Date:         Tue, 11 Jun 1996 09:05:03 -0500 (CDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Gerald Skerbitz <gsker@lenti>
Subject:      Diesel to Gasoline ('82 and '84)

Vanagon list:
  Well, in spite of all the suggestions that I leave the diesel the way it
is, I just can't.  I can't even keep over 50 on the little hills around
here, so going through the moutains is going to be really slow.  If it was
just me and I was a young guy with lots of time and no cares in the
world, I'd do it in a second;  This, however is not the case.  I have two
small children.  An extra day or two crossing the country is going to be a
painful pill to swallow.  
  There are a couple of other reasons to do it.  Noise is one, the smell
is another and the soot is another.  So, enough with justifications.  The
ideal transplant is not available and with my money situation right now it
isn't going to be available.  So, the obvious donor is my rusting '84 with
the nice rebuilt-head motor which I recently bought (from the Volks Cafe) 
and installed.  So, at least I know how to do that part.  I can take it
out and I can put it in.  The diesel, however, I'm not so confident about. 
Of course, the manual has the entire procedure on two pages (one side
each). 

To the chase: those of you who have pulled a deisel engine, are there any
real gotcha's?  Does anyone know how much sheet metal work I'll have to
do?  Will I be able to bolt up the front transmission mount cleanly, or
should I find a welder right now?  For you garage mechanics, if I drop the
diesel, how high am I going to have to lift the back of the van to get the
engine out from underneath? (it's in my carport and there's a real limit
and I'd much rather know it now! :-} )

Is there a way to mount the battery in the engine compartment on an '84?
It looks like there should be room on the left side if I mounted the coil
and relay box on the front sheet metal.  Has anyone done this?  I need to
put the battery somewhere and I'd rather not have it under the passenger
seat.  Advice anyone?

--
Gerry
Gerald Skerbitz <gsker@med.umn.edu> U of MN Med School Admin 6-5379
Home St. Paul,Ramsey County,Minnesota, USA