My father in law's 95 850 has a leaky rear engine seal. His private mechanic estimated $1000 to replace it. I swapped the 5-cylinder engine in my wife's '94 850, so I have some idea of how to work on that car. But I have a few questions about his mechanic's estimate and whether I should be foolish and volunteer to replace the rear seal.

1. Is $1000 reasonable just to replace the rear engine main bearing seal? Or is the mechanic trying to take advantage of a 75-year old man who no longer walks well?

2. Mechanic says it is possible to remove the transmission while the engine is still in the car. Is this true? If so, can somebody send me the procedure? Is it advisable to leave the engine in the car when replacing the rear main engine seal?

3. I hoisted the engine up out of the engine bay when I swapped it. The 850 has amazingly little clearance through which to lift that engine. In retrospect, I now wonder whether it would have been simpler to leave the engine attached to the subframe and lift the 850 body off the subframe. Any suggestions/observations?

4. Is it at all reasonable for me to contemplate replacing the rear main engine seal myself? I have a lot of experience on 140, 240, 740 (including turbo) -- I'm a pretty experienced shade tree mechanic.

Thanks for the advice.