Just a guess (I have not done a swap "yet"), it sounds like either the
input shaft to the transmission may be too long (bottoming out), or
there is an alignment problem between the engine and transmission.

Good luck,
Howard

On 25 May 2000, at 10:35, Mladen, Zoran wrote:

> Hi All!
>
> Strange problem taking place here.  We have a customer that brought us
> his diesel Vanagon (with a bad ebgine) and a diesel engine from a
> Rabbit/Golf. We took out his old engine, removed all of the Vanagon
> specific parts (including oil pump), broke down the Rabbit/Golf engine
> (checking rings, all bearings, etc).  We put everything back together,
> and the engine turns fine. Put the engine in the Vanagon.  While the
> engine is hanging in the Vanagon but not tightened, engine turns fine.
> Once we tighten the engine to the transmission, engine turns VERY hard,
> almost to the point of not turning.
>
> As part of the engine swap, we replaced the clutch plate, disc, T.O.  We
> checked the transmission, and it turns fine without the engine in.
>
> What have we done wrong????
>
> HELP!!!
>
> Z