Naming the van and answering comments

Whoops, I haven't published the comments in a while. I keep them on moderation so I can instantly delete any nasty comments, and savor the good ones before they hit the web.

This van is manual. It took me about a week to get used to the particulars of the clutch. When I took it to the VW shop for a check-up, the guy told me that every van is different. Sometimes he gets into a VW and can't find gears for the life of him.



I'm slowly working on redoing the interior. When I got the van, the upholstery was a yucky brown corduroy that was full of grit, sand and dog hair. It was worn out and badly in need of replacement. I'm replacing it with a heavy duty fabric with light blue, green and tan stripes. The light yellow on the back of the captains chairs is automotive antelope. It came from a friend who got the 3 antelope hides from a sheik's airplane upholstery job. It's the same friend who let me use her backyard and fancy spray gun for the paint job. She's amazing! She does decorative painting for a living, and wanted to try painting a car as a warm-up for painting her RV. I was only too glad to lend my van for the cause...

Eventually I'll get around to installing a wooden floor inside. I'd love to do bamboo or birch! For now, I need to save up money for the not so glamorous mechanical side of things. I'd like to get some new shocks (the current ones are a wee bit tired), and get new rear brake shoes/drums before they give out. I also need a good tune-up, and to get my fluids flushed sooner rather than later. All in all though, it's in pretty superb condition. Later down the road I want to give the underside a good bath and a scrub, then undercoat the heck out of it. It's relatively rust-free, and I'd like to keep it that way!

I promised a friend I'd name my van before she came back from a trip out of state. I have a week to figure out something fitting. Any suggestions? The last two cars were Toby the big red van, and Annie, the toyota 4-runner.