Back to the grind

The engine is out. Wednesday we are shooting to drop that bad boy off at the mechanics shop. It will take about 3-4 weeks for the rebuild. In the meantime we are going to get Lenny into top shape while we are at it. His transmission is good, his gas tank is clean, and breaks worked on last summer/ except the E-break.
Luckily this time the Bus is stored with a mechanic who has done plenty of work on VWs and loves to tinker around, and especially loves Lenny. Yesterday he said "I want to straighten up those crooked headlights so bad I can taste it." I said, "Go for it!!" Since Trey and I only have 2 days off a week it will be a lot of help for someone else to do some of the work.
I am kicking around the idea of a new paint job. I don't like how I painted him in matte colors last time, I would prefer a nice shine. Also since it was just a spray paint job there are spots flaking off, runs, and now areas with black from the countless dirty mechanics hands that have touched him recently.

I have seen painted buses done by Kenneth Mitchell while researching Buses two years back during the first "restoration." Then last year he came down to Charleston and painted my friend Snoopy's Bus "Wanderlust"(RIGHT). Ken had described his process under one of his photos, which I have saved. Seeing how beautifully his painted buses turn out, it really makes me want to paint Lenny in a similar fashion. So I've been playing around with different themes, but haven't come up with anything yet. I am leaning towards doing a variation of the paint job he has now though..
Ken has also done a paint job on the canvas of the pop top for a Vanagon I have seen. He isn't sure how long it will last though. That's given me the idea of doing a faded henna style design on the inside of my canvas, so that when our inside light shines through at night, you can see the design on the outside. I am going to look more into henna paints, but that is probably the very last item on the list.