The Van Conversion

We picked up our ex-delivery van in Brisbane, returned to Hervey Bay and checked back into the Shelley Beach Motel where we had become quite comfortably settled. We had some doubts about this van, but, everything seemed to work, even the air conditioning (thank goodness, as the temps were still around 35C every day) and we were reasonably pleased with our purchase.

Then, we were faced with an empty square of space that needed filling. Our ideas ranged from just throwing a bed in the back to building a comfortable home. We were somewhat limited by the mid-height roof of the van. In an ideal world, we would have been able to get a high-roof van with an extended wheel base which would have given us a lot more options. As we knew we were not keeping this van for the long-term, we bought what was available, in the shortest time frame possible and decided to do the best we could with it.

BEFORE

AFTER

The reality of our project ambitions and what we had taken on started to set in. We had a little expertise, but, no tools, no place to store supplies and no place to do the work which promised to be hot, noisy and dirty. But, we had to start, so, we did. It was a solid five weeks spent in a twilight zone of incredibly long, hot, dirty, dusty and very frustrating days. We set up shop every morning before dawn in a corner of the public parking lot, down at the boat harbour. We had a little shade in the morning and some in the afternoon, but, on sunny days we had to stop work between 10-3 as we thought we were going to die of heat exhaustion. We were working on black tarmac with a hot, dusty sea breeze continually blowing dirt on us. Between 10-3 we had to load all the supplies, tools and work in progress back in the van and drive up to the local Bunnings (building supply store) to get our daily fill of supplies. A short break for lunch and cold drinks at the motel and then it was back to the job.

Even though the job was horrible to do we are quite proud of what we were able to achieve with dollar store tools and no workshop. Basically, we did the whole thing with a hand saw, a jigsaw, a drill and two clamps. All our cutting was done on the pavement! I'm writing this right now from inside the van and I can say it's very comfortable. The extra time we spent to insulate properly helps to regulate the inside temperature. We can cook on our propane two-burner cooktop.

We have a great little fridge/freezer, tv and led lighting powered solely from our solar panels and batteries, meaning we can stay in free campsites a lot of the time.

The bed is large, very comfortable and during the day converts to a desk/table with bench seating.

Unfortunately, there just wasn't room for a toilet and shower, but, we plan to get a solar shower bag and porta-potti for those times we just can't find a public toilet.

Here are a few more photos of the finished product.

This fibreglass gas storage box, required to get a gas certificate, took two days to install. We had to cut a huge hole through the van in just the right place to match the sidewall profile. It was very tricky.

The day the solar panels went onto the roof was very exciting. To the rear, you can also see the roof hatch we installed which had to have a large, very precise hole cut into the roof.

The new awning-style side window was a nice, functional addition.

Here's a summary of the costs involved (all prices in AUD). We hope to recoup most of this when we sell the van. Our labour was 'free' and isn't included. To get a job like this done professionally is very expensive. Nothing is square in a van and although not quite as bad as a boat, every piece of material has to be shaped to fit and requires a lot of fiddling.

Van
10,000 Purchase (2003 Ford Transit, 175,000km, 5 speed manual, 2.4L turbodiesel)
  1,200 Registration and insurance
     700 Service
-------
11,900

Interior
 2,600  Solar system (professionally installed, 2x150w panels, 2x120Ah batteries, 30A regulator)
 2,500  Supplies and tools
 1,400  Fridge (Waeco CRX110)
 1,000  Finishing touches
    900  Mattresses (foam and covers)
    600  Side window
    500  Counter, cabinets, sink
    440  Cooktop (Smev)
    400  Propane storage box
    350  Propane hookup and compliance certification
     330  Hatch
     200  TV
  -------
  11,220

(11,900 + 11,220) = $23,120