My Van Project

[Joseph_Grey]

Hey there, I am getting far enough along with my van project that I thought I would start posting some pictures here.   Initially, trying to build out the van into a stealth camper and to also blog about the process along the way, I was feeling pretty buried already.   But now I am feeling caught up and so here you go.

Project started as a 2008 Chevy Express Extended cargo van.  I bought it back in January.  It has 227k miles but seems exceedingly well cared for.

--joe

 

[Artsyguy]

Congrats! I'll be looking forward to seeing pictures. I've recently just started building out my 2015 Express (std. length), and will post some pics once it gets interesting too. You'll have a lot more room to design the interior with the extended version. I stayed away from the extended because I will also be using my van often to commute in the city. Good luck!

 

[caretaker]

JG, nice, if its got a good body thats 3/4 the battle, stealth is overrated, don't short cut something because of it. example, if you mount solar panels its more important to get the proper gap rather then low profile, you know stuff like that.

 

[user 37446]

Good start. For the benefit of other new posters (I'm thinking specifically of becca), what did you go through as far as decision making in order to end up with the 3/4 or 1 ton GM extended?  Does it have a 4.8, 6.0? What's your take on power/mileage?

You bought the barn door version, did you specifically look for that vs a sliding door?

Did it have shelves/bins/bulkhead inside? If it did, keep any of it?

You purchased the extended length wheelbase vs standard, which gains you appx 20" room (length) but is harder to turn and park. Thoughts on the tradeoff?

Thanks for any replies. 

 

[Joseph_Grey]

Hey there,

I cover in more detail several of your questions in a couple of blog posts,
https://livingonthestealth.blogspot.com/2017/01/invisible-in-plain-site.html
https://livingonthestealth.blogspot.com/2017/01/to-keep-on-trucking-really-isnt-for-me.html

I will give you some of the short answers here. I go back a little further than liter-ville. It is a 350 cubic inch engine. I am not sure what that really corresponds to. I am a carpenter and a lousy mechanic. I hire all that sort of wrench turning work done for me so my knowledge down that path line is somewhat limited. It drives great, acts like it could roll down the highway all day long at 70.

General opinions about driving it, the ride is real smooth. Parallel parking, you tend to watch real close for long spots you can slide into. ;-) Turning radius is a tricky thing. One time I had to roll up over a curb to get it to make the turn from the ordering sign to the payment window at a McDonalds. Yeah, I look real close before I get into any drive-thru lines.

I had a job change and the result of which was I needed four nights of lodging per week in the heart of a big city. So for me, I was really into the stealth aspect. I did go for the barn door version, that is what I wanted. I know the sliding door cargo vans exist but I don't think I came across a single used one.

It did have both shelves and a bulkhead. I pulled the shelves out and plan on selling them as soon as I get around to it. I might get enough from those shelves to pay for my solar panels.

It is 28 inches longer. The honest truth of what got me looking at the extended vans was my wife got involved. See I was thinking about a four night a week boars nest in the big city that I might only drive a mile or two a week. Suddenly she got involved and said, "Hey, we could use this as a camper and go on trips!" For two people who have been married over twenty years every inch of extra living space means a little more marital bliss. So I was looking for extended vans, I just couldn't afford one. Where I live it seems like the extended vans are about a four thousand dollar price bump.

But the real reason I ended up with one was it showed up on Craigslist and was the perfect van at the perfect price.

--joe

 

[user 37446]

Joe,

I read through several articles on your blog posts. You definately were correct about the longer answers being found on your blog. I think your high school English teachers would have been proud...

You have given new van conversion people great ideas and some good step by step directions. I noted on one post that I had never seen or heard of anyone getting a drop floor installed in order to save 8" of headroom for the two 20# propane tanks under the bed... That was a first!  Hopefully other members here will refer to your blog posts and read them, and get their own ideas.

You've certainly done well and are definitely in the spirit of the CRVL community!

I'm giving you a reputation positive for your blog about the van conversion process. Usually posters have their threads here on CRVL, perhaps you can ask a moderator how you can put together your blog posts and get them in the "conversions and modifications" sub forum here, so that readers could find them.

TWIH

 

[Joseph_Grey]

Thank you very much for your kind words.  Yes, I hope very much this helps someone out as I document my successes and failures.

I hadn't before seen anyone drop the propane tanks through the floor before either but it sure seemed like a good idea to me.  I was agonizing over where the tanks could go because under the bed they raise it up enough The Wife's claustrophobia would start to kick in.  Dropping them through the floor I was losing the spare tire and I was trying to figure out where that huge item could go.   Finally, Number One Son said to me "If you get a flat along side the road, are you really going to change it or just call AAA?"   An excellent point.  I pay good money for that insurance and have only used it once in ten years.  The spare tire is left at home and I will be in the back watching TV until the tow truck shows up.

Here are some photos before and after as well as a couple of the process.   I tried a couple of body shops to get the work done and they passed.  I was beginning to give up hope on my idea but then thought about the fact that my son is tied in pretty well to the local redneck community.  Give those guys something shiny to cut up and they will almost pay you for the honor.

The only down side as I can see it is the tanks are right in-line for the crush zone of a rear end collision.   Lets just hope that never happens.  Like I said in the blog, if it does, I want you all to say my last words were "Hol my beer and watch this!"

--joe

 

[Joseph_Grey]

A couple more....

 

[drysailor]

A couple more....

That's interesting, kind of "out-of-the-envelope" thinking. When you do think about it, many cars have a recessed section in the trunk floor, where the spare tire is kept. I could see a good welder doing this in several places in a van floor.....

 

[user 37446]

A lot of handicap vans have a lowered floor as well.

 

[closeanuf]

I like it a lot.  You could always get a spare tire holder that fits on the rear door.

 

[Joseph_Grey]

Here are some more photos.   A stack of boxes from Amazon means something big is going on!   I ordered a Suburban 16k BTU furnace, Tripp Lite 1500w charger/inverter.   

There is also a photo of one of the design floor plans.   Like all of my good ideas, they start out on bar napkins.   Then (since I was a graphics major in college) I put them into Adobe Illustrator.   Designing something is a matter of printing it out, drawing all over it, moving the better of those changes into Illustrator, printing, repeat. 

I posted about this on my blog at: https://livingonthestealth.blogspot.com/2017/02/bad-ideas-for-great-reason.html if anyone is interested in more detail.

--joe

 

[Joseph_Grey]

Some more photos corresponding to about here in my blog:
https://livingonthestealth.blogspot.ca/2017/02/keeping-cool-and-enclosed.html

I ended up buying four Trojan T-105 batteries and I split them, two on each side.  I have room for two more on the passenger side but the sales droid talked me out of buying them.   He suggested I wait and see how much power I actually use before investing that heavy.  I gotta say, after several months of living in the van five days a week, that guy might have saved me three hundred bucks.   After a week of living, the lowest I have seen the batteries at is 74%.  Granted, I don't own a fridge yet and I know that is the heaviest user I will have.

These pictures are making a template for the bed, then cutting out the bed top plywood.   What I *really* wish was that there was a video of me installing that plywood into the van.   It was February, I was working outside because it was (northerner's) warm out.   I was working alone and the plywood was only a couple of inches narrower than the van.  It was also heavy because I went for a high grade of plywood that wouldn't flex much.   I had to bring it in through the side door and work it back the length of the van.  A sweaty struggle.

Once the bed was in place I built the box around the propane tanks.  The basket going through the floor has some holes in it for any escaping propane to leak out but I still wanted to box the tanks in so there wouldn't be any smell coming up into the cabin.

And last, while I had the rednecks cutting the hole in the floor for the tanks I had them cut a hole in the floor up in the front so I would have a floor vent.  I want to be able to suck in the cool air from under the van.  This has worked out to be amazing.  When the vent fan is running there is an amazing cool breeze coming in through this hole.

--joe

 

[Joseph_Grey]

Balance of the photos.

--jg

 

[AbuelaLoca]

It's looking great!! Hope I know somebody that can fill/drill/weld when the time comes! LOL