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Vanagon

This 1981 VW Vanagon has been upgraded to six-cylinder power; the engine is a 1978 Porsche SC 3.0 liter, with stock (for the Porsche) CIS fuel injection and nominally 180 hp. The VW clutch and transmission are retained, using a flywheel from Kennedy Engineered Products (no relation). A new rear engine hanger or brace (see below), engine compartment sealing sheetmetal, and a raised engine lid to clear the taller engine are the primary pieces that needed to be fabricated. Click on any of the thumbnail images to see the full .jpg image, and contact W. Kennedy, kennedy@fdu.edu with questions about the conversion. I highly recommend this conversion as surprisingly within the capability of an enthusiastic amateur.

Additional (better!) photos are available at pagetuner.com .
view of engine Stuffed-looking engine compartment, with 1978 3.0 liter Porsche SC engine with CIS fuel injection. 1973 thru 1981 engines, all with CIS FI, have similar dimensions. 
decklid with raised portion to clear taller engine The engine decklid needs a raised portion to clear the taller engine. Luckily, the area that needs to be taller is all within the bounds of the engine hatch, so only the hatch itself needs to be modified, not the van per se. 
how tall the engine actually is Silhouetted against the junk in the storage net, you can see how high the air intake box actually extends. Note that the raised box in the previous picture is somewhat taller than it needs to be. Engine is installed at lower height than stock VW engine. This permits the stock Porsche muffler to clear the VW chassis, but does give up ground clearance. 
total engine height This image is cropped vertically to show the engine height from top of the raised hatch lid to the bottom of the stock Porsche muffler. 
diagram of rear engine brace 
Trapezoid is end view of the rear engine brace, which was fabricated from about 5 feet of quarter-inch-wall, 3 inch width, aluminum box-member. The stock Porsche rear engine brace hangs inside the fabricated part. Big U-bolts keep the aluminum brace from moving. It rests on the main chassis rails. 
one end of the engine brace Looking from front to rear, to see one end of the fabricated aluminum brace. 
oil tank filler Looking from left to right, to see where oil tank is installed. Oil tank filler is easiest part to see. 
extra gauges in dashboard Porsche engine should be monitored with oil temp and oil pressure gauges. To right of cigarette lighter is one spot for them, although it is not in direct view of driver. Tach from later-model Vanagon (1985?) has potentiometer that allows it to be recalibrated for use with six-cylinder engine. 
Grill blacked out (no "chrome" around border) and Porsche badge replaces VW at center. Oil cooler is behind grill, but not visible in this photo. 
 
Oil tank is just visible behind rear wheel. It and the muffler are the only tipoffs that the van is not stock.