DIY CAMPER VAN CONVERSION FULL BUILD TIMELAPSE

0:00 I have recently converted this delivery van into a tiny home on Wheels and in this video I'm going to show you the full build from start to finish this is a 2017 Ford Transit 2.2 liter diesel It's the long wheelbase extra high roof so there's plenty of space to move around inside right let's get to work

0:22 the first job on the agenda was to strip out all the old plywood remove the bulkhead and clean out the van [Music] thank you I didn't throw away any of the plywood

0:47 as I plan to use it as a template when I replace the paneling once the inside was clean I touched up with some paint and filled in some holes [Music] the first real big job on the van was building a fully insulated subfloor I started by building a frame out of wood

1:12 to hold the insulation which I then glued down [Music] thank you [Music] for the insulation I use sellotex which I cut to fit perfectly inside the frame I'm gonna be honest with you

1:39 that stuff is horrible so as you can see I am covered in dust one thing I would say if you are going to do this is make sure that you wear a mask then I use aluminum tape to create a vapor barrier to prevent any moisture from soaking through the insulation to the metal floor below

1:56 [Music] this stuff here sticks to itself really well onto this so I mean I think it looks pretty good I then insulated my wheel arches

2:23 [Music] carpeted the divider between the living space and the cab [Music] and moved on to build the ply floor for

2:48 the van [Music] lifting them [Music] makes me realize how unfit I am now this is where my previously removed plywood comes in I used the old floor to draw around onto 12 millimeter sheets of plywood cut it to shape and carefully placed it on top of the insulated floor oh [Music]

3:16 I then screwed the new plywood floor down to the wooden frame I made for the installation [Music] all right that's done and I'll tell you what for a one day job that wasn't bad the next job involved making the van leak proof there are holes in my van Ford transits come with holes in the

3:38 side and today I'm gonna have to fix that which the external side trims click into these let water in overtime so I decided to fill the hose with non-setting mastic foreign [Music] s were filled I used sound deadening sheets to take any Flex out of the panels ready for when I start insulating

4:01 the sides and ceiling I also installed some conduit to run wires for later on in the build because planning ahead is everything when it comes to a van conversion [Music] and then it was onto the installation I started by installing a thermal liner to the walls of the van which I could cut

4:23 with either a knife or a pair of scissors thank you once I was happy that I covered all the areas I needed to it was time to add the fleece insulation I used a 50 millimeter thick recycled plastic which worked a treat at this stage I only covered the lower and top parts of the walls as I

4:49 have something planned for the middle section then it was on to installing a vapor barrier using a damp proof membrane once I'd covered the lower and top areas of the wall leaving the middle section for later I moved on to framing the walls framing is pretty important it allows you to fix your thinner plywood

5:08 lining and cabinets to the thicker wooden frame I use 12 mil ply for the framework whilst installing the frame I found a few leaks coming down from the roof which I needed to seal up before I could move on any further with this fan build see this water I've written a leak up there so

5:29 that's one good thing about it raining when you're in the van as you can check to see if there are any leaks so up onto the roof I went but figured whilst I was up there I might as well install my roof rack to hold my solar panel which I'll install later I also found some rust on

5:42 the roof that needed treating and painting before Sealing [Music] once all the holes were fixed it was time to plyline the walls of the van I started off by using the plier removed previously as a template to cut it to

6:08 shape foreign [Music] the lower sections to the wall before building a frame for my inserts [Music] I'm building insights to give me extra room for my bed so I can sleep with

6:33 phrase in the van these inserts will allow me to fit a six foot free mattress in here comfortably once the inserts were made I mounted the top parts of plywood leaving the rear doors and side sliding door for later I then carpeted some of the bare metal areas just to tidy up the look when you have such a

6:50 large van you need to feel confident when driving and parking so I felt it was important to install a reversing camera now before I find it really difficult in the future once all the units are installed I removed the rear brake light installed the new light with the built-in camera ran the wire to the

7:07 front of the van through the conduit I laid earlier down the door pillar along the roof lining and attached the monitor to where the rear view mirror would normally be wearing it up wasn't easy but I did make a video about how to do it which you may want to watch later now that the camera was taken care of it was

7:23 time to paint the ply inside the van I also carpeted the inserts once I was happy with that I laid a vinyl floor on my plywood floor to make the floor easier to clean but mainly because it looked better [Music]

7:49 I then finished off the inserts with a bit of wood framing and moved on to the next job which was building my bed frame [Music] I wanted a solid frame so I built the two end posts out of three by four Timber supported them in the middle and then used the Ikea Hack of using their bed slats to make the main support for

8:11 the bed I used three of them in the end and screwed them into place using the brackets supplied by Ikea they're pretty strong I love it when a plan comes together I then made some whip slats support the mattress a quick test with a temporary mattress and the bed frame was done it's not too high up even still all this

8:30 space and obviously the ceiling's gonna be gonna be right there it is all finally starting to come together now we don't all like to talk about it but let's face it everyone needs to poo but no one needs to know about it so I decided to build a hidden toilet compartment in the van I started off by

8:47 building the front for the bed frame before building a box for the toilet to live in foreign [Applause] [Music] was really important once I was happy with the shape I then made a top to the Box because this toilet will double up

9:12 as a seat for when the toilet isn't in use I then covered the front of the bed frame with nine mil ply and cut an opening for easy access to under the bed I then built a removable front for the toilet box for easy access when empty and then lastly I screwed down the toilet box as great as my new seat was I

9:31 needed more seating it was time to build my sofa which will double up as an extra sleeping area for guests again I built a basic frame making sure it was the same height off the ground as the toilet box [Music] made a slotted top with a pull out on one side to make almost a corner sofa

9:55 type shape so that if I have guests and they're taller than four foot they can also sleep with ways in the van yeah it kind of works next it was time to install some ventilation I decided to go with the max fan Deluxe because you know everyone installs these things I started by building a template so I could work

10:12 out where it was going to go on the roof I even had to cut away some of the roof bars to make space for such a huge fan once the Bars were cut and painted I built a wooden frame for the fan to sit in and proceeded to cut this huge hole in the roof which was pretty daunting

10:37 once the hole was cut I added mastic sealant to the plastic frame and screwed it down to the wooden frame I made earlier once I was happy that I had a good seal all the way around it was time to pop in the fan itself and then seal around the edges it looked easy but it wasn't [Music]

10:55 now it was time to start thinking about power and where better to start than with solar I ordered a huge solar panel that I could barely lift on my own this was a 305 watt Beast which I mounted directly onto the roof bar as I installed earlier and it fit really well it was a little difficult but that's

11:12 because I did it on my own always ask for help if you need it next I drilled a hole in the roof and mounted the housing for the wires to run through foreign [Music] the wires down behind the ply lining and Out Below the bed frame ready to mount my solar charge controller and cut off

11:37 switch then all I had to do is connect them up and the solar is all set to charge my leisure battery which I will install later next it was time to install my DC to DC charger my fuse boxes and my bus bars I mounted everything to a wooden panel and marked the wire sizes with masking tape for

11:56 reference I started off with a schematic and planned out where I would locate everything I cut holes in the wood panel I made to keep my wiring nice and tidy behind and then all there was to do was wire it all up now I'm no electrician so being able to follow a detailed schematic came in very

12:20 useful as it Maps out everything you need from wire sizes to the connectors I ran a wire from the DC to DC charger at the back of the van all the way to the front of the van under the driver's seat which is where the van's engine battery sits I installed a battery cutoff switch and connected all the wires then all

12:39 there was to do was remove the reference tape we're also waited for my leisure battery to arrive it was time to install my kitchen I went the easy route and ordered a flat pack kitchen from Ikea [Music] building the units was pretty easy these

13:04 kitchens are designed for houses not vans so there were a few alterations that I had to make to get the units to fit snugly into the space [Music] once the units were all in place it was time to install the countertop I went for a laminate countertop which I would not recommend I later replaced this with

13:26 a solid Beechwood worktop which is lighter and easy to work with I measured and cut the countertop to size and then cut the hole for the sink and the tap that was also from Ikea [Music] fit in the tap and sink was pretty straightforward with the tools provided by Ikea foreign the drawers and mounted the doors and

13:53 installed two water tanks one for fresh water and one for gray water a and the kitchen was ready don't worry I will keep you informed on the miles per gallon I get from this van now I've got this heavy Kitchen in here next I installed my leisure battery I went for a 200 amp hour lithium battery I built a

14:10 wooden platform for the battery to sit in and installed a strap to stop the battery from moving around then I wired up the battery and tested some of my lights I installed previously I now had power in the van oh look at that as my homemade units like the bed and the sofa and the seat were

14:32 starting to look a little out of place next to my nice clean new Ikea kitchen I decided to give them a lick of paint to tidy them up I then installed my fridge I went for a Dometic because I've heard really good things about them and about how quiet they are and how reliable the plan for the fridge is to locate it

14:49 under the sofa so I wired up a plug slotted in the fridge which fit perfectly because I planned the silver Dimensions based on this exact fridge earlier because again planning is everything I then installed a door for the fridge unit slash sofa I then fitted a memory foam mattress which was cut to

15:07 order so it would fit perfectly to my bed shape next I installed a removable table for eating I went for the lagun table leg and made the table top myself out of pine wood so it would fit perfectly in the space with room to move I then stained the table top with American Walnut stain

15:34 it was now time to install my privacy curtain which I went for a simple pollen ring carton setup it works a treat as the curtains are blackout and thermal it was now time to do the job I've been putting off for ages which was the ceiling I wanted a ceiling that would stand out so I got my dad to help me

15:51 with the install we started off by planning out where the wooden slats would go before fitting the black painted plywood [Music] so we cut the hole for the max fan and then fitted the wooden slats for the plywood sounds simple but it wasn't the hardest part was getting the slats as

16:17 straight as possible if you're planning a van conversion I would highly recommend fitting the ceiling before you start building any of your furniture as working around your already installed Furniture makes this job a hell of a lot harder we then screwed the slats to the plywood covered up the screws with

16:33 pellets cut the hole for the max air fan [Music] and then stain the slats with the American Warner stain I used for the table top we also fitted some spotlights there is absolutely no way I would have been able to do this job without the help of my dad beautiful next it was time to build my

16:55 overhead cabinets I started off by building three frames and scribed them to the ceiling [Music] thank you I then screwed them to the ceiling and built the box frame in whilst it was suspended in place this was not at all easy as I really struggled to get the

17:21 units level but once they were in place and all screwed together I could then move on to ply lining the base of the units [Music]

17:52 I've done an okay job considering my experience but it could have looked a lot better the next job was to build a face plate for above the cab area I started off by making some cardboard templates that I would use to cut the wood from foreign [Music]

18:26 [Music] them with the same Veil trim I used for the bed inserts earlier [Music] yeah I then screwed them into place and moved on to painting my overhead cabinets [Music]

18:56 I also fitted a light switch to the underside of the cabinets for the spotlights on the ceiling and that was it 40 days of hard work and sleepless nights and I now have a fully functioning campervan for all my Adventures so in total this fan conversion cost me 22 000 pounds I paid

19:16 eleven thousand for the van I had to pay 5 000 for a new engine and the conversion all in all cost me six thousand and if I compare that to what I could have bought for the same amount of money I would have either got a van that was too small for what I'm going to use it for or one that doesn't suit my needs

19:32 I've just got to get out there and start using it now if you'd like a more detailed explanation of any of the jobs I did in this video check out this playlist here where you can watch the build from the very start right to the end where I show how I built each section of the van and other than that

19:49 I'll uh I'll see you in the next video cheers [Music]