Sooo I have the haynes and chilton manuals and they both say to pull the alternator down, although I have a slight problem with that, the drive shaft is in the way. and its not the turning point its just the hard point I've tried going out from the side through the wheel well up through the top and of course from the bottom but there isn't enough clearance in either instances to do so.

info on the car: 1997 Mitsubishi eclipse RS w 420a Manual transmission non turbocharged. anyone have any advice on how to get it out? or is there some trick I'm not seeing, most of my searching on "alternator removal" "alternator" "removing alternator" are coming up with nothing...

That alternator is tucked away in a very difficult area. It's easiest for me just to disconnect the lower and passenger side engine mounts, and use an engine lift to raise the engine a bit.

thanks man, I got it out, although I went a different route almost went that one but I found an easier alternative.

just to clarify for future searches, alternator removal, for keyword search purposes. If you remove the lower mounting bracket for the alternator which has three bolts, 2 are easy to get to, the third sits up against the timing belt cover and the main drive belt. This requires a extension on your ratchet, not a long one like the 6" kind. when you remove the last bolt make sure your shielding your eyes I got a ton of debris in my eyes. once you do that twist the alternator slightly and it'll come out without any issues. This only pertains to the 420a non turbo engines, I found that pulling it down does not work at all!!!!!! at least not on my car which was a 97 rs eclipse. you can then pull it out through the drive shaft area above a clearing you'll see clearly if you have a light.