Separating the Body from the Chassis
by Garage Weasel on Jan.05, 2011, under Disassembly
I attempted to lift the body at various points to make sure that all of the bolts were completely detached and discovered that two bolts on the driver side were still grasping well enough to keep the body from separating at those points. One was the rear most 14mm bolt going through the floor pan into the heater channel. I drilled out the center of the head until it fell off. The other bolt was the one 17mm bolt at the very front that goes through the frame head into the heater channel that I couldn’t remove earlier. I thought that this area was rusted enough that it would just pull through when the body was lifted, but I was wrong. I used a floor jack to lift up the body a little and create a gap so that I could get a hacksaw blade in between the heater channel and the floor pan. I cut the bolt and was then able lift the body on all sides.
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Finally, I’m ready to lift the body onto the supports I built. After much thought, I decided to lift the rear end first. I partially threaded in the two front body bolts that attach it to the front axle. This not only keeps the body from sliding forward when being lifted, but acts as a pivot point as well.
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I laid the rear support on its side with the top beam up against the rear tires and the legs facing toward the front of the car. I then used a small portion of a wood frame to jack up the back end. This raised it up around 8”, but was not high enough to get the top beam over the transmission and onto the wheel. I lifted the support as high as it would go and held it in place with bungee cords. I added a couple of blocks to my jack and lifted up the frame again. This lifted it up high enough to set the top beam on the top of the tires. I lowered the jack and let the body rest on the top beam. I then grabbed the rear apron, lifted the body up, and had my wife and son stand the support upright. I then set the body down on the support.
After removing the two front body bolts and setting the front support on its side against the front wheels, I lifted the body by the front apron and had my wife and son stand the support upright. I now have the body on the supports where it will live for quite some time. Now the body work begins!
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4 Comments for this entry
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January 19th, 2011 on 11:36 pm
congratulation, you have a beautiful piece.
meave if you wish, you can see we bugs,
i hope you finish you vw.
thanks ( we dont speak english, speak spanish because we are from mexico, saludos.)
http://www.volksgdl.com.mx/foro/index.php?topic=24952.0
January 19th, 2011 on 11:53 pm
Thanks Cufer1. I have a long way to go!
July 17th, 2023 on 5:23 pm
Hi there Garage Weasel,
Thank you for putting this write-up together. I realize this thread is many years old at this point, but I wanted to let you know it is still helping people to this day.
Following the steps you outlined here I was able to get my beetle body lifted from the frame this evening with the help of my girlfriend.
I started my restoration about 2 years later than you and I also took a long hiatus before picking back up on things this year. Don’t get down on yourself for life getting in the way, that’s the way these long lived projects go!
Cheers again for the help, and here’s hoping you continue wrenching (And I as well) and get to some day drive your beetle!
Best regards,
Your friendly up north Canuck Restorer
July 26th, 2023 on 1:32 pm
Canuck Restorer,
Thanks for your encouraging words and I am glad that my experience helped you. I am in the process of getting my new shop set up and hopefully will be able to do some serious work on my car. It’s been two years since I have been able to do any work and am anxious to get started again. If you have any pictures of your progress, I would like to see them. I will send a direct email with my contact info.