05/05/2014 To fix the engine it’s got to come out. There is no bonnet like on a normal vehicle, so the engine has to come out from underneath.

This was a bit of a fiddly job, I worked out this was a good way of doing it:

• Lift the van up slightly
• Loosen the engine and gearbox bolts
• Tie rope to the engine and suspend from a crane
• Undo all the bolts
• Lower the engine down onto a sheet of wood
• Jack the van up as far as possible
• Pull the engine out by sliding along the board

That seemed to do it, although I did seem to spend a lot of time trying to work out a comfortable way of getting it all to happen.

The front door was in the way of the crane, in future i’ll just take the door off to make life easier, and maybe the passenger side front wheel. At least now I know how it’s all done, it should be a lot easier for me to get the engine back in again.

Once it’s out the gearbox and a few other parts can be taken off, then the clean up begins. I bought an engine stand off ebay for £26 which turned out to be a very sensible buy. The nice thing is, I can sell it for the same sort of money when I’m done with it.

It allows the engine to be held at the right height to work on rather than on the floor. It can also spin the engine round or even upside down to make working on it even easier still.

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