In the last installment, we completed the build of the 1.6 NA dasher engine
that was destined to be installed in the Vanagon.

I stripped off all of the engine accessories�the injection pump, water pump,
throttle and cold start cables, and the oil cooler.

I went to Ace Hardware and purchased a $5.00 sawhorse bracket kit. I made a
sawhorse out of scrap 2X4 boards that straddles the engine compartment in
the van. I looped some strong rope around the top of it a few times and hung
the borrowed chain hoist from it.  I tied more lengths of the rope to the
motor mount and to two head bolts. Then (my coupe de grace) I got a 4X4 that
spanned the whole engine compartment, and I tied a rope to it, wrapped it
down around the transmission, and back up to the board. I did this a few
times, tightening every time, so that the transmission was fully supported
by this board.

I hoisted up on the engine to take pressure off of the mounting bolts, and
when I was convinced that the engine was supported, I loosened all of the
bolts holding the engine to the transmission. The one up by the clutch
master cylinder was a little tough, but with my homemade impact wrench
(framing hammer and ratchet) I finally got it loose. It think the inbred PO
tightened all of the fasteners on this van with a breaker bar and loc-tite.

I left the motor mounts on, but removed the nuts that attache them to the
engine cradle. With some swearing and jiggling and messing with the hoist, I
pulled the engine away from the tranny. In retrospect, I think it might be
possible to ease this job by having a helper push the clutch (comments?).

I dropped the engine down onto a piece of carpet, and had to jack up the van
a little to pull out the engine on the carpet.  I stripped the other things
I needed, like the flywheel and clutch, and set the engine aside (hidden in
the bushes).

That�s all for now. The new engine was sitting in my van waiting to be put
in, and it sat for another week or two�

Daniel Snow

'82 Vanagon Diesel
'78 Puch Maxi Luxe Moped
'01 Xootr Scooter
http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/snow/vanagon/vanagon.html

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