HEATER CHANNEL REPLACEMENT

The heater channel is the foundation of the VW Beetle body.

It runs from the front chassis support...

...to the rear chassis support.

FLOOR PAN REPLACEMENT

In our last article we learned how easy it is to remove the body from the VW bug. With the body out of the way replacing the floor pans is pretty straight forward. But with just a little more effort they can be replaced with the body still in place. The first thing you need to do is remove the seats and floor carpet. 

BODY REMOVAL

When we hear the term "Body off" restoration we think of a restoration job that has gone to the max. We also think $$$$. On most cars this is a project best left to the pros with restoration shops with lots of equipment. Fortunately for us VW enthusiast a beetle body can be removed in an afternoon with pretty basic equipment. The standard beetle body is bolted to the floor pan along each side with 9 13mm (head) bolts and two 17mm at the front.

BEAR CLAW LATCH INSTALL

This is a kit that we got from Auto-Loc with the Hidden Hinges. we bought the latches, instalation kit and a dead bolt. not sure that we'd ever need the dead bolt but its there just in case.