a floor jack makes a very handy waterboxer dolly..
adjustable for height too.

an overhead lifting point is handy..
or two strong guys ..
sometimes I set the wbxr engine on a plastic crate on a stout lowish table..
so it's right in front 'a ya.  Makes it real nice.

remove the oil filler tube before you try to remove the engine from the
van.

time-limited ....sorry to hear that.

I can easily spend 20 hrs R & Ring a waterboxer engine ..( even double
that if I find a lot needing attention )
whether that involves extra time on rusted fasteners,
exhaust parts that need cleaning up and painting with high temp ..
or other related areas of the van and engine/trans also crying out for
attention.

It takes what it takes.
I do find it takes an awfully long time to do things really right, in
vanagon repair.

and 'projects grow.'

scott
www.turbovans.com

On 5/4/2012 12:13 PM, pickle vanagon wrote:
> My engine swap (1.9 for rebuilt 2.1) is coming up in a week.
>
> I think I pretty much have my ducks in a row (we'll see though!).  I do
> have one question:
> I'll be dropping the engine with Zoltan's "sawhose over the engine
> compartment" method.
>
> My question is: do I also want some kind of hoist available to help with
> moving the engine around my workspace, or to elevate it while transferring
> components?  Or will it be reasonable to carry around the floor (I'm
> assuming I'll be able to enlist a volunteer to help with carrying, at
> least) and bolt things on with it on the floor?
>
> (Note: making hoist-like contraptions myself to help are not an option
> because I'm going to be time-limited and don't want to give up any time I
> can be focused on doing the swap.  But if having an engine hoist will make
> transferring components much easier I'm willing to pay Harbor Freight for
> one.)
>
> Thanks for any advice!
> Wes
>