The question is yes, but no.

A similar question would be; "is it possible to take a bath without
getting undressed?" The answer is yes, it is possible, but it would be a
pain in the behind and a waste of time.

If you have all your sh*t together in advance, you can have the motor
out of an 81 vanagon in about 30 minutes, with time to drink one beer.
Once it is out, top end is a breeze, another 60 minutes to have all the
top end off. Reassembly and install is roughly 3-4 hours to reassemble
properly, and about 60 minutes to re-install.

Back in the old days, we used to race (I worked in a VW/Porsche shop) to
see who could pull a bug motor completely, put it back in and have it
started. Earl and Gary (two guys at the shop), NO LIE, had it down to 10
minutes.

From historic, walkable Mount Olive, NC,

G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Corporate Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
Alliance: www.ntara.com
Home: www.MountOliveNC.info

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of John Brush
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 4:00 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Overhaul an 81 air cooled

-
Hi all,

I have been gone for a time, but am out of work now, and actually have
time to read all these messages, plus I am anxious to make a decision on
my vanagon's future.

Short and sweet, I would like to ask if it is possible to overhaul the
'top end' of the motor without pulling it from the van? Rings, bearings,
and valve job are what I am looking at. Is there room for the cylinders
to
come off?

Thanks for your time,

John