While I can't answer your original question, since I did the complete disassemble, try your patience, and wear out your back and knees, while blowing an entire weekend method, I can offer a suggestion to you that I did not notice in the otherwise excellent guide I had followed.

I neglected to make some mark on the old blower as to which side was driver side and which side was passenger side. I did not notice that the blower shafts were not the same length on both sides. Perhaps a quarter of an inch difference. I discovered this after completing the job, and hearing an awful noise of fan blades rubbing the sides. After then checking the old blower, and measuring, I discovered the difference which I hadn't noticed. Disheartened, but absolutely unwilling to repeat the ordeal, I just turned the fan up, and over perhaps an hour of running time over the next few days, the blades wore down, and the noise left. Not proud of that stupid mistake, and laziness to take care of it correctly, but it is what it is.

Check your replacement blower more carefully than I did.

Also, if you do use the above mentioned torture method, I would mention that it is not necessary to actually remove the driver's side venting. There is enough room to just push it out of the way. Will save some time, because they are a bear to wrangle out of there, especially if you have big meathooks.