Hmm, so the Aircooled may be taller than the water cooled. That's a shame. I guess I will have to take a look in the daylight, and try to measure. Might be difficult with all the tin covers in place though. Tried to find some drawings with dimensions, but to no avail.
'Borrow' one of the 2ft square trolleys with a castor wheel on each corner that supermarkets stack bread trays etc on. Got a pile of the hard plastic ones. Really useful for butting engines/boxes on to move about.
[quote="itchyfeet"]All guesswork but without all the tinware and ancillaries it looks very similar to me, can't you give yourself a bit more height?
Well, I could give myself as much height as I like, but the higher it is, the less rain it'll keep out, and the more of an eyesore it will look. It's already got to be pretty high to on one side to get above my doors and windows and minimum 2.1m on the other side to clear the van. All being well I'll never need to have the engine out, but i'd like the option if I don't have to allow a huge clearance. Looking at the pics comparing the wbx and Aircooled, I think you are right, there can't be much in it.
I think I have a cunning plan. I can make some of the internal rafters (4x2) removable. Given that it will have 2x2 purlins running the length, and it's only having a corrugated plastic roof, i'll be able to remove some rafters on a temporary basis giving me an extra 100mm clearance, so if I allow 150mm that gives 250mm total. Tow bar height is around 320mm, so that gives 570mm if required, which should easily be enough (I hope).
itchyfeet wrote:or just roll it outside when you drop the engine then roll it back in after.
Hmm. Driveway is on a bit of a slope, so it wouldn't be that easy, but yeah, may be an option. What if I need the gearbox out too, can it still roll with the gearbox removed ?
I'm no pro, so any box/engine out type work would be likely to take several weeks.
MagicWagon wrote:So to minimise height, would it be a case of whip off carbs, air filter and dipstick tube, throttle linkages etc, then lower with a crane onto a sheet of strong ply, then drag it out on the wood ?
yep
I used a strap winch about 15 quid delivered
Sorry to butt in; do you think that sort of winch could help in self recovery to pull the van off (say) a muddy field or when it's bogged down? We do a lot of wild camping in remote areas and this is always a major consideration of where we pitch up.