My almost free van conversion

[ladywendolyn]

I decided to convert a Siena mini-van into an RV for a road trip this summer. The goal was to use existing camping equipment, home made items, dollar store purchases and free stuff in order to demonstrate how inexpensive it is to create an RV to live on the road. I am completing the project over the next few days and leaving on Saturday. In order to meet my requirements my van will need to have or carry:
-a sleeping area
-cooking area, with dishes etc.
-cold food storage and dry food storage
-water
-storage for clothes
-a table and chairs to eat at
- an awning for rain
-screens for ventilation
-a portable heater
-a couple of camping mats
-2 beach chairs.



Day one: picked up a bunch of my old milk crates, zip ties and a 12 volt cooler I had.
Here is my pile of stuff as I start.

I attached everything with zip ties.

This will be the storage area inside for clothes where the bed is.

I have used a combination of milk crates, zip ties, and a cheap plastic storage bin. I also cut up a shoe organizer from the dollar store. Everything is zip tied together.

This is a view of the back trunk layer.
I have the cooler, drawer unit, storage cubes and along the side an old camp table and vintage cook stove.

I have two projects I will complete before I add in the bed on Friday.
A rear hatch awning, and some camp stools. I am making the awning out of an old collapsed screen house we had in the back yard. I will use the screens too for that.
The stools are made out of fir hardwood and will be traditional campstools.
Here they are in progress.

I still have quite a few things to do before I leave on Saturday including finishing my stools and canopy and adding screens to the windows of the van.
I will post photos of my completed progress.
Nice to meet you all
Lady W


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[Cammalu]

Lady W, come organize at my place please. Great job.

 

[user 37446]

Sure thing, you can weekend camp or short term trip camp it like that, and inexpensively as well. Use what you've got first. Garage sales are also a source of other items.

Later when your power needs (while not driving) exceed your starting battery ability, you'll want to consider either a secondary marine type battery so your cooler and electronics don't kill your starting battery. Conversely, try to fit in a hybrid marine style battery as your starting battery. If that's not what you can do, consider using a standard battery box (cheapest) or a (more expensive, about $60) MinKota trolling motor battery box, which gives you plug ins you can use. A small portable solar panel with alligator clips to recharge the battery would work while in a campsite. As long as the panel doesnt produce more than say 10-20 watts you can get by without a cheap pwm solar controller. (Bigger panels require it for safety from overcharging.)

Then there's ventilation. Open windows are fine until there are bugs, rain, wind or critters. After that you'll want to consider how to keep air exchange in there, even simply sleeping inside produces a lot of water vapor. Some here have made custom mesh bug screens and magnet them to the windowsills. That works for all but rain.

You've got a good start. Read the subforums here on electricity, cooking etc and they may help you. Minivan camping is especially good for longer drives due to the higher mpg.

Thanks for the pics, you've made a good start.

 

[CautionToTheWind]

Welcome LadyW! Pictures of determination!

 

[tx2sturgis]

Wendy, is that you?

You can PM me if its a 'secret'...

 

[Putts]

I've always admired people who jump right into the water, rather than mamby-pamby ankle then knee entries.
(That's always a fail when you get to the groin anyway.)

My only comment is that zip ties that size are surprisingly easy to break with a sharp jolt.  I'd double up or get the big fat white ones.

Great idea, by the way. Go for it!

 

[ladywendolyn]

Thanks for the info on the battery. We do have a marine battery and a huge 100 watt solar panel from a large trailer that we own. (Which I don't want to take on a long trip as it's so massive and a hassle, but it does have those items you mentioned, battery wise. ). I also have a 450 watt inverter for charging up things while driving so maybe I can use that to keep the electronics charged for nighttime. I only have an iPad and a cpap machine for my husband which has rechargeable batteries.

I like the idea of a battery bank for the cooler, however for this trip I am thinking that we will just put some ice in the 12 volt cooler at night and maybe get the occasional electric site if needed although the goal here is to boon-dock if possible.
As to screens. I bought rare earth magnets to attach one to the sunroof.
I plan to attach screens to the two side windows that open using black duct tape along the hard plastic edge of the window frame (I'll post photos of my experiment with that and let you know how it works out). I also have some big sections of screening with zippers from the destroyed screen gazebo/tent that I have pillaged for my project. I am thinking of creating panels for the back hatch and sides as options to attach with magnets. I'm an experienced upholsterer so I have a bit of an edge on making awnings, seats and screen attachments. I'll post photos as I go ... and thanks in advance for your feedback on my experiment.


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[CautionToTheWind]

I'm an experienced upholsterer so I have a bit of an edge on making awnings, seats and screen attachments. 

Wish I had that skill set on the road full-time; make some green paper $$.

 

[ladywendolyn]

Wish I had that skill set on the road full-time; make some green paper $$.

I started because I was too frugal to pay someone to do my sofa! [emoji23]


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[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard ladywendolyn!
Great first post !
Pics of a van to camper mod on the cheap .
Well done..........

Ask anything you need to know and share anything you learn along the way.

 

[ladywendolyn]

Wendy, is that you?

You can PM me if its a 'secret'...

Depends who you are


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[tx2sturgis]

Depends who you are

Ok...never mind..


Wrong number.

 

[ladywendolyn]

I've always admired people who jump right into the water, rather than mamby-pamby ankle then knee entries.
(That's always a fail when you get to the groin anyway.)

My only comment is that zip ties that size are surprisingly easy to break with a sharp jolt.  I'd double up or get the big fat white ones.

Great idea, by the way. Go for it!

The ones I bought are specialty ones from an electrician supply place. I've had the zip tie fail thing happen every time I bought them from the dollar store. I'm hoping these last. They said "heavy duty" on the package. Thanks for the warning though... (entire pile of milk crates hurtling towards me would not be good) [emoji23]


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[user 37446]

Thanks for the info on the battery. We do have a marine battery and a huge 100 watt solar panel from a large trailer that we own. (Which I don't want to take on a long trip as it's so massive and a hassle, but it does have those items you mentioned, battery wise. ). I also have a 450 watt inverter for charging up things while driving so maybe I can use that to keep the electronics charged for nighttime. ... I'm an experienced upholsterer so I have a bit of an edge on making awnings, seats and screen attachments."

Well you've got more knowledge and equipment than most who start off, so you should be fine. Since you are a seamstress/upholsterer, you may be able to post some easy "how to" make window curtains, divider night blocks and such for those of us who can only sew on a button... 

 

[ladywendolyn]

I'll show you some cool hacks and tricks you can use without sewing...


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[AbuelaLoca]

Welcome, LadyW!! Wowsers, you go, girl!! I, like Putts, admire someone who just goes for it without that analysis paralysis I find myself muddling around in! Enjoy the journey!

 

[ladywendolyn]

Today I finished my camp stools and the awning.
As mentioned the awning was rescued from a collapsed gazebo. I ran 1/2 in wide aluminum conduit through the two ends. ($2.00 per length). It is 6 ft wide and will attach to the luggage rack with bunji cords and roll out for use. I'll post a photo of it open when I set up camp Saturday.

Today will be a busy day. I'm going to create window screens , curtains and shades.
Hoping I can pull this off and make a camper out of nothing in less than a week


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[rvpopeye]

Impressive !
You do good work...

 

[Cammalu]

Wow!!! You are going to have a nice camper. Beautiful work


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[AbuelaLoca]

You've made a great start! Those stools are too cute!