She is ready for adventure, but what about the imperfections?
OK, she is a 1997 camping van so she does has some wear. It should be expected.
Frankly, I was on the way to begin refurbishing some aspects of Eudora when my sister suddenly passed and left me her Volkswagon Eurovan.
Here are a few things I would do with Eudora;
- Replace or retrofit the canopy top. You can buy a replacement Pop-Top Tent from Go Westy
- Gas filled Struts for the Pop-Top and the Counter can be found at Go Westy. I’ve included two for the pop top but you don’t have to use them.
- Minor cosmetic damage from stone chips and surface rust can be remedied with some minor sanding and prepping then finishing with some touch up paint to match.
- An RV backed into Eudora when she was at the shop years ago. I had to have the rear hatch door repaired and painted and the top coating yellowed and is now peeling away. I’d recommend sanding the rest way and recoat with a protective sealant or ceramic coating.
- Air conditioner works but doesn’t make things cool. Since this is a 1997 van, if you are in California, you will need to find the mechanic authorized to work on it. I believe it just needs to be re-charged.
- Cruise control, I have it but frankly I’ve never used it. I believe the previous owner told me it did not work. Living in California, you rarely have the opportunity to use it as there are either to many cars or the roads are too mountainous and windy.
The rust spots on Eudora are surface spots. I purchased the van is 2005 and the spots were there then and have not changed in 20 years. I only recently learned how to do body work (see below) since my sisters van had extensive damage that I had to repair. If I knew how sooner, I would have done the body work myself since it is so minor. However, I am not a professional so I leave it to the new owner to decide what they want to do.
This is Tinkerbell, my sisters van that I am keeping
Tinkerbell is a little bit of me and a little bit of my sister so I feel like she is with us on every adventure. She was pretty hard on her van so it required a lot more attention and is now a long way away from “original”. Since she had the lift kit, I think she thought “off road” would be a good place to go. You can tell by the amount of body work I had to do, she really liked to go rough.
Since her original roof fell apart so the ceiling inside was a hot mess. First, the over cab cargo carrier fell off on the highway in Texas then she managed to crack the fiberglass Pop-Top and rain seeped in and soaked the interior. More than once. So I found her a new top since I had been looking around for options to the typical cheese wedge. I fell in love with Colorado Camper Van and convinced her to take a look. Since she was getting close to retiring and planned on many adventures, she splurged on the top and oh my is it a game changer!
