Need advice on engine swap; 2010 Mazda 3 2.5L
 

Hi folks,

I'm new to this site, and I'm looking for help/advice. My wife's 2010 Mazda 3 2.5L (naturally aspirated) engine spun a bearing recently, and I did some eBay research and discovered the aftermarket for engines was vibrant, so I picked up a replacement and have begun the work to swap it out. I'm mechanically able and have all the tools (but no lift). I'm at the point where it's ready to come out, and looking at it closely it seems like it might need to come out the bottom. It's a manual trans car btw, and I've only seen one video online so far, and they dropped it out the bottom. I'm wondering if anyone on here has done it through the top? I've seen a lot of people talking about doing swaps from 2.3 to 2.5, and I find it hard to believe that folks are doing bottom-out swaps in their back yards, but I'd like to know for sure. Why would they put hooks on the top of the engine if it can't come out the top? It just looks too long / not enough clearance to come out the top, and my Google phu hasn't yielded tha answers I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!

Chuck