Van driver's outside door handle not working

[rovermorris999]

As the heading says, the outside door handle has stopped working on my 1968 van. The spring has been gone for some time but now it won't open the door at all. Is there anything I should look for once I've removed it? The inside handle works correctly. Is it likely to be fixable or should I try and get hold of a replacement? I don't fancy the joy of dismantling the door more than once.
Thanks in advance.