Desotodav

To each their own! Looks a little overdone to me as well, but I reckon that a fella would be proud to own it. He'd have no problems selling it for that price here in Oz. I wonder what his reserve is though. I noticed that the rear bumper is similar to what Jeff has done - looks good, but I like how Jeff's extends up to the bed wheel arch better.

I was at a car show on the weekend where they had a 54 Divco van on display. Van inspiration for you Richard? Got a spare (reported to be) $500k?. Nice van though! I found a few photos on the internet from the MotorEx 2013...

What a great photo! Could easily pass as a yesteryear shot if it weren't for the modern clothes worn by people in the picture.

I thought that myself Jeff when I bought my third truck! I'm just waiting for the right weekend off now so that I can head west with Aussiedodgegirl and her husband to drag another truck home to add to my 'fleet'.

Fargo bus in NZ... http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/buses/house-buses/auction-640785214.htm . Mobile home - winnebago? Looks like the front door latch might be broken, and the motor is missing!

Looking good Jeff. Not far from the finish line now!

The fine attracts a $330 fine and 3 points from you licence here in Queensland (Australia) Greg. We have 12 points on an 'Open' licence. The term 'use' of mobile phone whilst driving includes performing any function of that phone - like turning it off, looking at the time etc.

Have you worked out the search button to the top right of screen Ryan? Email me and I can send photographs of manual/s if you wish.

Wow, that's a whole lot easier than I thought. I was lucky enough to have the keys in the ignition of my 52 truck, but the ignition itself was well worn and needed work. I'm not so lucky to have the keys in any of my other trucks though!

I had mine pulled apart and rebuilt Ryan - I'd imagine that replacing the barrel would involve a similar process. The back of the barrel should be tapped in at the sides to hold in the inner workings. I didn't see what my instrument repair fella did with mine, but I know that he carefully levered out the tapped-in section and removed the centre piece. You should be able to gain access to the lock barrel by this process. I assume that you are missing the key?

There's quite a few pages of good information on route van's in Don Bunn's book (see attached photos). It sure will be good to see more photos of your van Richard once you get the project underway.

Small rubber strips are the same as from the rear main seal kit - come with the sump gasket as well...

The bumper looks great Joe. I had all sorts of fun straightening mine on the 52 truck as it was made of spring steel. These things are set to try us!

You should have 2 'h' rubbers and 2 rubber slits in the kit Niel. The 'h' rubbers go in the rear main bearing cap (Picture 1), and the slit rubbers get inserted into the top of the front horseshoe shaped oil pan front seal plate (picture 2). CAUTION... that front seal plate has a bolt running through from the front that holds it in place (as well as the 2 bolts at the top) - don't ask me how I know!

I've heard of people stuffing foam in there like Niel said. I found that my springs in the 52 truck were 'well used' in the driver's area, so I unclipped them and rotated their position for springs from other parts of the seat that were not as well used. I suppose it makes sense when you consider the spring sag caused by constant pressure in the driver's position.

Good job on the photos PP - should make putting it all back together easier. Did you try pulling the wiper motor apart and cleaning out the old grease? That has worked for others here who have had seized up motors/mechanisms. It sounds like (from your comment) you had pulled it apart. There's not much to them.

Mine looks the same as Merle's...

Thanks for the link Tod as I had no idea either. Seems that we are missing out on a whole lot of fun here in Oz !

I sent these left-side door lock mechanisms (and a couple of suspension parts) over to Hank last week - this photo might help you. I'll be down at my shed later today and will take a couple more photos of other mechanisms if you need.

I couldn't agree with you more on this MH. At a ripe 46 years of age now, I wasn't around when my 52 truck was initially purchased and made its maiden journey way from the dealer in Brisbane to the farm in Dalby. I am now proud to admit that my hobby of old trucks has turned into a habit! Whilst I appreciate the time and effort that some folks put into their 'streetrods', I am more interested in preserving my old vehicle/s for the younger generation to see how it was way back then. Funnily enough, we have many young (and also older) people interested in old vehicles here in Oz. I am more than pleased to sit around at shows and talk to people about my old truck. The sheer amazement from the younger generation at how very different vehicles were back then compared to their modern day vehicles, and the stories from the older generation that bring back fond memories of their involvement with a similar vehicle way back then is what makes it all worthwhile for me. One of the proudest moments in my life was in late 2011 when I took the previous owner of my 52 truck for a drive in the restored truck that he had bought new almost 60 years earlier. The smile on his 94 year old face and the fond memories that my old truck returned for him made every ounce of my restoration effort well worth while!...

I built a trolley for my 52 truck. We set it up on stands for sandblasting with the trolley attached. We attached out-riggers to the trolley for panel beating to get the truck body a better height to work on. I'm about to use the same trolley for my 53 truck build. I haven't posted the build link for a while - plenty of photos of the 52 truck rebuild there that show the trolley... http://gallery.oldholden.com/Streetneat/album73/Davins+Desoto/?g2_page=1 .

Best to use the search button to the top right of your screen Klaus. Type in 'door handle' and then search through the truck forum. We have discussed door handle and mechanisms at length in recent times and you will find plenty of those topics through a search. I would be more than happy to include photos of mechanisms for you, but I think that you will find most of them already on the forum here through your search. The door handle has a square drive on the end which pushes through the hole in the latch mechanism (see photo).

What about a 2-tone Paul? I like what my mate Vic is doing with his ute...

You're a bad boy AndyD... I always have a chuckle at your posts though!

I agree with Mark and I'd probably try that first. From memory, taking the door latch mechanism out was not such an easy job as the internal window winding mechanism and slide gets in the way. You may be able to check that the square key-way (see attached photo) in the mechanism turns whilst the mechanism is still in the door - bear in mind that the mechanism pictured is for a left external door lock so may look slightly different to yours.