Last night we were feeling unusually energetic and FINALLY completed some small projects that were left undone due to the fact that they’d proven themselves to be pains in the ass on the first and second attempts.
First we FINALLY installed the last remaining window on BB. It was a bugger. As you probably don’t remember, all of the other windows were installed several months ago, but we’d cut one of the vent window seals and had to order a new one (for 49 freaking dollars—stupid seals). The final catalyst to success was breaking out the dish soap and pounding really, really, disturbingly hard and angrily on the window. Sweet victory. Ooooohh yeaaahhhhh.
Next, we FINALLY added transmission fluid to both BB and Jasmine. The functionality of BB’s transmission still remains a mystery, but when we pulled the plug last night there didn’t appear to be any huge metal chunks on it or anything so hopefully that’s a good sign. I had totally unfounded hopes that by some miracle, adding fluid to Jasmine’s transmission would help her stay in 4th gear better, but surprisingly (or not)—no dice.
We FINALLY mounted the “Volkswagen” emblem on Jasmine’s rear hatch. I had received this as a Christmas gift and ultimately, it took three attempts, two people, one step stool, two thimbles and a lot of pressure to get the evil little metal retainers to mount.
Last, we FINALLY screwed on BB’s front and rear turn signals and accompanying lenses. Both of these had been attempted shortly after painting the bus but were forfeited due to the absence of screws that fit (yes, I swear we were using the screws that had come out of the holes to begin with). Now that we are more experienced in the fine art of VW repair (basically—if the original screw doesn’t fit, find one that does), this project was relatively simple.
P.S. Last week we FINALLY took the necessary paperwork to the DMV to get BB's title so when she's ready to roll we'll actually be able to drive her. Minor detail.
I didn’t want to put the panels on the back of the drivers and passenger seats as I thought it looked better without and that area is one of my favorite parts of the paint job. I thought it would be a shame to cover them up. Craig conceded. He must love me. :-)
Also, we purchased both emblems from a guy in Oregon (Oh Oregon, we love you) as BB came with neither and received them last week. Craig was napping when they arrived, so he woke up with a shiny VW on his chest.
We put the rear emblem on last night. When we removed Bluebell's emblem to paint, we had rather flipantly dropped the rubber pieces that hold the emblem on, on the ground as we had broken the little pegs in the process and thought them to be disposable. Last night when we went to put on the new emblem we realized that we had no rubber pieces...but I knew they were on the ground somewhere. After a bit of searching, we were miraculously able to find three black rubber pieces (the fourth peg was broken so three were all that we needed). Yea!
We are still trying to figure out how to mount the front emblem. Our best guess is that this bus had a wheel on the front—as it was a camper and then someone put bondo over the holes. In light of this I’m pretty apprehensive about drilling into bondo, and potentially maiming the nose of the bus. I’m half tempted to leave the emblem off, but the nose looks so sad without it. Suggestions anyone? 
