The engine's in, and we move on

I worked on and off through the weekend, and got the engine in.  I have few photos for this segment, since taking photos (myself) involves cleaning up my hands before using the camera, which adds considerably to the time involved in any of the tasks.  Nevertheless, here's a photo of the engine, ready to roll back under the vanagon:

The two nicely colored blocks were left over from a wood project and were exactly the size needed.  This arrangement allowed the assembly to roll on the hoist arms, clearing the floor by about one-half inch, leaving lots of room above as it went under the van:

Here we are, inside at last.  At this point, I lowered the van considerably, since I didn't need it as high as it was after I got the engine under the bumper. 
For the actual raising of the engine to attach the mounts (the front mount that holds the transmission, and the two sides of the new black steel engine cradle), you'll have to use your imagination, since I didn't use the camera.  Essentially, it involved a large number of trips under the van, back out to the hoist jack to slightly raise or lower the engine, work the engine slightly forward or rearward, back under to work the CV joints into position, more fiddling, etc.  The front mount gets loosely attached first, then the rear of the engine is raised until the CV joints can be attached with a couple of bolts on both sides, then final raising, fixing bolts (one on each side has to be drilled, in addition to two on each side that fit pre-made holes).  It was all complete on Monday afternoon, at which point I took a break to give my arms a rest.

Tuesday (yesterday) I added the exhaust system (kit SK-E, see part of it above), and went through most of the intake system (SK-I), stopping at the point where I need to install the new fuel lines.  These should arrive tomorrow (Thursday), so today I will probably, if I have time, remove the rear part of the shift linkage and install the new shift boots and bushing.  Here's the engine side of the modified intake system, showing the milled adapter that holds the throttle body, which in turn is attached to a LONG ribbed intake hose that goes all the way around to the passenger-side taillight area.

For those who may have wondered, the white marks on the cam cover are from battery acid that apparently squirted out of the battery when it got crushed in the accident that totalled the Focus that the engine came from . . .

Back to non-Vanagon work for awhile.