum nozzle down and into the intake (you will want a point-tip nozzle), and clean up the entire area inside and out, rigorously. Then cap the intake with foil or stuff a clean shop rag into it to prevent any further contamination.

s/b