I'm talking about lifting the vanagon rear end enough to lower the
motor--with a hoist hanging from a saw horse sitting over the back
hatch--and lowering it to the floor. Sounds like we're all doing the
same thing, just a bit differently. I have to get my motor from the
garage hoist to the car on a furniture dolly, so I have just figured
out how to lift the van  high enough to accommodate the motor and the
dolly. The plywood with broomsticks is a good idea. If I had not had
to make a trip to a store for a bag of marbles, I was going to use
marbles. They would be omnidirectional--not that it matters once the
engine is off the ground.

I did use a block and tackle so I could fore-and-aft the engine with
one hand while I used the hoist for up-and-down.

Jim

Jim

On Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 5:56 PM, mdrillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:
> I agree, lifting from above has too many advantages to go back to floor
> jacks. I built my first version to do it that way about 10 years ago and
> I still use it.
> I have 4 floor jacks and a tranny jack but for engine
> removal/installation the hoist method is preferred.
>
> Another thing I use is a piece of plywood about 2' x 4'. I put 2 holes
> near one short edge and put a rope handle into those holes.  This is
> what I lower the engine down onto. Then I pull the wood with engine out
> from under the van with the rope handle. I put the engine back the same
> way but I use some broom stick pieces under the plywood to help roll the
> engine/plywood  back into place. The end of the plywood with the rope
> should be as far from the engine as practical to help with sliding the
> wood. Lowering the engine onto any kind of cart requires the vehicle to
> be raised higher than just a piece of plywood does.
>
> My device is more like a sawhorse with room below it for a come-a-long
> type hoist. The added height is required for some Vanagon engines though
> not waterboxers. My sawhorse is made of square steel tubing.
>
>
> Mark
>
> The Westy man wrote:
>>
>> Amaizing how little recognition that simple device I made, to take out
>> and
>> istall the engine to make it a joy, received.  And for me to read about
>> double jacks and all kind of obvious struggles with platforms and what
>> not,
>> is really a puzzle why most don't realized the simplicity without lifting
>> the car both sides.
>> Well, we are not all the same, I guess.  I went through my struggles
>> myself
>> too.
>> Zoltan
>>
>