So I was reading through these old threads here and saw where a bunch of you guys are taking off the intake manifold to get to those last 2 spark plugs, or just taking it in to a shop.
Don't waste your time and money. There's an easy way and it involves a few special tools: a tire plug tool or an old broken flat head screwdriver, about 2 feet of wobble extensions ($10 at Harbor Freight), and a little bit of bailing wire (I'm from the South, so we use bailing wire...any type of sturdy rope or twine will work).
If you've got that, you can change those last 2 plugs and wires in 5 minutes or less.
The plugs on my 2.5 have the hook on the boot. Take the rope and put a loop of some kind in it. Use the tire plug or screwdriver to guide the rope through the manifold and over the hook. Pull it out and remove the hook. Be careful taking the hook off; it'll break easily. With the hook off, it's a lot easier to get the wire back through all that stuff under the manifold. It's a straight line to the plug through the manifold...it just looks like it's a maze. Use the ratchet extensions to get to the plugs. A flashlight may help. Once you get the plug out, you can see how easy it is to get a new one back in.
Now, when you're putting the wires back on, you can take the hook off of the original Motorcraft wire and put it on whatever wire you have (Again, be careful, these things break easily...I know because I broke one). The trick is to feed the wire from the front of the engine under the manifold out through the 'straight line' in the intake and
THEN put the hook on the new boot (You'll never get it lined up if you put the boot hook on then try to get it on the plug underneath the manifold). Turn it around and feed it straight back onto the plug. Use a deep socket that will fit AROUND the boot and give it some pressure. Keep your head close to the plug so you can hear it snap into place, and so you can hear what you're doing. Be a ninja...rely on your other senses...specifically sound. Turn the damn radio off. You don't want to F anything up under there.
If your last 2 plugs don't have the hook, buy some.
That's it. It's not hard. It's not tricky. I don't have pics but I'm about due for a plug change so I'll see what I can do.
Good luck.
Edit: How to never "cross thread": push the plug (or bolt or nut or whatever...this works for all applications) against the hole (item to be threaded) and turn it lefty-lucy very slow until you feel (or hear) a small tick (about like a crappie bite)...the threads are lined up...proceed to righty-tighty. Still, always go slow because nothing is full proof. (ALWAYS do this when re-inserting a screw into any kind of wood).