Petrol Flap Pull Handle

The Beetle has a very cool way of allowing the driver to fill up the
petrol tank. Inside the car, under the dash to the right of the steering
wheel, there is a little plastic handle you pull to open the petrol flap.

When I bought my Beetle, the existing petrol flap pull handle had broken off
and the only way you could open the petrol flap was to pull at the base.

I did find a new handle ready to fit that was left for me by the previous owner so I set about
removing the old handle. This proved to be more problematic than I thought. Begin by
unscrewing the handle anti-clockwise. I found that after a few turns, the spring that the
handle fits in to just would not undo any further and the whole spring would turn with each
twist of the handle.

The only way around the problem was to wedge a tiny screwdriver in to the spring and stop it
twisting with the handle. When the screwdriver is in place, just keep turning the handle
anti-clockwise until its clear of the spring.

Once the old pull handle is removed, you are left with the bare spring.  You will notice that you have two screws,
one either side of the spring.  Just ignore them, they don't need to be touched to change the pull handle - I know as I
wasted time removing them only to find they didn't help me!!!