the trick is to have two floor jacks.
then................when you do lower the engine and it's too tall to get
out from under the rear bumper .........
you use the other jack, with a large block of wood on it if necessary to
enable it to go higher..........to temporally raise the van high enough to
get the engine out from underneath.

I read the trick of, for engine removal, removing the intake system first,
then the alternator, with the engine in the car.   Two advantages to doing
that.....makes getting at the alternator lower pivot bolt easier, and the
engine less tall for getting out from underneath the van.

and it's a lot nicer to install all that stuff onto the engine out of the
van .....so kinda a toss up .
But having two floor jacks.............makes a huge difference.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 8:04 AM
Subject: Re: 2.1 running again, thanks, list!

> Let me correct something I said in the original post... it is the
> easiest to R&R that I can remember. But then comes hooking everything
> up! That takes a long time. The way the engine goes in, with
> everything already mounted to it, is pretty cool.
>
> The deal is, how high do you want to lift the car? Assuming you're
> going to use a furniture dolly, like I did, then if you already have
> the oil tower and thermostat housing mounted they are the same height,
> that will require a 23 inch clearance in the back.
>
> If you left those off till the engine was in the car, you could get by
> with about a 19 inch clearance.
>
> I waited until the engine was back in the car to install the AC
> compressor, intake setup, and alternator. Next time I'd like to do
> that in the engine stand and spend only about two hours hooking
> everything up once the engine was in rather than the six hours I spent
> this time. It will require about 26 inches of clearance, beyond the
> capability of my current jack.
>
> Really, it is an easy engine to get in and out except for the "stuff."
>
> Jim