Separating the Body from the Pan

After I installed the radio, I realized that it was time to focus on the restoration of the car and not buying random parts... I knew I was going to be separating the body from the chassis so that I could go through the car completely and address every aspect of the car. After some research, I learned I would need to build these "sawhorses". These were also documented in the BugMe video series (great videos for working on your VW). The construction of these stands were very simple and straight-forward. It took 6 4'x4'x8' beams, about 4 2'x4'x8' boards and 8 Simpson brackets.

The only regret that I have is that I should have made them a little taller. I had to remove the stick shift to roll the chassis out. These are about 26" tall, a few more inches would have been better. 

After the stands were ready, I removed the engine. This is a pretty straight forward process, jacking up the car at least as high as the engine is tall so it can be dropped and slid out. Remove the wiring and four bolts holding the engine to the transmission. With some pulling and some force, we pulled it off of the transmission and dropped it, put it on a piano dolly and rolled it out of the way.

Next, I removed the bumpers and rear fenders to make room for the stands. I then removed the bolts holding the body to the chassis, except for the two in the front under the gas tank and detached the steering wheel from the steering box. I kept the two bolts in the front in until I was ready to drop the chassis in the front to keep everything from completely pulling apart in the process. 

Jacked up the back (adding jack stands and several wood blocks on top until it was high enough to reach the rear stand. I slid the stand in and dropped the chassis. Lots of creaking and cracking as the seam was broken for the first time in 57 years, very cool.

Next, I jacked up the front, doing the same with jack stands and wood blocks. I removed the two bolts and dropped the front of the chassis. Something was caught, the speedometer cable! I forgot to unhook it from the wheel! I removed that (luckily it wasn't damaged), removed the stick shift and we rolled the chassis out. We rolled it next to the body and were ready for the next project.