TheSamba.com :: View topic - Barndoor Junkie

Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:30 am

Anchovy wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Anchovy wrote: Vintage photo I got from Germany:

Rear hatch, body bumpers, logos. Looks like a fat base mirror on the hinge.

Jeff- What's wierd about that Bus is that it is a "short upper rear vent" Bus which means it's earlier than mid 1951 but it has two reflectors which I thought started in mid 1952. It also has flat lensed bubbles which is ultra cool and if its a 1951 then those taillights are flat out impossible to find. Basically, that is probably one of the first 15,000 Buses ever made right there. Hey Brendan, I made those same observations. You can also see that the cargo door handle is removed and the deck lid either looks ajar or like it was poorly fixed. This may explain the "addition" of the second reflector. The brake light also looks like the block style rather than the smooth curved style lens. With the mirror mounted on the door hinge the bus has obviously been tampered with....POS!

I bet that the parts or service manager at a dealership was selling some extra crap to that bus owner. "here, buy some body mount rear bumper trim, and another reflector while you are at it" notice how the reflector on the passenger side appears to be mounted at a slight downward angle, like there was no base stamping for it. I also wonder if that hatch was a service instalation. that seems to me to be too early for a rear hatch to be factory.

Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:24 am

Anchovy wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Anchovy wrote: Vintage photo I got from Germany:

Rear hatch, body bumpers, logos. Looks like a fat base mirror on the hinge.

Jeff- What's wierd about that Bus is that it is a "short upper rear vent" Bus which means it's earlier than mid 1951 but it has two reflectors which I thought started in mid 1952. It also has flat lensed bubbles which is ultra cool and if its a 1951 then those taillights are flat out impossible to find. Basically, that is probably one of the first 15,000 Buses ever made right there.

Hey Brendan, I made those same observations. You can also see that the cargo door handle is removed and the deck lid either looks ajar or like it was poorly fixed. This may explain the "addition" of the second reflector. The brake light also looks like the block style rather than the smooth curved style lens. With the mirror mounted on the door hinge the bus has obviously been tampered with....POS!

Jeff- Barndoor Panels sometimes came without cargo door handles. They would simply have a chrome latch hole cover identical to those on Single Cab Treasure chest doors. My '53 was that way when I got it. The latch cover was still intact on it even.

Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:38 am

Scotty wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: It also has flat lensed bubbles which is ultra cool and if its a 1951 then those taillights are flat out impossible to find.

Not totally impossible to find (I assume you're talking flat glass lenses).

You are right, nothing is impossible to find. Without the chassis number, it's hard to know whether it should wear the 1950-1951 taillights with the flat bright red lenses or the later "1952-1953" type taillights with the dark red lenses. Either way, they would be hard to find, the earlier ones being exponentially harder to find for sure.

Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:45 pm

BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Scotty wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: It also has flat lensed bubbles which is ultra cool and if its a 1951 then those taillights are flat out impossible to find.

Not totally impossible to find (I assume you're talking flat glass lenses).

You are right, nothing is impossible to find. Without the chassis number, it's hard to know whether it should wear the 1950-1951 taillights with the flat bright red lenses or the later "1952-1953" type taillights with the dark red lenses. Either way, they would be hard to find, the earlier ones being exponentially harder to find for sure.

What's interesting is that "Barndoor" lenses were made for a variety of applications. Tail light (Hella) lenses for my 1954 are cheap on eBay when they are not listed as "barndoor", but you need to know how to search for them. The search (hint): The lenses are part of a universal assembly that is often used for tractors (traktor). There is a newer version with a bunch of additional writing on the lenses, but the old style lenses with the (K1*...) come up every couple weeks. The flat lenses are probably also available in the same way. Do the flat lenses have markings?

Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:06 pm

Here is what 51-53(Flat plastic) Lens looks like. The one on the right is a repro the other is German...50 and early 51 are glass...

Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:14 am

BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Scotty wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: It also has flat lensed bubbles which is ultra cool and if its a 1951 then those taillights are flat out impossible to find.

Not totally impossible to find (I assume you're talking flat glass lenses).

You are right, nothing is impossible to find. Without the chassis number, it's hard to know whether it should wear the 1950-1951 taillights with the flat bright red lenses or the later "1952-1953" type taillights with the dark red lenses. Either way, they would be hard to find, the earlier ones being exponentially harder to find for sure.

In my experience the early bright glass tail lights have been easier to find than the dark plastic ones. There are more people who need the plastic lights than the glass ones. My friend has managed to buy 2 early glass lights on separate occasions, where I have only found 1 plastic light so far....

Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:40 pm

Scotty! I told you........hit the German Shows or the big ones. I did see a good handful at Hessisch. Though there were more flat glass taillights!! Weird huh! Any hoot........now I am on a quest to find me a pair of those flat plastic lenses for my 53. And I will find them!!! Hope your bus is coming along? Think you will have it at Bad Camberg??

Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:31 pm

Pretty sure this is a crime scene. Big guy wearing a trench coat...large stain on the ground....BD get-away vehicle.

Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:13 pm

Barndoor Mafia wrote: Scotty! I told you........hit the German Shows or the big ones. I did see a good handful at Hessisch. Though there were more flat glass taillights!! Weird huh! Any hoot........now I am on a quest to find me a pair of those flat plastic lenses for my 53. And I will find them!!! Hope your bus is coming along? Think you will have it at Bad Camberg??

There was a guy at Spa who had one flat plastic light for 500 euros.... The bulb holder had been cut off the back, and the rim didn't have the hella logo..... I just can't afford that shiat! I'm still looking.

Right now my plan is to be driving to camberg. As soon as I get it back from welding I'm on it!

Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:16 pm

Scotty wrote: Barndoor Mafia wrote: Scotty! I told you........hit the German Shows or the big ones. I did see a good handful at Hessisch. Though there were more flat glass taillights!! Weird huh! Any hoot........now I am on a quest to find me a pair of those flat plastic lenses for my 53. And I will find them!!! Hope your bus is coming along? Think you will have it at Bad Camberg??

There was a guy at Spa who had one flat plastic light for 500 euros.... The bulb holder had been cut off the back, and the rim didn't have the hella logo..... I just can't afford that shiat! I'm still looking.

Right now my plan is to be driving to camberg. As soon as I get it back from welding I'm on it!

That is $641.35 for those of you who don't speak "Euro". A true bargain...

Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:16 pm

BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Scotty wrote: Barndoor Mafia wrote: Scotty! I told you........hit the German Shows or the big ones. I did see a good handful at Hessisch. Though there were more flat glass taillights!! Weird huh! Any hoot........now I am on a quest to find me a pair of those flat plastic lenses for my 53. And I will find them!!! Hope your bus is coming along? Think you will have it at Bad Camberg??

There was a guy at Spa who had one flat plastic light for 500 euros.... The bulb holder had been cut off the back, and the rim didn't have the hella logo..... I just can't afford that shiat! I'm still looking.

Right now my plan is to be driving to camberg. As soon as I get it back from welding I'm on it!

That is $641.35 for those of you who don't speak "Euro". A true bargain...

Bargain my ARSE Linda! You must have a money tree in your back yard!!!

Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:02 pm

A little something...

Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:36 pm

Barndoor Mafia wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Scotty wrote: Barndoor Mafia wrote: Scotty! I told you........hit the German Shows or the big ones. I did see a good handful at Hessisch. Though there were more flat glass taillights!! Weird huh! Any hoot........now I am on a quest to find me a pair of those flat plastic lenses for my 53. And I will find them!!! Hope your bus is coming along? Think you will have it at Bad Camberg??

There was a guy at Spa who had one flat plastic light for 500 euros.... The bulb holder had been cut off the back, and the rim didn't have the hella logo..... I just can't afford that shiat! I'm still looking.

Right now my plan is to be driving to camberg. As soon as I get it back from welding I'm on it!

That is $641.35 for those of you who don't speak "Euro". A true bargain...

Bargain my ARSE Linda! You must have a money tree in your back yard!!!

SARCASM, son, sarcasm. I got you...

Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:34 am

Here are some more vintage BD pics, 3 of 4 have logos:

Fire Kombi
http://www.brandweerbus.com/Neerijnen1_Medium.JPG
http://www.brandweerbus.com/Neerijnen2_Medium.JPG

Fire Panel
http://www.brandweerbus.com/Volkswagen_Kronenburg_1_Small.JPG
http://www.brandweerbus.com/Volkswagen_M-86101_Small.JPG
http://www.brandweerbus.com/Volkswagen_M-86101_1_Small.JPG

Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:02 pm

Very nice. I like the logo buses with the signs mounted to the roof like the one in the first photo.

Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:12 pm

Just discovered the DKF Newsletters
Top pic

4? BD DLXs, and 2 other BDs
Where are they now??

Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:12 pm

RockStock wrote: Just discovered the DKF Newsletters
Top pic

4? BD DLXs, and 2 other BDs
Where are they now??

that pic rocks.

Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:20 pm

Here's a pic of Bat Man's ride before he got the bat mobile:

Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:38 pm

pretty cool early dlx

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=304420
http://www.grayline.com/Grayline/destinations/us.aspx
hadnt seen it before. anyone got any more pics

Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:10 pm

[quote="RockStock"]pretty cool early dlx

Reminds me of the green flash...