Engine Lid Work

The engine lid has been removed, stripped and is being repaired:

The support pieces down each side have now been removed so they can be worked on - a new cross piece has been made for the top.

We scoured the net for a hinge that is the same as the original and come up with this which we'll drill prior to welding to the engine lid.

Tail Lights & Reflectors

The mid to late 1952 vans had a very unusual rear reflector bulge as part of the rear corner. These corners are just not available and no one makes the correct late 1952 only ones, so its a case of fabricating it from scratch, which is exactly what we did.

The late 1952 models had two rear reflectors (from chassis number 20-023750 onwards), but unlike the earlier or later vans, the late '52 had this bulge that the reflector is mounted onto:

The view from the top looking down onto the reflector:

Looking from underneath upwards. Note the Hella logo in the reflector, the large diamond pattern and markings around the rim.

Tail light and reflector in place:

The back end is now looking very Barndoor ish!!!Tail lights and reflectors all in place!

Rear Firewall Bulkhead

The rear bulkhead was removed so Carl could work on it properly. He made a die that's the shape of the ribs in the metal so he could straighten out the ribs properly. Once these were straight, he could work on the panel itself.

Still some more work to do to weld up some holes that shouldn't be there, but easier to do this whilst the panel is fitted back into the van.

The bulkhead can now be finished off and then the parcel tray can be fitted back in.

Re-Building The Back End

After stripping all the firewall and bulkhead pieces along with the rear wheel arches out of the van, we've been working on these to straighten them out, repair then and then re-fit them

Nearside rear wheel arch tub is now in place. The bracket sticking up to the left is the fuel tank mounting plate.

The nearside is now in place too

The 'S' shaped pipe is the water drain tube from the spare wheel tray.

With the rear wheel tubs in place, we can now work on the firewall bulkhead