Steering Out! Body Ready for Liftoff!

Sunday came this week with a threat of rain, but this is Austin.  The day dawned cloudy but by the time Henry stopped by to help me pull the steering column out, the sun was high in the sky and it was a perfect day for a couple of car guys to go play.

The steering wheel had been vexing me because I knew it had to come out but I just could not figure out how.  I thought it would be as easy as removing the two bolts under the dash and just slipping it out of the hole, but that was before I had a good look at it.  I could see that it also had to be disconnected from the steering box, which was no problem, just a couple of bolts holding a clamp on the spline, but it was the retaining clip at the top of the crushable cage where the steering column fit through the body that was giving me the trouble.

It looked like even if I pulled that clip off, it was going to hinder the easy passage of the column (especially that cagey bit) through the hole.  I pondered this as I detached everything else, but by this Sunday, that list was down to just a couple of things, and one of them was the damn steering column.  Fortunately I had Henry to assign this task to, and he delivered the goods.

Of course, it turns out that the retaining clip actually came off, so the problem wasn't as vexing as I'd made it out to be, but then, what problem is unlike this?  So, with no beer to slow him down, Henry had that thing out of the car in less than half an hour.  He also removed the broken-down plastic p-o-s steering wheel, which I am looking forward to replacing with an older more elegant version.

While Henry was working on the steering column I was drinking beer and working on freeing the last sticky spots between the body and the frame.  This meant I had to pull out the cutting wheel to zap a sloppy little weld right up at the front on the passenger side, but once that cut was made and we gave it the old heave-ho, lo and behold, the body lifted right up off the frame!

Success!  Well, sort of.

Not only didn't we have the strength to lift that sucker up right then and there, I didn't have the platform ready for it either, so back down it went.  I have most of the platform built (missing a sheet of plywood) so we can hopefully pull this thing next Sunday!

Gas Tank, Master Cylinder and Bumper Brackets

The body is still on the frame, but I found what I think/hope are the last two body bolts and removed them yesterday.  These were underneath the gas tank in the front of the car, so I removed the four bolts holding down the tank.  Part of this process involved removing about five feet of black canvas hose that was folded up underneath the dash.  This hose comes out of the gas tank and is attached to some kind of moisture condenser mounted up to the left of the gas tank, but why it is so long, I do not know.  It looks to me like one of those 'innovations' that was required for emissions systems sold in the U.S. market in the mid-seventies, but then again, I suppose it could have a genuine function.  I never saw a hose that long on a Beetle though.

One thing I did see on my Beetles that I had not discovered on my Ghia until I pulled out the gas tank was the brake master cylinder.  I might not have seen it on my Ghia at first because it was so completely covered with dirt that it was only the protruding brake lines and wires that marked its existence.  In spite of being so buried, once cleaned off, it looked like the actual thing was in pretty good shape.  It's made of cast iron, but it really hadn't gotten much rust.  Whew!

The brake lines, though thankfully nearly empty of fluid, appeared to be in pretty good shape as well.  These will have to be replaced, along with the master cylinder, but it's nice to see that the car didn't suffer from too much mechanical neglect prior to being laid up.  The condition of the master cylinder is indicative of the overall mechanical condition of the car: dirty but functional.  Up under the hood, where I removed the brake fluid reservoir, years of spilt fluid had caused the paint to come off, but overall this area is relatively rust-free.  

Not so the lower edges of the body, of course, but at least the nose and headlight buckets are in good shape.  In the interest of lightening the load for the body removal, I took off the front bumper brackets but even though they weighed a lot, I don't think that will make much of a difference.  Though it supposedly only weighs a few hundred pounds, that body is still a heavy thing, and it doesn't help that it is stuck to the frame.  It's not actually welded in place, but the combined forces of thirty-five years have bonded the two halves together pretty good.  Once all the bolts were out, with some wiggling, I managed to 'crack' the body at the frame so I can see it is moving, but even Valery and I lifting together couldn't make it budge more than a millimeter or so.  

It looks like it will take at least four people, maybe six to lift it up and off the frame.  I am still considering removing the hood and trunk lid to reduce the weight, but I don't want to take things off that I will just have to store somewhere.

My thought is to keep as much as possible where it belongs just so I don't have to keep track of it or remember where and how it goes on the car.  That includes the doors, which I really do not want to take off until it is absolutely necessary because once they are off, it is hard to get them back on just perfectly.  The same is true of the trunk and hood.  If I do have to remove the doors, I will also have to weld in some supports so that the body doesn't twist and get distorted when it is moved.  Since I haven't bought a welder yet, that bit is still in the realm of the abstract, not the real.

Next: Body off!

Someday

Body Bolts

By this time, I've removed off just about everything that I need to before pulling the body off the frame, so it is time to tackle those body bolts.  The thing is, while I can see a lot of them, I am not really sure where all the connections are actually located.  I did some checking online to discover where most of them are supposed to be and I think there are 16 bolts per side of the vehicle.  Nine of these are located under the rocker panels along the two sides; two are on the bottom of the pan, up near the front suspension; one is under the gas tank up front; three are under the rear seat; and one is in the rear wheel well, where the body and frame are connected to the suspension.

Thankfully, in spite of all the rust infecting the lower edge of the body, the bolts were all easily removed.  It took the big breaker bar a couple of times, but by yesterday evening I had removed all 32 of the body bolts.  I left them in order as I removed them and took care to number and label them in individual bags so when I go to put it back together they will line up.  I don't know how important this step actually is just yet.  It may have been unnecessary, but my inclination is to mark everything as clearly as possible just in case it does matter how and in which order the pieces go back together.

In some cases, like removing the trunk lid or the doors, I know it is very important to mark the location of the hinge and the order of the bolts so that it will fit back together with the same tolerances, so I am following this principle pretty much on each portion.  Some things are so far gone or are so obviously generic that I can safely either discard them or store them in a catch-all bag.  The brake line that I removed from under the passenger side, for example, was so rusted that even though it came out without breaking it, it can be rehabilitated and will simply be replaced.  The bolts that held it in place were the standard 13mm, and are relatively useful, so they are saved but will also likely be replaced by from fresh new ones when it comes time to put in the brand-new brake line.

So, with what seems to be all the bolts out, just before I out the cover back on, I gave the body a few little tugs to see if it is going to just lift off the way I hope.  It didn't even budge.

Next: Welded?

The Spinal Tap

Even though it isn't absolutely necessary to completely remove the wiring harnesses in order to pull the body off the frame, it just makes me feel better knowing that they are out.

After all, one of the most frustrating things to diagnose about a car is the wiring, and in a forty-year-old car, it's a safe bet that one of more of those dozens of wires that make up that ugly snake of a harness that I finally managed to pull out of the left rear quarter-panel has gone bad at some point.  Either a break in the copper conductor or a worn place on the insulation is enough to cause havoc in the electrical system.  Without testing each individual wire I will never be sure that it isn't about to fail.  And it will fail.  Ask HAL.

So out it came.  Laying out on the hot concrete just pulled from the car, it looked sort of like a spinal cord, which is of course pretty much what it is.

Again, with no real need but a desire, I went around front and removed the headlights and turn signals.  Mostly I was curious to see if there was any rust in behind the headlights and I was rewarded with the sight of (mostly) rust-free metal under the eyes.  That front wiring harness will also come out soon, but there's no real rush and it's just fine where it is for now.  The headlights and turn lenses will have to be replaced, along with all the rubber seals and some of the screws.

With the wiring out, it's time to tackle the body bolts.

The Wires Must Go

Since my first major goal is to remove the body from the frame, disconnecting the wiring is an important step.  Although I pulled out the headlights and most of the front wiring harness, the fact is that it won't affect the body removal because that harness is contained within the body.  Not so the rear wiring harness, which of course runs through the body to the engine and rear lights.  I didn't really have to remove the lights, but in the interest of stripping things off for the long run, I went ahead and pulled both taillights out.

Not only are they old, and cracked, but after removing them I realized just how ugly they are.  Ugly, that is, when I saw the nice clean and sharp line that is left when the bulky red-and white plastic lens had been removed.  Seeing this line got me to thinking about how I would and can customize this car as it goes back together.  I don't want to build everything, or even most things by hand, since that would take more time and effort than I have or am willing to part with,  but I am intrigued by the idea of making this little car unique.

There have been a lot of improvements to automobile engineering since 1974, and while most of them can't be retrofitted to an old car like mine, there are many things that I can do, like sound and rust proofing, new instruments and above all, a new set of wiring harnesses.

I think I said it before, but this wiring harness is shot.  I have way too much experience--all of it bad--trying to diagnose and fix electrical wiring problems.  I would rather pull out the whole thing and replace it with brand-new wires, connectors and insulation.  It'll take a lot of work to re-wire this thing, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Not only the wires, but the relays and voltage regulator are also beyond repair and will be replaced.  It feels good, actually, to strip out the old nervous system without even facing the nightmare of figuring it out for now.
There had been a fire in the engine compartment sometime just before the car was laid up last; the melted insulation on the heaviest wire in the system--the battery cable--says it all.

Thanks to some kind of clamp or hook holding the wiring harness inside the right rear quarter panel I haven't been able to pull it out completely, but that isn't necessary to pull the body off, so I will leave it till then, when I can no doubt get a better look and angle on removing it.  For now, the wires connected to the engine are off and that's what counts.  I also disconnected the steering wheel from the body in front and removed the shifter.

Brake cables and lines will  be next, then I can start working on those body bolts.

Who knows?  Maybe it will come off tomorrow!

Broken Bumpers

 Having removed much of the stuff inside and on the front of the car, it was time to move to the back.  The goal is to pull the body off the frame sometime in the next couple of weeks, so I am trying to pull off anything that will hinder the body removal.  At the same time, I don't want to pull off things that really don't need to come off right now.  Eventually, everything will come off for the bodywork and paint, but for now, pulling something off just means that I have to label and find a place to store it.

The bumpers needed to come off not just because they are attached to the frame through the body, but also because they are a) trashed, and b) in the way when it comes to pulling other stuff out, especially in the back.  In fact the front bumper was already off the car when I bought it, so I just had to pull the rear.  This is where rust makes the job a challenge.  A couple of the bolts inside the bumper were so badly rusted and mangled that it didn't make sense to even wrestle with it now and I just pulled the whole thing off.  More than likely I will trash these bumpers and fit a set of older (ie 60's) style tubular bumpers.  It'll require some custom fabrication, but it won't be that hard.  I think there are even conversion kits you can buy.


Speaking of buying, I finally got my J-Buggs catalog in the mail, so between beers and banging my knuckles, I can at least figure out how much that part I just crushed/broke/otherwise destroyed getting out is going to cost me some day.

Next the wiring must go.

Tin and Rivets

 After the recalcitrant passenger side seat came..erm, was cut out, it was time to tackle the 'back seat.'  In the 1974 model, however, VW abandoned the pretense of building in a back seat and simply fitted the area behind the front seats with carpet covered wooden panel.

So, though it seemed to me to have been one of those bizarre "there...I fixed it" solutions for which car owners are rightly infamous, the first piece to come out was actually a replacement for the original piece of plywood that fit over the transaxle.

This piece of wood was not the original, but a replacement.  I can tell  because the rust had eaten away at the cross-member onto which it was mounted.  Whoever made the repair did so with an eye to utility and none to practicality, for when I drilled out the rivets and pulled the tin cover off the cross-member, it was not a sight to admire.  Suffice it to say this this entire piece is almost entirely rusted away, from the seat fitting all the way back into the area where the convertible top is stored when down.  It will all have to come out, and from what I can tell from the catalogs, these are not stock parts.  That means I don't have a lot of choices when it come to replacing it, which I most certainly have to do.  I can either find a 'donor' car and cut it out of that or fabricate an entirely new piece.  Either way it is going to be a lot of cutting, welding, grinding and sanding.  What fun!

I can't get to that just yet.  I still have a lot of stuff to pull off and out of this car.  I decided to stick with the sheet metal theme and go ahead and remove all the pieces of sheet metal that were riveted to the frame in the front, three in all.  These pieces in the front threatened to cover rust at least as deep and pervasive as I found in the back, but I think I caught a bit of a break here.

Removing the piece on the driver's side, I found a few spots of rust, but more basic evidence of a lazy repair job.  Instead of replacing the panels properly, they simply ripped out the old stuff and hammered and riveted in some new tin and covered it with carpet.  Considering how cheap the carpet was (not a woven fabric but a cheap spun-plastic mat) I can't imagine that this did anything more than keep the draft at bay on chilly mornings.  The wiring harness snakes up behind this panel but it's hard to believe that's the way it's supposed to be.  The entire wiring harness--front to back--is junk, and not just because it went through some kind of electrical fire in the engine compartment.  I'd rather start with a brand-new if somewhat expensive ($300) wiring harness than spend hours trying to track down a short circuit in a thirty-six year old bundle of cracking wires.


With all this tin out, I gave the body its first spray with compressed air.  I wanted to drive all the rust particles to the back and bottom of the car, but I don't want to spray the out around into the environment. I also don't want to wash it since it's had enough water on it already in my opinion, and the water will just leach all those nasty metals into the soil.  So, for now, I've accumulated a fair bit of rust detritus in the back and when I pull the body off the frame, it'll be time to sweep it all out and bag it for disposal.

Next, I am going to tackle the wiring and lights.  Although it's not necessary to separate the body from the frame, I want to clean up the body as much as I can before pulling it, both to save weight and take care of the easiest tasks first.  I also have to untangle and remove all the wires from the engine before I can release the body from its many entanglements.