The Van (Conversion)

Obviously crucial to this adventure, and beyond, was the van, my Sprinter.  As I mentioned earlier, part of the inspiration for this trip, and hopefully others to follow, are those many individuals who came before me, who bought used Sprinter vans and modified them as RVs.  There are too many resources to name, too many webpages, blogs, and YouTube videos out there to mention them all, so I will only mention a few at the end of this post, a few which might provide ideas and inspiration for others out there looking for an outdoor adventure vehicle. Now, there are other vehicles which would definitely make for a better adventure vehicle (like uh, the new 4-wheel drive Sprinter Mercedes now has), various SUVs, 4-wheel drive pick-ups and campers, but for me, the Sprinter was perfect, high roof made it very livable, and flexible, and the overall size made for lots of options in terms of the conversion. So, I went with a used Sprinter. I bought a used Freightliner Sprinter van in February 2016, from a guy outside of Sanford, Maine. And unfortunately, guy was a criminal, and lied to me about a number of things, such as the noise from the rear end, recent work on the transmission, and code for check engine light. So much selfish, greed these days in the US, I will unfortunately trust no one, ever again. Ok, back to the van. This Sprinter was obviously used, just over 200,000 miles which is a lot for some vehicles, but everything I read suggested this 5-cylinder diesel Mercedes engine good for at least 350,000 to 500,000 miles. Plus, many suggested the automatic transmission also good for at least 300,000 miles or more. I had been looking for a Sprinter for many months, and this was the first one which really fit the bill, used, but not abused (or least so I thought, was fleet maintained, company in Maryland, until purchased by crook in Maine), and affordable, only US$8,000.  I figured I would probably have to put some money into it (which I did), but looked nice for an old van, just beat up enough to be stealthy, yet still something I figured would last for a number of years. The problem was, the former owner lied to me, and well, I had to put more money into it than planned. First, it needed a new rear end (US$1800), and eventually a new turbo (US$2600), along with shocks, brakes, glow plugs, and fuel filter. When all was said and done, I figured I had about US$15,000 in the van, and this did not include additional equipment such as the fridge, roof rack, etc., all of which are mentioned later. This trip was beginning to get very expensive right from the start, but I looked at the van as an investment, something I could use even after the trip to South America, and something I could sell if I wanted to, get at least some of my investment back. Dealing with mechanical issues was expensive, and not fun.  But the build, the actual conversion, now that was fun, even if frustrating at times, and occasionally a bit more expensive than planned as well. So here goes, step-by-step conversion, with a slide show to follow. And as always, if there are any more specific questions, please contact me, and I will see if I can help.
1. Removed bulkhead behind seats, cleaned things up a bit, and removed some random hardware scattered about the walls and floor.  Annoying job, especially removing the bulkhead, with 24 rivets along the top and sides,  plus 10 more along the bottom. Only way which worked for me, cold, steel chisel and a small sedge hammer. Lucking to still have all my fingers.
2. Added Rattletrap to deaden the sound a bit, heavy stuff, and surprisingly expensive. Was easy to work with though, adhesive backing, just cut and stick.
3. Reflectix insulation went next, walls and roof.  I used 3M spray adhesive for this, more difficult than I thought it would be, especially on the ceiling, was difficult to get things to stick.
4. Next layers, denim insulation and plastic vapor barrier.  These layers only went on the walls, not on the ceiling.
5. I put the flooring down at this point, thin, brown, textured rubber flooring ordered from Home Depot.  I used two-faced tape along edges at doors and at the front behind the seats.  Did not stick great, but I did not remove the original fiberboard flooring in the van as I figured this would help with insulation as well.
6. Next came the ceiling vent. I installed a Fan-Tastic Vent, Model 3350 (US$230), 3-speed, power lift dome, reversible air flow, and rain sensor. Cutting a 14"x14" hole in the roof of the van very traumatic, but actually went in great.  And so far, no leaks!
7. And finally, I installed 1/4" tongue-and-groove cedar siding on the walls and ceiling. I first installed 1"x2" "studs" with self-tapping wood-metal screws, these went in very well. I then used a nail gun with #18 (I think) brads and wood glue to attach the paneling to the studs. It was a challenge in some spots, and took much longer than expected, but looked really nice when it was done. The paneling was a bit expensive, but think it looks (and smells) a lot better than plywood. I think things turned out pretty well up to this point.  

The last thing which I needed to do was to build the living space in the van, including the bed platform, my desk, the kitchen cabinet, and overhead storage. While there were challenges, and some things worked out better than others, it was fun, I always did enjoy working with wood, even if I am no master carpenter (Thom from SJC would not really be impressed with the final product). I used mostly popular for much of work, 2"x4"s for the bed platform, and some pine for bottoms and sides of some cabinets when I realized that popular is bit heavy and expensive, pine is light and cheap. Wood screws were used throughout, along with some wood glue to put together all cabinets, and all were firmly attached to the van via self-tapping metal screws. I wanted everything well anchored, do not want a bunch of wood flying around if I happened to have an accident. I tried different closures for the doors before finally settling on hooks and loops, simply, and seemed more secure than other options. I stained the inside of the desk, but everything else was painted nice, bright primary colors.  I did this as a way to celebrate Latin culture, as when I was in Costa Rica for example, many houses were painted bright colors, yellow, blue and green. That is about it for the conversion, the build in brief. I am especially thankful for the help of my neighbor Joe at Shaw Acres in Maine, he really helped out a lot. I also consulted with a number of people, mostly staff in Facilities at Saint Joseph's College where I was working at the time, Chris, Thom, Mike Ward (thanks for wiring the vent fan), and others. While far from perfect, I am really happy about the way things turned out, especially considering that I did basically all of this myself (though thanks Joe), and I generally did not know what I was doing most of the time. I will discuss other aspects in the next post, such as the roof rack, and equipment for inside the van. Below, a few web pages for information and inspiration, and a little slide show starting at the beginning of the build.  As always, thanks for reading.

Resources
Sprinter-rv.com, stealthsprinter.com, traipsingabout.com, sprinter-source.com, sprinterlife.com, and many more, plus lots of cool and informative videos on YouTube, plus a couple of Ambassadors at Outside Magazine who converted Sprinters.
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