Splitting the bug

After much looking around at ideas on splitting (floor and upper body) the bug, we have decided to make a rolling stand as others have done it. Here it our flimsier version of it:

We too the risk using casters rated at 50Kg each. Larger ones are just way too expensive.

Haussman brakets we used to attach the 2x3 (more like 1.5" x 2.5") wood bought from Citi Hardware.

Finished product.

Now for the actual splitting. All the electrical harnesses attached from the upper to lower end have been prepped. And after having removed all the fenders and the front lid, we decided to remove all the doors and the glass windows to make it even lighter.

Front windshield

All glass windows gone

Driver door gone

Grinding rusted out hinges on right door

Rear engine lid removed

All doors, windows and lids gone.

It's time. With all of us prepped, we went ahead and lifted the body from the floor and slid the rolling stand in:

Done!

Rechecking the rolling stand - it squeaked on receiving the load. 

Gas tank on rotten floor

More rust!

Rear swing axle shows much rust, we might have to rebuild this. The previous owner also decided to weld the floor into it. Bad idea!

Napoleon's hat is completely rotten.

Little toy model

Color Selection: 1974 Bizorrão

These here is the yellow we want with the same clean lines

image sources: SEBeetles

Fenders Removed

Here is a view of the car without fenders and step board. We had to remove the step board to try out the fenders. The ones installed was really badly done and isn't the right dimension at all.

Left (driver) side without fenders and step board.  

Rear left wheel well without fenders

Front left wheel well without fenders

Right side without fenders

Rear right wheel well without fenders.

Removing the rear fenders

Here we are removing the rear fender like we did on the front. The rear seems to have maintained its geometry well. The new fenders seems to fit just fine.

Front geometry is off

As earlier mentioned, this vehicle seems to have suffered some major collision up front at some point of its life before we got it. It seems that the rear axles do not align well with the rear axles and the front quarter panels are bent in so that the new fenders can be seen to be much further forward than the front clip as shown below:

The gap pointed out - it's more than a couple of inches

See the gap on the lower portion of the left fender

Gap of right fender

A view of the general misalignment especially on the right side.
Although it is not clear on picture.

Removing Front Fenders

The Tikarol, after receiving news that the goods has arrived its destination, was quite excited to see what updates there are with the project. So we decided to take the front fenders out immediately. Here is a short time lapse video of what we did which includes us doing a mock up of the new fenders even if the front of the donor car is 4 inches shorter (it might had suffered a major collision back in its days).