Front Axle Beam restoration - How do I un-tension springs to pull torsion arms?

I'm re-building an old VW sandrail and am starting at the front end. It had
been sitting for many, many years so all the rubber was toast. Things are
going ok so far but I can't figure out how to pull the front torsion arms as
they are tensioned by the spring in the beam. The bump stop won't allow the
torsion arm to go down far enough to release the pressure and let me pull it
out of the beam. The local VW shop won't give me any advice because they
want me to just give up and give it to them to do and pay 100/hour for (plus
parts). Is there a trick to getting these torsion arms out or what? I don't
want to cut off the bump stops, but I had thought about it. After replacing
the gaskets I would give the front end a bit more clearance by welding the
bump stops back on at a lower angle allowing the front end to sit higher, as
long as it didn't push the tie rods at all against the frame.... Help!