With the paneling and insulation removed, I got down to other things. One of the things that bothered me about Victoria was that her engine cowl had been removed. This is the place where I had understood the vehicle serial number was engraved. However, what I learned soon afterwards was that, in addition to this plate, there's another above the front valance. Well, Victoria had one of these. I phoned Harry to ask him to take a look and see if he could make out the number. I simply didn't want to spend and hour each way driving out there do see a number. Well, Harry forgot. But the following weekend I went out there and examined it myself. It said very plainly J4649, meaning Victoria was an early J van. The guy who sold her to me said 1951, but this seems unlikely. In addition to the low serial number, the running lights below the lamps are the square Lucas 470 and not the round type. This change was made in 1950. Also, the coding of the glass installed in her indicated it was made in the second quarter of 1950. Conclusion: Victoria was a 1950. I removed the plate and took it over to a local plating shop. That weekend I also removed all the front glass, the doors and hangers, and the rear panels that took the place of the original doors. Finally I asked Harry to remove the Toyota engine and transmission for me and he agreed to in consideration for a small sum.
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