Micheal said:
>it is the handle under the front widshield (i am preyty sure they had some
>sort of iteration of that on the barndoors didn't they?). Commony referred
>to the as the "oh shit" or "jesus" handle in accordance witht the language
>that is usually spilled forth when one finds oneself in neeed of grabbing
>it :)

thanks- now i get it.  (  I think of them as dash grab handles.   )

>i believe these handles were also seen on the inside of the bulkhead that
>separates the pass from the drivers.

yes -  behind the passenger seat there would be one. (except on panels)  For
a barndoor it is much longer, as the spare tire bulge is not in the way.    i
thnk they were dropped post barndoor,  then became standard on the dash in 58
fo rthe micro bus.   For all standard in mid 61. 

and thom said:
> do you mean by this that it has a smaller engine lid, and a big back hatch?
>   or the suspension is different.    BD firetrucks  have piano hinges on
the
> deck lid and hatch in the back. 

Small engine lid, barndoor nose, ambulance hatch.
- - -

if you look closely, you can tell that the engine hatch on a BD FT is made
out of regular bd decklid. It is not a bd single cab type decklid.   the
'ambulance' hatch is just as much  a    'fire wagon' hatch.   not only  for
ambulance.

at some point they decided it was a better set up, and when the new bus came
out in 3/55 it had this rear end, along with improved cargo doors, and two
wheel  cylinders in each front wheel, etc.

does this make the opening hatch on post 3/55 buses an 'ambulance' hatch?
(that opens the wrong way)