How to disassemble an old Linhof ball head?

I have an old Linhof ball head that I'd like to disassemble so that I can use the panning base in another project. Before I potentially butcher this, does someone know how to disassemble it properly? There's no obvious way in; I removed the gray vinyl from the base and beneath that there is a piece of sheetmetal. I assume that if I removed this sheetmetal piece I'd find the bolts that hold the ball portion of the head to the base, but I'd really appreciate some more guidance before I do something potentially bad to a fine piece of German engineering.