Prepping the shell was obviously step one. We decided on three windows, two small behind the driver and passenger seat, and one a little larger in the back next to the bed. All three came from VanWindowsDirect.com, and slide open with screens. Quality is fine, but nothing awe inspiring. I found a jigsaw with a metal blade was by far the best option for cutting the holes. We then primed all the cut metal with rust preventing paint, and installed the window with white Quad Max sealant.

On the roof, we decided on one MaxxAir fan towards the front, and the rooftop AC with heating element towards the rear. The Maxxair fans are extremely nice because they can remain open in the rain. They also can take air in or blow air out, and have 10 speeds, ranging from extremely low power and silent, up to 800CFM. We placed the fan towards the front so it sits between the kitchen and bathroom, and can act as an exhaust fan for both.
For the rooftop AC, I chose the smallest unit I could find. The Coleman Mach-8 Cub pushes around 9000 BTU of cooling at about 1250 watts of power, or 6000 BTU of heating at 1750 watts. We can run this unit off a standard 15 amp household outlet, or a small generator. In theory, a few batteries and 2000w inverter would also power this unit, but I do not know if I'll be buying an extra battery simply to run the AC. I plan to add an additional furnace for regular use, but for the minimal cost of adding the heating element, I felt it was an easy choice to add it for times we are plugged into shore power.

While the MaxxAir fan works exactly as we had hoped, the rooftop AC unit is quite a bit louder than I'd like, and the heating element seems to not be working. We will sort the heating element I'm sure, but it's difficult to test in the heat of summer. The noise is simply the larger blower fan right above our heads. The unit actually seems quieter outside than inside. Luckily the noise stays consistent, rather than older AC units which would abruptly turn on and off to control temperature.

Finally, insulation! Their are endless debates about the best options, but I used my own past experiences to know exactly what I wanted to use. Mineral Wool insulation is moisture, mold, and mildew resistant, as well as fire resistant to over 2000 degrees. It's also readily available, reasonably affordable, and a little more efficient than regular fiberglass insulation. It's not particularly healthy, but all of ours will be encapsulated so I went with it. I filled as many cavities and spaces as I possibly could with the mineral wool, then I went through with expanding foam insulation to fill all the smaller cavities. I use the "window and door" type so it can't expand too much and flex the metal. After that, I wrapped the entire sides with an automotive "Sound Deadener and Heat Barrier Mat". This 1/4" thick foil faced foam provides extra insulation, a solid moisture barrier, and a cushion so I can screw my paneling to the metal of the van, and not worry about any squeaking.

I insulated the ceiling with 1" thick rigid foam board, again sealed with a layer of the "Sound Deadener and Heat Barrier Mat". The flooring was a little more challenging. I wanted the absolute miminum thickness, while still being an effective insulator. I ended up cutting strips of the 1/4" insulating mat to fill the gaps between the 'ribs' in the flooring, then laying a piece of 1/2" rigid foam board over it. The flooring we used also has a cork backing, which has a little additional insulating value. 

Roughly speaking, our floor is insulated to around R-6, our ceiling is around R-9, and our walls are around R-12.

Placeholder! More to come!

And so it begins! 

Not entirely sure how to start this blog, and I'm honestly not completely sure how the camper van idea became a reality for me (us). What I do know is I've instantaneously fallen behind online because working on the van was a far higher priority for me than documenting everything here. I'll try to catch up, but it will take time!

Over the past several years Alicia and I have become far more "outdoorsy", and we've been escaping to the woods or lakes far more often. I've always loved the idea behind these camper vans, but Alicia has never been on board. Come 2020, and the world is turned on it's head by this pandemic; Alicia and I both continued working full time but all of our travel plans for the year were cancelled, and soon cabin fever set in. The reality of building a camper van became far more interesting! Combine that with the fact that I was gradually heading towards wanting to start seriously backpacking... and Alicia was far more willing to be flexible so that did not become a new hobby. 

We discussed what it would take to comfortably replace our frequent AirBNB stays with a campervan, and what our priorities would be. A toilet and ceiling fan were easy necessities, and these are commonplace on nearly all builds. But we decided to go ahead and add a rooftop Air Conditioner, as well as an indoor shower, not so common place on most van builds. The air conditioner would only work if we plugged into a power outlet, whether it be at a campground, or outside a home/business. It could also work off a generator, but our intention is to not carry a generator with us, and we're honestly hoping to rarely need the air conditioner. That being said, having it and not needing it on most trips seems much more ideal than wishing we had it and not. The shower was the other toughy, but our intention with this van is to take it hiking, or biking, or kayaking, or whatever outdoor activity we can do all day, and then sleep in the van at night. Being able to shower off at the end of the day was a requirement. 

I did plenty of playing around with scale drawings to figure out exactly how we can fit everything, and I landed on the idea that the high roof, long wheel base Sprinter would be the best van option. The extra long Promaster would have worked similarly well, but we could not find them in our price range and we've had numerous issues with our Promasters at work, so I didn't want to go that route. Similarly, the longest Ford Transit would have worked as well, but my understanding is they are plagued with transmission issues. Finally, the Nissan NV 'tall' van contender, which is my favorite work van, is only available in a shorter wheelbase option, and would not work for our grand plan.

Alas, the Sprinter was in our price range, large enough for everything we wanted to fit, and reasonably available. Unfortunately, I learned after the fact that their are better and worse years for the Sprinter. 2004-2007 seem to be the optimal years for reliability, but they can be difficult to find without being plagued with rust. The newer models have an extremely delicate emissions system, that can be the cause of some mighty expensive repairs.

We set out looking for an inexpensive model to start our build, and checked out several ex-Fedex models. All needed more work than I wanted to put in right off the bat, and didn't come with a passenger seat. We eventually found the 2011 model we ended up buying at a used car lot a couple hours away. With about 195k miles on it, we felt it had plenty of life left in it for our intentions, and it had recently been serviced with several new parts (most relating to emissions system). It had previously been a delivery van, but was setup much nicer than the Fedex models; with two regular seats, no delivery placards, and no roof GPS tracker cutout. The interior and exterior were in decent enough shape, and the tires and brakes were all fine.

Unfortunately, shortly after driving the van home it registered another emissions system issue. With no knowledge of this specific vehicle at all yet, and a limited number of 'starts' available (emissions issues will shut down the engine if not resolved somewhat quickly), I was forced to take it to a local dealership. They replaced a couple more sensors, and confirmed that there was in fact several new OEM parts recently installed. We were not happy at all about spending the money on repairs so soon, but eventually decided to look at it in the positive light, that our new travel camper van will have a few more brand new parts that will hopefully last for the rest of it's life.

So after acquiring the van and getting it up and running well, it was time to start the build!