Can Your Relationship Weather a Van Conversion?

Taking on a big project like a van conversion that involves a pretty big chunk of change can put some stresses on an otherwise smooth-sailing relationship.  Howard and I didn't expect any issues to arise over our van conversion since we had pretty much agreed on the basics:  We want a camper van with very simple systems, similar to our boat.  We felt confident that we could pull off the conversion since we've worked together on many large home improvement projects and rescued a derelict sailboat about seven years ago, so how hard could a van conversion be?  

Well, it turns out, harder than we thought. The boat was really easy compared to the van. For starters,  the boat was free, so we didn't have to worry about ruining something expensive.  Secondly, we decided early on not to reconfigure the boat layout, so that minimized a lot of major decisions.  And thirdly, the division of labor on the boat was clear--Howard dealt with the completely defunct engine and related mechanical systems, while I took on restoring the wood, paint, canvas and upholstery.   

The van, now called Buster, has a less clear division of labor, so we have taken to squabbling about the details--the windows, the flooring, the cooker, the details of darn near everything.  Adding to the tension, Howard is a man of action, and I am a woman of equivocation, so although we eventually end up on the same page, we have to travel through the valley of much contention first.

If you are undertaking a conversion project with a partner, I think it helps to clarify your goals right at the start, state your non-negotiable needs, and clearly define your budget.  With those parameters in place, go forth and create...and keep reminding each other that this is supposed to be FUN.

Plan, Plan, Plan

 Starting with a big empty box leaves lots of room for planning, and lots of opportunities to make some costly mistakes.

Our old van only had some homemade, built-in storage, and a piece of plywood thrown over the wheel wells and topped with  foam for our bed. That served us just fine for many years.

This time around though, we want a few more creature comforts, so we started off with a wish list:

• A full-sized bed--Many of the conversions we've looked at have had beds not much bigger than a single.  We decided we want something around the size of a double bed.
• Indoor Cooking--We like cooking outdoors, but we want the ability to cook inside if the weather is lousy, or the bugs are out in full force.
• A table--Our sailboat has a booth configuration, and we like that--eating at a table, having a table to work on, and bench seats to lounge on opposite one another.
• Simple systems--like water delivered from jerry cans with a foot pump, no hot water heater (more about our hot water system later.)  No furnace, no interior shower, no generator.
• Storage--lots of storage for food, clothes, tools, outdoor stuff...
• The ability, if needed, to haul things in the van like plywood sheets, building materials, and gardening supplies.
• PortaPotty.  We lived with a PortaPotty for the 9 years we lived in Arctic Alaska, and we have one on the boat, so we're not as grossed out by them as a lot of people.  We plan to use the facilities available at campgrounds and rest areas, but at times when that is not available, the PortaPotty will be appreciated.
• Since we need to keep the height of the van under 90-inches for the ferry, and the manufacturer's brochure says the van is 88 inches high, we cannot add anything that makes the van taller, so a raised roof vent is pretty much out of the question.  We've decided on an opening sunroof to provide ventilation, without adding height.

I made a cardboard mockup to help us visualize what we're thinking.  At the back of the van, against the back doors are two facing bench seats, 56 inches wide.  Underneath the benches the two ends that face the back doors are open for under-the-bench storage of things like sun chairs, boots, tools, chains, rope, etc.  The front half of the benches are partitioned off from the back half, and are accessed from inside the van through  lids  that lift up.  The table comes off the pedestal and drops onto rails between the two benches to make a 74-inch long by 56 inch wide bed.  Removing the table also makes it possible to slide in several sheets of plywood or sheet rock for some future DIY home improvement project.

We are debating if we can have overhead cabinets along the walls above the benches, or if we would constantly bonk our heads on them.  We'll have to make a full-size mock up out of cardboard to see if they are feasible.

The galley is just under 5 feet long, and 20 inches wide, it is behind the driver's seat.  It has storage underneath and overhead cabinets that are 10"x10" x 5 feet long.  Next to the side sliding door is a 15 by 20-inch cabinet that houses the porta potty--easy to access and easy to pull out for dumping.

Decisions and dilemmas to be solved: 

• What flooring material to use
• should the galley be shortened in favor of including a ceiling to floor cabinet?
• We've installed sound deadening material  (Ultra Touch by Bonded Logic).  But we aren't sure what else we should do for insulation/vapor barrier.  There are as many opinions on the Internet as there are snakes in Georgia.  
• We keep going round and round about what kind of cooker we want, and how to deal with the fuel. 
• We want a window over the galley area--a Sietz Window, but they are not easy to find in the US.  One dealer told us they are great windows, but they are packaged so poorly, that 50% of the windows were broken when he received them, so he quit carrying them.
• We haven't decided what to do about carrying additional passengers, since we've only got two crash tested seats…should we add others, and if so how and where?
• What to do about the electrical set up.

The New Van--a Promaster

Ever since we donated our 30 year old Dodge van to NPR in around 2009, we have missed having a vehicle we could camp in.  Periodically we've talked about getting another van, but the huge engines and low gas mileage were deal breakers. 

When Mercedes-Dodge Sprinter vans appeared in the American market, we took a serious look at them, but living on a ferry-served island, the height of the Sprinter meant a ferry ticket would cost almost double.

Then, after the Mercedes/Dodge divorce, we started to hear rumors that the Fiat Ducato, a van we had often seen in Europe, was going to be marketed by Dodge in North America.  We were interested in the low-roof, long-wheel base version that would give us lots of room for a van conversion, and yet still qualify for the cheap seats on the ferry.  Best of all, the Ducato, called a Promaster in North America, gets 22+ miles per gallon. Ordinarily, we would be the last people to buy a vehicle the first year it is released, but two things convinced us to take the leap.
1.  We were offered a really good deal on our low-mileage Honda Element.
2.  We're old geezers and if we are going to hit the open road again, we'd better get crackin'.

We spent many a happy hour in our old van, including driving up and down the Alaska highway.  You couldn't really call that old van a camper since it mainly had a piece of plywood thrown in the back over the wheel wells, and topped with a piece of foam rubber for a bed, and a big built in cabinet where we could stash everything from the Coleman portable camp stove and a shovel, to food, water and clothes.

We are aiming higher this time, and plan to add a few more creature comforts.  We're starting with a big empty box, lots of ideas, lots of anxiety about how to do it right.  Right meaning mainly that we don't take a brand new, perfectly good vehicle and screw it up in some significant way.