11-26-2001: Dropping the Engine:

Monday and Tuesday Zoltan and I dropped the engine out of the GTI. We grabbed all the tools we could find, opened the hood, and started tearing out parts. We were ruthless: If a hose bracket was too hard to remove, we just cut the hose. I removed the coil with a couple good hits of a hammer! Monday was spent taking out all the small parts, and Tuesday we dropped the engine.

we didn't have access to an engine hoist, so we just put a jack under the engine and brute forced it. When the last bolt came out, I wasn't quite ready and one of the mounting brackets nearly crushed my hand.... I missed the fender by about 2 inches. I'll be more careful next time! Finally, though, we got the whole engine sitting in a pile across the courtyard, and a nice empty space under the hood. (And the front of the car is riding really high now without the weight of the engine)

The engine has a new life, however! I'm part of my school's FutureTruck Hybrid Design Team, and the engine we are using for our generator is a modified 1992 VW 1.9L turbo diesel. Surprisingly, VW hasn't modified much between a 1983 1.8L gas engine, and a 1992 1.9L diesel engine. We're going to use the head of my engine, as well as some other parts possibly!

Here's some pictures of the removal process, and the empty engine compartment afterwards:

 

 

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