I have separated the body from the pan of my 72 beetle and want to take off the rear drums. Problem is, the wheels wants to turn as I try to loosen the big nut with the cotter pin (removed).

I have already taken off the handbrake so I can't lock it off that way.

Any ideas out there?

The only hope now is to make a brace out of at least 2inch angle iron. You need to drill it with 2 holes to take 2 wheel studs & bolt the brace on so that one end is on the ground & hopefully the nut will undo because the brace will stop the drum turning. Perhaps you can make a template out of cardboard 1st to get the bolt hole pattern right. Be careful- there is about 220 ft lbs ( or whatever the metric equiv is) of torque holding it on. In fact if the body is off (eng too??) I don't think there will be enough weight in the pan to stop it lifting in the air! You may need a couple of bodies to stand on it too. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a try. (the engine and gearbox and everything else is off the pan now)

yeow!

good luck!

Well I got the nuts off the rear drums this afternoon. I ended up putting a crowbar through the hole in the wheel rim through to the swing arm. I then put a couple of tyres on the outside for the crowbar to rest on.

This stopped the wheels wanting to move and I got the nuts off with no trouble at all.

Thanks to all for the advice.