Welp, took Sean's advice (thanks for the encouragement) and pulled the supercharger.
There was no way those heater hoses could be replaced with it in place.
I found the pad under the supercharger had been used as a nest and quite the stash of linden seeds and oher crap that needed to be vacuumed up.
I broke the corrugated breather hose in a couple of places during removal but this piece is so brittle I'm not sure there was any avoiding it.
I had a couple of questions I was hoping someone could answer though.
What are the part numbres for the rubber seals on the 4 bolts holding the outlet duct to the top of the supercharger? I can't seem to find them listed anywhere.
People mention cutting a slot in the supercharger casting for the rear bolt hole.
Looking at the area I can't see what that would help.
Do people do this to help when they've removed the supercharger in a different manor?
I'm not sure how I would have remved the supercharger with the intake elbow in place and with that removed access to the rear bolt looks ok.

 

Supercharger outlet duct securing screw NCA 2565 AC 4

 

Yes slotting the mounting hole helps a LOT! The problem is that hole is invisible when the SC in mounted on the engine because the SC elbow is directly above it. So 2 big problems. First getting that bolt out. Not easy but possible. Next is the biggest one. Getting the mounting bolt back in that hole. Again it is possible but a royal pain!

Yes you can remove the SC elbow but that is unnecessary and just extra work for nothing. Keep it together as an assembly. It's MUCH easy that way.

I did not listen and when I replaced the under SC hose on my old 2005 STR I did not slot that. But I had a vacuum leak and had to go back in and remove the SC a second time. This time I did slot that hole and it was WAY easier to install. The trick is when that hole is slotted you don't need to remove that bolt at all. Just back it off and then slide the SC forward and off. Same when re-reinstalling it. No need to thread the bolt in. It's already started and now the SC will self center when you align the bolt and slotted hole.




Here is the back of the SC where the elbow attaches. Blocks access to that screw pretty good!





This mod was from the legendary "Brutal" a JLR tech who posted on this forum for years.
He also invented the screw fix for the self leveling head lights.
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Thanks for the explanation.
The funny thing is I found I needed to lift the SC just off the pins in the front mount bracket then pivot the back end up, just clearing the charge coolers.
If I had the intake elbow attached I don't know how I would have made it past the charge coolers.
One thing that has been knawing at me is the only reason I needed pivot the back end of the SC up was my engine harness runs across the SC snout.
Did I miss a step about dealing with the harness?
Last night while going over this in my head, instead of counting sheep, I was thinking the harness should have been routed below the SC snout but in the light of a new day it doesn't seem like it's in the wrong location with the way it's attached at the valve covers on either side.
I'll look at it again as I've been dreading manipulating both the SC and the intake elbow back into position...

 

More questions!
I've seen postes about using a syringe to remove the SC gearbox oil thru the fill plug on the front face of the SC.
Now that I have the SC out I figured I could just stnd the SC up in a bucket, pull the plug and drain the old oil.
The issue is there isn't much coming out.
I didn't see a drain plug so is this just an indication that I was running my SC dreadfully low on oil?
I should mention there were no odd noises coming from the SC before I started into this job...

 

From memory it's 'not very much at all' as the correct amount, someone will know accurately. I had mine done in a garage with loads of other stuff not long after I got it.

 

If you leave that back bolt loose the SC can pivot up enough to come off the locating pins. You only need the bolt attached but loose.


That's what's usually reported. Not much oil and of course black and nasty. Now where the oil goes is a mystery because people are not reporting leaks.
Do you know how much oil to put in?
This is in Oz's.




Check the manual but I think these are the right volumes. I use AC-Delco SC oil. Common and easy to get.
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Thanks for confirmation.
I spun the SC over by hand and there's no sign (noise or feel) that suggests anything bad has happened.
I have a couple of small containers of GM SC oil.
I was going to monitor the oil but was planning on filling to the bottm of the drain hole as the SC was staged level (measured off the top machined surface where the outlet duct bolts down).
Maybe that's too much though...