Disassembly

Background Review the substructure roof cut discussion. The roof skin cut is the only one in the Ute build that requires precision (within a 1/8″); other cuts can vary by 1/2″ or more without consequences. After the substructure cut is made, separate the top roof skin from the substructure with small...

Background See also the pre-cut preparation discussion. The Beetle’s rear wiring harness is routed over both fenders inside the luggage area, and extensions go through both sides of the hatch lid. In addition, some models have a CD changer and/or stereo Monsoon amplifier in the rear. All these wires need to...

Cutting steps Cutting the quarter panel and fender is fairly straightforward and outlined below in four steps. 1. Window frame cut Mark a point 2 inches past the B-pillar window vertical frame and cut down through the frame infrastructure beam support. This cut must miss the B-pillar support itself and leave...

Rear chop There are faster ways to chop up the Beetle, but the four steps outlined below get consistent results and greatly minimize the risk of a misplaced cut, damage to the wiring harness, or injury. Always wear suitable eye, hand, and ear protection.

Substructure Before making any cuts, review the pre-cut preparations. Always wear suitable eye, hand, and ear protection. There are several approaches to cutting the Beetle roof. The procedure outlined below is more complicated than simply chopping off the entire roof three inches past the door edge, but this method allows for...

Preparation Before chopping off sheet metal with a reciprocating saw, a number of harness relocations, markups, and small item modification/removals will make the metal cutting job go easier and reduce the chance of unintended damage to retained parts. 1. Rear impact bar The Beetle’s rear end incorporates a large horizontal impact...

Background The New Beetle’s rear quarter glass fixed window is held in place with a special urethane formulated for high bond strength. Typically this type of adhesive has a 1200 PSI tensile and 550 PSI shear strength. This basically means it’s virtually impossible to pull the window away from the frame...

Background There are subtle differences between New Beetle models over the 1998-2010 production span. In terms of the Ute conversion, the major impact is on the re-use of backup and side marker lights. For 1998-2005 models there is the option to use the original circular backup lights as well as the...

Removal procedure With the rear interior trim out of the car, continue to remove the headliner and prepare the rear hatch lid for removal. 1. Headliner Remove the plastic caps on the interior side grab handles to reveal two screws; remove them. If your model has a front roof storage bin...

Removal procedure Disconnect the battery. After the rear seats are removed, detach the rear interior trim pieces starting with the side hold straps (if installed).