Hey all, im currently restoring a 68' beetle, i want to put a new pan in, how easy is it to remove the shell from the pan and put a new 1 in?
How much does a new pan cost?
Removing the shell from the pan isnt difficult, although you have to disconnect a few things, speedo cable, heater accordian tube things, electrics from the engine, steering column etc.
The main thing is the multitude of bolts that hold the body and pan together.
-There are a big bunch that sit inside the U shaped channel on the underside of the pan
- there are the four bolts that fix to the front bullkhead at the underside of the front of the pan
-two at the front behind the brake fluid reservior that attatch to the beam
-four at the rear, a pair on top of the spring plate and a pair near the shock tower.
-there are a few on the inside under the rear seat and I think that's it.
Body can be lifted by two people but if the body and pan have been together for a while they probably wont want to separate easily. Put something heavy inside the pan or get someone to sit in it while you get a bunch of mates to lift the body up to separate the two. They are sealed together with a gasket with sealant which can get sticky.
I dont know how much the individual pans cost (I'm assuming you mean the rust repair pan sections) but my guess would be the labour involved would be the expensive part, as you have to drill out the spot welds holding in the old one, hack it off, clean it up and weld in new ones.
Jon