I've posted in different threads regarding different aspects of my van conversion and thought it would be better to start a new thread focusing on my project in more detail including my experiences so far and questions that come up along the way.
What led me here? I did not buy my van with the intent of living in it. I bought it to move myself and my belongings from Minnesota to California at the end of June. Not being close to a big city when in MN (was halfway between the twin cities and Deluth) my options were very limited on the vans I could even look at to buy. I took a big chance on a van that happened to be close to me for $1300 after a quick test drive and not much else. The other option I had was to rent a small truck but the places wanted $1850 for the rental (plus gas would have been around $900 instead of $500 driving the van).
Van cost: $1300
Insurance (6 months): $290
Smog-Check/Oil change: $90
CA registration/taxes: $400
The gamble paid off as the van made the trip. I was all set! I had a 4 month plan to get working again and was on schedule. Then the owner of this house passed away and I was informed that by September 1st I was to move out. Without having employment I found that even trying to rent a room in the bay area was futile, despite me having 5-6 months rent + expenses saved up. With a week to go in August I decided I needed to prepare for living in the van. I searched online to try and find out what I was in for. Found this site and blogs describing other conversions. Purchased a few e-books on the kindle (Bob's was the first I read).
First thing I did was look into insulation. Foam board seemed to be the consensus pick. When I got to the Home Depot I found they didn't have any 1" of the Polyiso board I was after. They only had 1.5" and 2", without a big difference in price between them. I went with the 2" because I figured I would only need one layer. I neglected to think about how how rigid it was and that at 2" it would not bend along the curved van walls very well. (Although it was very nice for the floor! Very strong.) In the heat of the Home Depot parking lot I hacked away at the stuff until I had all the sides and floor covered.
Knee pads, Razer knife, tape measure, Nashua Multi-purpose tape (awesome stuff),
4x 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-13.1 Polyiso Rigid Foam Insulation Board: about $190
4x Powerade, purchased one at a time so they were always nice and cold: $7
The boards on the side did not conform to the van walls at all. After asking about it here in these forums, I was informed that "relief cuts" could be made to make the boards curve better. This did work to some extent and I used 3M mounting tape (double sided) to affix them snug to the van walls.
Just before finishing the walls, I bought 2 8'x4' sheets of plywood. One laid between the wheel wells starting at the back of the van, the other was cut into various sizes to fill the gaps. I affixed the plywood to the foam board on the floor using Liquid Nails: subfloor. Tip: buy several tubes of this stuff and return any that you don't use. Better than being in the middle of the job, running out and then having to sprint back to the store to buy more before it dries. Pro-Tip: have something heavy to put on top of the plywood after applying the liquid nails. I used 24-packs of bottled water but if I were doing it over I'd have the solar batteries handy for this task (the ones I got weigh 75 pounds each!!)
2x 8x4 0.58" plywood: $75
Straight cuts at home depot: free
3x Liquid Nails subfloor: $24
Dispenser for the Liquid Nails: $5
Here are the pictures of my van as it stands now (with some leftover insulation sitting on the floor):
I've yet to work on the roof yet. I plan to use the leftover 2" foam I have, probably on the back half of the roof (where there will be no help from the solar panels for shade). I'll then use some lighter stuff for the front half.
Now as for my dual-battery + solar setup I didn't want to skimp out. I need power for running fans & a laptop computer. This doesn't sound like a big load but I will probably add more later (cooler, heater, etc.) once I see how this goes. The parts I bought are a little on the pricey side.
Batteries: 2x VMAX-SLR125 12V 125Ah AGM Solar / Wind Storage Deep Cycle 12 Volt Batteries (75 pounds each!!) $515
Solar Controller: Blue Sky SB2000E 12V / 25 amp MPPT charge controller $209
Solar Panels & mounting brackets: 2x 100W Solar Panels UL Listed Off Grid 12 Volt 12V $300
Inverter: PROwatt SW 1000 DC-to-AC Power Inverter $250
Roof Fan: Fan-Tastic 807350 Roof Vent with Smoke Lid $235 via ebay
Mobile Internet (pre-paid): Verizon Jetpack® 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi® 5510L $60 + $60/month (3 gigs).
I did not get an isolator yet as one of the 2 shops in the area who would install all this stuff for me was quite insistent on using this one: Sure Power: 12V 200A Battery Separator - Bi-Directional w/ Aux Start $103
I'm not sure if that's the exact isolator as he wants to use but it's probably close. Looks decent!
In any case that's where I stand. Thankfully I was given an additional week to get this stuff done (I was NOT prepared on the 1st). Monday September 8th is my new van move-in date.
What I want to do between now (Friday afternoon) and Monday: Use the extra foam board to cover what I can of the roof, starting with the back. Get a bed-frame built. Get the solar stuff installed (need help.. hoping that one of the 2 van conversion guys in the area will take pity on me and fit me in.. both are booked 4 weeks in advance)
I'd like to build a battery box but don't really know how the holes should be drilled or whatever. I'll probably leave that to whoever installs the solar. At 150 pounds of batteries, I plan to put them behind the passenger seat to help distribute the weight.
I'd also like to do something on the floor. This probably is a bit optional considering time constraints but I worry a bit about splinters. I do like the fact that it should be easy to drill into for mounting (.058" plywood with the 2 inch foam board underneath). I'd be happy with a simple floor mat but I think I need to get my bed frame & battery box built before doing anything more to the floor... not really sure.
I may also want to mount a safe (one of those "hotel" safes at costco ($80) to put my laptop in). This would probably only fit under the bed frame at this point. I also need to finish the walls off in some way. Maybe some simple paneling would suffice. It would be cool to have some material to mount things to but that may be unnecessary.
Quick & dirty.. not cheap tho. Any comments/suggestions welcome!
What led me here? I did not buy my van with the intent of living in it. I bought it to move myself and my belongings from Minnesota to California at the end of June. Not being close to a big city when in MN (was halfway between the twin cities and Deluth) my options were very limited on the vans I could even look at to buy. I took a big chance on a van that happened to be close to me for $1300 after a quick test drive and not much else. The other option I had was to rent a small truck but the places wanted $1850 for the rental (plus gas would have been around $900 instead of $500 driving the van).
Van cost: $1300
Insurance (6 months): $290
Smog-Check/Oil change: $90
CA registration/taxes: $400
The gamble paid off as the van made the trip. I was all set! I had a 4 month plan to get working again and was on schedule. Then the owner of this house passed away and I was informed that by September 1st I was to move out. Without having employment I found that even trying to rent a room in the bay area was futile, despite me having 5-6 months rent + expenses saved up. With a week to go in August I decided I needed to prepare for living in the van. I searched online to try and find out what I was in for. Found this site and blogs describing other conversions. Purchased a few e-books on the kindle (Bob's was the first I read).
First thing I did was look into insulation. Foam board seemed to be the consensus pick. When I got to the Home Depot I found they didn't have any 1" of the Polyiso board I was after. They only had 1.5" and 2", without a big difference in price between them. I went with the 2" because I figured I would only need one layer. I neglected to think about how how rigid it was and that at 2" it would not bend along the curved van walls very well. (Although it was very nice for the floor! Very strong.) In the heat of the Home Depot parking lot I hacked away at the stuff until I had all the sides and floor covered.
Knee pads, Razer knife, tape measure, Nashua Multi-purpose tape (awesome stuff),
4x 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-13.1 Polyiso Rigid Foam Insulation Board: about $190
4x Powerade, purchased one at a time so they were always nice and cold: $7
The boards on the side did not conform to the van walls at all. After asking about it here in these forums, I was informed that "relief cuts" could be made to make the boards curve better. This did work to some extent and I used 3M mounting tape (double sided) to affix them snug to the van walls.
Just before finishing the walls, I bought 2 8'x4' sheets of plywood. One laid between the wheel wells starting at the back of the van, the other was cut into various sizes to fill the gaps. I affixed the plywood to the foam board on the floor using Liquid Nails: subfloor. Tip: buy several tubes of this stuff and return any that you don't use. Better than being in the middle of the job, running out and then having to sprint back to the store to buy more before it dries. Pro-Tip: have something heavy to put on top of the plywood after applying the liquid nails. I used 24-packs of bottled water but if I were doing it over I'd have the solar batteries handy for this task (the ones I got weigh 75 pounds each!!)
2x 8x4 0.58" plywood: $75
Straight cuts at home depot: free
3x Liquid Nails subfloor: $24
Dispenser for the Liquid Nails: $5
Here are the pictures of my van as it stands now (with some leftover insulation sitting on the floor):
I've yet to work on the roof yet. I plan to use the leftover 2" foam I have, probably on the back half of the roof (where there will be no help from the solar panels for shade). I'll then use some lighter stuff for the front half.
Now as for my dual-battery + solar setup I didn't want to skimp out. I need power for running fans & a laptop computer. This doesn't sound like a big load but I will probably add more later (cooler, heater, etc.) once I see how this goes. The parts I bought are a little on the pricey side.
Batteries: 2x VMAX-SLR125 12V 125Ah AGM Solar / Wind Storage Deep Cycle 12 Volt Batteries (75 pounds each!!) $515
Solar Controller: Blue Sky SB2000E 12V / 25 amp MPPT charge controller $209
Solar Panels & mounting brackets: 2x 100W Solar Panels UL Listed Off Grid 12 Volt 12V $300
Inverter: PROwatt SW 1000 DC-to-AC Power Inverter $250
Roof Fan: Fan-Tastic 807350 Roof Vent with Smoke Lid $235 via ebay
Mobile Internet (pre-paid): Verizon Jetpack® 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi® 5510L $60 + $60/month (3 gigs).
I did not get an isolator yet as one of the 2 shops in the area who would install all this stuff for me was quite insistent on using this one: Sure Power: 12V 200A Battery Separator - Bi-Directional w/ Aux Start $103
I'm not sure if that's the exact isolator as he wants to use but it's probably close. Looks decent!
In any case that's where I stand. Thankfully I was given an additional week to get this stuff done (I was NOT prepared on the 1st). Monday September 8th is my new van move-in date.
What I want to do between now (Friday afternoon) and Monday: Use the extra foam board to cover what I can of the roof, starting with the back. Get a bed-frame built. Get the solar stuff installed (need help.. hoping that one of the 2 van conversion guys in the area will take pity on me and fit me in.. both are booked 4 weeks in advance)
I'd like to build a battery box but don't really know how the holes should be drilled or whatever. I'll probably leave that to whoever installs the solar. At 150 pounds of batteries, I plan to put them behind the passenger seat to help distribute the weight.
I'd also like to do something on the floor. This probably is a bit optional considering time constraints but I worry a bit about splinters. I do like the fact that it should be easy to drill into for mounting (.058" plywood with the 2 inch foam board underneath). I'd be happy with a simple floor mat but I think I need to get my bed frame & battery box built before doing anything more to the floor... not really sure.
I may also want to mount a safe (one of those "hotel" safes at costco ($80) to put my laptop in). This would probably only fit under the bed frame at this point. I also need to finish the walls off in some way. Maybe some simple paneling would suffice. It would be cool to have some material to mount things to but that may be unnecessary.
Quick & dirty.. not cheap tho. Any comments/suggestions welcome!
