hi iv just pulled the mk4 xr3i mfi engine out of my mk4 van to paint the engine bay, iv had the van 5 years!! and basically done bits and learned as iv gone along. i do bits till i get out of my league then leave it in the garage for months on end before having another go. iv bodged things the first time then once iv learned had 3 times as much work putting them right. iv never driven the van and must have covered a fair few miles pushing it from the garage to the workshop to work on her. ive had no end of problems to overcome and my knowledge was zero when i started. anyway after all this time im getting excited cos im starting to use the word MOT a bit lately. ( my stomach is tingling...)

The engine has covered 72000 miles and when i had it running it was smooth as hell and very quiet. im feeling more confident theese days and im thinking while its out i might as well have a go at stripping and rebuilding it. but im a little nervous co i know it runs well. i never drove it as it wasnt fueled properly it still had the van fuel lines.

how hard is it to do??? iv got the engine sat on a bench in my shed gagging to be cleaned and painted. am i better to leave it set up how it is???

what ya rekon????