It took me until around six months after the incident to do anything more to the damaged car. On further investigation I decided that the bodyshell was too far gone, certainly for my talents, and needed replacing. The b-pillar, rear quarter panel, heater channel, inner and outer roof skins were all flattened or distorted. I would have to find a replacement shell anyway to source the section I needed.

So, I set about the depressing task of stripping all of the parts off the Bug, in order to remove and dispose of the damaged shell.

I left the chassis in tact complete with wheels, gearbox and engine; there was no need to do more than this, and it would ease its movement and save storage space.

With the bodyshell out of the way, I turned my attention to the chassis. The offside floorpan was badly distorted - the outer edge had passed the seat mounting track. However, when I began to look I realised what replacing the pan would involve; drilling out the spot welds, removing the pedals, brake pipe, etc. I decided instead to panel-beat the pan back into shape, and was pretty pleased with the result. I think the neighbours were pleased when I finished too!

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