body off resto

My plan with my 67 is to restore it with the body. I see many people taking off the body and wonder how they do that. I guess it shouldnt be that hard but probably to put it back on. If anyone can help me with this task i will appreciate it very much

Thank You, Andre

Taking the body off is quite an involved job, i did it to my 70 bug. You will have to cut the floor panels, mine were rusted through and it wasn't a big deal. But if your front floors are in good shape i don't suggest taking the body off...... There are bolts on the front axle (x 2), bolts under the rear fenders( 1 on each side ). There is also a line of bolts under the rear seat. Those are the main bolts that hold the body on (unless I forgot some). The stearing has to be unhooked at some point and lots more stuff to do. If you do it though its well worth it. I found the original parts list from the factory behind my dashboard.

i want to restore my 67 so that i dont have to worry about things later. Plus my floor pans are tore up so that was what i was planning to replace. If you can help me by telling me how to replace my floor pans i would appreciate it. I am going to take of the body this weekend hopefully and in about a week or two my friends dad is going to help weld the floor pans. I have a question for u. When i do put the body back on should i put sealent where the chassis and body meet? Should I Paint the chassis with some kind of rust protector or what any insight will more than likely be used.

Thank you very much, Andre

You can replace the floor pans w/o taking the body off. The pans bolt on the outer edge, front & rear, but must be cut from the center tunnel. Leave a little of the old pan to wled back to. If you decide to take the body off there is a seal that most VW parts places sell that goes in between them. Aftermarket pans rust easily so definitely paint with rust inhibitor primer or POR before topcoating with chassis paint.

what would be better though i think it would be easier to replace the floor pans with out the body. But im not sure of what to do. If i do replace the pans without the body do i need to align the pan like the angle like how high or how low? Thank you boschman

It's easier with the body on. When the body is off you can't be sure where to attach the pan to the tunnel, you need the body there to align & put in all the bolts (outside, front & rear sides) then you can weld it to the tunnel.

thank you for your advice boschman it helped me alot.

The body bolts off completley, no need to cut. Once body is off, get new floorpans, genuine if possible, and then you can see where to cut the old ones. Best way to do it is cut the old pans off with body removed. Place new ones on, put body back on and bolt the body to the chassis and pans to make the holes line up. Tack weld the pans in place, remove the body again and weld the pans on properly. Then you know the holes will line up.
I got the whole chassis blasted and then painted with rust prohibiting paint and then underseal on the bottom.

See my website for lots of pictures of what you'll see http://www.bugresto.co.uk

also check out this awesome thread, you'll learn a lot from it if you read it all the way through - click here (http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?threadid=87863)

I was in the same spot 4 years ago - floor pan was shot, frame head swiss cheese and heater channels were "wobbly" If you are going to pull the body off be prepared to do the job right. Once you get a few weeks into the project, you will want to fix every little nook and cranny. - then voila! your bank account is empty and you have a full blown obsession!

Things that i found out the hard way....

Weld many cross braces to keep the body from shifting when you take it off. If not your doors might not line up all that well. Especially if you are doing work on the heater channels - and if you are buy the one piece channels and not the ones that come in sections if you are replacing them all.

Replace the frame seal and you can also use Butyl (rubbery calking) to seal out any areas that might trap water and such

replace your brake lines - much easier to do with out a body on - plus you never mess with old rotten brake lines.

i sandblasted the complete underside of my body, laid down a coat of prime, 1 coat of black, 1 coat of rhino lining and some rubberized rocker guard just to be safe.

Check the pedal assembly out - if you need to replace it, now would be a good time (Thanks to Boschman for his help on that one)

replace the engine seal...much easier to do with out and engin in the way.

These were just a few things i ran into. I have made sooooo many mistakes on my 73, and i have learned a few painfull lessons (never weld in sandals...even if it is to just tack that last piece in before you go out for a night on the town!)

i hope this helps, and if you do decide to go all the way, don't let setbacks or your friends doubting you, get you down. - But if they do -put on a stinger and go bombing through their neighbourhood at 3 am!
Thats what i'm gonna do...BBWAAAAAAAAA

milo