Beginning the Conversion

OH NO!
We take the van home and Ben begins by ripping out the floorboards. He plans to pressure wash the entire van to get the fertilizer smell OUT! He finds the entire metal floor rusted out. We had peeked under the floor boards by the sliding door before we purchased it. It was a little rusty there, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. This was terrible. We both felt awful.

Saved!

The next day we take it to Mick Poulsen at Poulsen's Auto Image. He had fixed the Prius and did GREAT work. He thinks it can be fixed up like new for relatively very little cost. He orders new sections of floor and replaces the whole thing. While the van was being fixed we visited it a couple of times to see how things were progressing. The best part is that once the floor was gone the smell was gone too.

 Windows and Insulation


The first step in making this cargo van into a usable camper was adding windows. I called every auto body and glass shop in Logan. No one added windows to Sprinter vans. Finally I called a Dodge dealer in SLC. He suggested I call Dang at New Image Van. We went to SLC and visited him with the van.  He added two new windows.

Dang also replaced the nasty vent fan and added another.

We used Reflectix for the floor insulation and plywood for the flooring

Fiberglass insulation went in the wall cavities and foamboard was glued to the upper wall.

Foamboard was also glued to the ceiling.

After the van was insulated and all the appliances were found we started to finish the inside of the van.  Ben started by putting paneling on the walls and MDF on the ceiling.  He used H channel to hold the paneling together at the seams and screwed it to the wall.

Once the walls and ceiling were finished we put in carpet.  We found a half price remnant at Lowe's that was exactly the color we wanted.  A carpet outlet sold us the small piece of carpet pad so the floor would be better insulated and kooshy.  We installed the sofa bed at the same time.

Ben adds vents to the van for the fridge and the furnace.  One of the fridge vents goes on the ceiling of the van.