The BDs History - part 4 continues...

Here is additional pictures of the related "Oslo Sporveier" van...

The BDs History - part 4

I try to get closer to the layout of the OG lettering on the BD. It seems the government companies in Norway had some sort of standard for layout and color coding. Still looking for a picture of a "Oslo Lysverker" van, but so far the picture above is the closest I have come. The van in the picture was owned by "Oslo Sporveier" the company in charge of the subway, buses and trolleys in Oslo. As you can se from the picture, the two-tone painting is similar as on my van, but different color. This one seem to have white base with silver metallic sideline and front.Notice the black painted rims.

It also has a roof mounted spot light, and my van has a hole for one in almost the same spot. I also like the special logo in the nose very much. Cool details... and I feel these are small steps towards finding the documentation for the "Oslo Lysverker" layout.

Condition of the frame

The frame of the BD is not in a good shape. The van is holding together in the sheet metal, because the main frame is broken on both sides behind the front wheels. If the body had been more rusted, the whole car would brake in half. So to reach the first goal of a rolling object, some serious welding is needed. First thing will be making the jig ready, and flip the car over on the side. Then strengthen everything, and start to cut out some rotten metal. I've already taken out a whole bucket of rust with my bare hands =) Some pictures to show what it's like under there...The usual cross members, outriggers, jacking points etc are by-gonz.

Vintage Barn of the week #1

As this blog has turned Barndoor friendly lately, a "Barndoor of the week" thread would be appropriate. This will be my pick of cool pictures in true barndoor spirit...

This weeks feature is a well known US bardoor from the samba dot com.

The BDs History - part 3

The van was purchased by Oslo Lysverker in September 2009 and served as a utility vehicle until 1962 in the same company. Then the van had 3 or more owners until it was parked in 1965. I can tell it had some surgery at some point, and my guess is that it was already very rusty in 1962 when it was sourced out of Oslo Lysverker. The frame has been welded, and some of it even repaired with body filler, yes(!) the frame. The engine support has also been changed at some point. But the body is remarkable straight, given that the car has spent almost 10 years in the city of Oslo as a everyday work horse. The picture shows the headquarter of Oslo Lysverker, with a yellow barndoor and some beetles parked out side. Seems to be be mid sixties?

The BDs history - part 2

Already revealed the factory paint and found a bright blue stripe along the side of the van, I had to check this against how Oslo Lysverker logoed their buses. And by a strike of luck, I showed the details to Splitman here in Norway. He could tell that he had previously owned a grey BD van with a blue stripe, and that the new owner had said something about "Oslo Lysverker" logo revealed on the van after he started working on it. This van is now being restored i England, but I have not tracked the owner down. Looking at the pictures above, there is a fair chance these two vans had the same paint and logo. The pictures was taken before the van went to England.

I have also picked up some rumors about a Norwegian VW enthusiast confirming to have owned a post BD with the same colors, also a former Oslo Lysverker van. He could be sitting on some pictures of the van that he owned many many years ago. I hope for the best..

The BDs history - part 1

I always think a cars history is an important part of it's current identity. And having followed the Kempes van on the internet, it's so cool to see how the roots of the cars life can be tracked down. I've barely started to dig into this vans history, but I got some allready.

When it left the Norwegian dealer Møller in september 1953 it was put in duty at Oslo Lysverker. This was the public supplier for electricity in the city of Oslo. The picture above shows the maintainance central for Oslo Lysverker in the period this van was in duty. You can easily spot at least two grey VW vans in the photo, one panel and one with windows. It could very well be in the picture...

Leaving Wolfsburg

This is what the panel van most likely looked like when it left the factory in May 1953. In september 1953 it left the dealer in Norway and got the first set of number plates. The color was L21 Pearl grey. The pictures are borrowed from www.Barndoor.dk.

Factory paint

After getting the panel van indoors, I have spent some hours to get to know the object better. The over all feeling is that the condition is what I expected. The frame is gone under the cabin, and som heavy surgery is needed to make it drivable. But to get the van redy for welding, there is a time consuming process to take everything apart. I started on the interior, taking out panels and stuff. The good thing about this kind of work, is that it gives some positive surprises. I have a feeling the OG paint on the whole cabin, and all the panels can be brought back to life.

As you can see in one of the pictures, the van was originally painted in grey, with a blue stripe along the side. The inside of the doors and cabin area also reveal the factory paint. The fuse box on each side still contains the paper inserts =)

Still a lot of things to take apart, and some of it are fragile stuff. More pictures to come as the work continues.

Through the BARNDOOOR

This weekend I could roll the absolute dream car off the trailer and into the Sech Volt mansion. A May 1953 "Barndoor" Panel van, delivered to Norway in September 1953. It has been off the road since 1965. It had some first aid repairs at some point, that may have saved the car when it was put into storage. It has been stored in mother nature’s back yard most of the time, but luckily Morten "Crazy" gave it a good shelter some years ago. After saving the life of my beloved Zwitter, a barndoor or early type 2 was my next dream object. Almost still unbelievable that it's now sitting in the garage waiting for a real spa treatment. As usual there is not much left underneath, but the BD sure has a LOT of potential and qualities. The main goal will be to make it road legal and safe to drive, and still keep as much history and atmosphere as possible. This will not be a two-weekend project, and the amount of welding needed is massive compared to my former project. As an amateur I go to this task with great respect, and there will be a lot of learning along the way. Hopefully we will see the growth of a small Barndoor community in Norway over the next years, as there are some other projects going on as well. Would be fun to attend the first meeting in Norway with a 5 barndoor line-up, wouldn't it?

There will be more posting here to show more details of the car and some more of its history, as well as pictures of the restoration as it proceeds.

Thanks again to Morten for making this happened, a true believer in old VW's!