Beetle Body Frame

[pte123]

Hi guys, just planning my restoration, and I'm looking for ideas of how to store the body tub while I work on it. I'm planning on taking the body off the chassis and work on them separately. I'm hoping I can find some kind of frame to move the body to the side of the garage when I'm working on the rolling chassis. Anyone come up with any novel ideas? I saw on one video someone used 2 A frames, but that doesn't look very moveable. Cheers!

[NachoCar]

SO you are looking for a novel take on a body cart?

Eastwood has this one for just under $300!

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-heavy-duty-body-cart.html

[pte123]

Ok.....slap myself on the forehead!!

Thanks for the post. This is exactly what I'm looking for!!!

Cheers!

[NachoCar]

if you can weld you can make something similar for $30 (slight exaggeration) with 1.5" square tube and some wheels from hardware store.

Keep rollin!!!

[Volks Wagen]

I took the body off mine just last week to do some welding. I put it on 4x $19 height adjustable A-frames, each with a load bearing max of 200kg. 2 at the front and 2 at the back with a metal pipe across the back. I can slide the back over and back a bit on the metal bar and then move the A-frames, but I have to lift the front and then kick the a-frames to move the front sideways, cos I've a 4x4 on the front A-frames and the friction is too high to slide without tipping the A-frames. If I had to guess, I'd say my 73 super body with all panels and glass attached feels like 150kg + heavy, so make sure you have enough support in your frame.
_________________
1973 1303 with AB-motor - sporadic
reconstruction as time permits, 1986 ex-Bundeswehr Doka - on the road again.

I'm definitely, probably, the worlds greatest lover.

Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile.

[viiking]

I'm quicker with timber than welding and it's easier to pick up timber than long lengths of steel to make one. So I made this sturdy one out of timber to lift the body up. Chassis fits underneath, but make sure height clears the shock towers or whatever highest point is.

Here in Australia we have cheap "railway sleepers" used for retaining walls. It is wet treated pine and comes in 8" x 2,3,or 4" widths. 8' long. I think I used 8 x 2's. It really is the cheapest sturdy timber that is available.

I used some angle for braces on each corner and some cheap castor wheels and some assorted bolts and screws for moving the body around. All of this stuff was scrap I had already around the place and can be reused next time on another project. By using bolts etc, the whole mechanism can be disassembled after use into a reasonably small space or transported unlike a steel welded set-up.

The body didn't need to have a chain on it (like the Bug Me video says, although you can see I had it originally in the photo. Once the body is on, it's not going to fall off anytime soon.

When I needed to move the body around I would just nail two pieces of timber one on either side of the supports to keep the distance constant. I didn't usually need this if I had a helper but I'm usually a one-man-band down in the garage. Also my castors were a little small but that's what I had. I used three small ones on each support, but bigger would have been better to allow it to roll more smoothly.

Just be careful if you add any angle brackets at the side of the timber that the tyres will actually fit under it. I was limited by height and width in the garage so would have made it wider and taller if I had had the room.

Also remember that in the early days the cars were lifted by the assembled guards and or through under the roof in the factory, so you don't need to make the supports too big. I did only because of the price issue.