Lubica and I had been planning on an extended road trip, which we knew we would need a van for. This is the story of the creation of our Vansion.

We searched on the internet for a few months trying to find a good deal on a van; we wanted something big enough for lots of gear and two people so we were mostly looking for things about the size of 12-15 passenger vans. I was also pretty set on getting a van with a high top, since it would allow us to mount our bed higher and also be more comfortable to move around in. A number of good deals popped up, but we always missed them by a few hours as some other lucky person snatched them up. Finally we got the jump on other buyers and found our van, a 2004 Ford E-350 with 117,000 miles and a 5.4 liter engine.

The van had served as a commercial vehicle for wheelchair transportation before we bought it. Lubica found it for sale on Craigslist, listed in Virginia on the border of Washington D.C. Saturday we drove down, checked it out, and negotiated our purcase down to $3500 – well below book value, which we got partly because the body was pretty beat up. On the drive home I noticed it started vibrating at about 70mph and the cruise control didn’t work, otherwise it seemed road worthy.

We started by gutting the interior – there was a lot of existing customization’s that they had bolted to the floor so this took a few days of snapping rusty bolts and prying things out. There had been plywood flooring in, but it was rotted and reduced to dust at parts so everything had to go. The wheelchair lift was a problem for a while; We worked around it while it was for sale on Craigslist. After a few weeks it hadn’t sold and it had to go, so it ended up just going to the scrap yard.



We attached 1×2 furring strips to the wall with self tapping screws, with plans to use these to fasten 1/4″ plywood to over top of the insulation.



Next we started insulating. We decided to use 1/2″ closed cell foam board on much of the van, and fiberglass insulation in the ceiling and on the one side of the van where we were planning to cover the window. We blacked out the window with plastidip before we insulated.

Next we cut up the 1/4″ plywood for the walls; my jigsaw was useful here, nothing is square in the van and we found that using cardboard as a template then tracing it onto the plywood was the easiest way to avoid mistakes. Even so, it was slow and tedious to cut around the wheel wells, windows, etc.



For the roof we used a sheet of 1/4″ thick Luan plywood. I had considered adding small recessed lights, but never got around to it. Also we were happy to find that the fiberglass high top on the van is supported by a steel cage so that we could use self tapping metal screws. I was a bit worried that we would rip down the ceiling to only find the fiberglass shell, and nothing to fasten to.

Flooring was next. It turned out to be more difficult than we expected. We cut up 2 sheets of 1/2″ OSB to match the contours of the floor, then screwed them fast with self tapping screws. The original plan was to put down fairing strips for the plywood to rest on but this turned out to be impractical. The OSB just rests on top of the insulation, I’m skeptical about the longevity of this but so far it’s working well. We went to Lowes and got some wood glue, the cheapest vinyl they sold ($0.49/square foot) and set out gluing the floor down.



Next we built the bed – I hunted Craigslist and found a few queen bed frames, but it turned out to be cheaper, lighter, and more space efficient to just build our own. It’s constructed of a 2×3 frame with 1×3 slats for the mattress to rest on. The slats help save weight and avoid condensation, compared to just using a sheet of plywood.



The shelving on the side of the bed was next. This was again tedious to build since the van walls are curved, and as it turns out, the van also gets wider towards the middle. We made two rows of shelves, leaving a small hidden 3rd shelf beside the mattress to stash skis into. The shelving is made of the same 1/4″ plywood and 1×2 structure. I had some left over 1×3 so I put a bit of this on the front to keep things from falling out.



With plans to haul lots of cold weather expedition gear we also built a compartment above the bed to store down sleeping bags, parkas, etc. It’s a lightweight frame, not made to hold much weight but works well for the bulky light items. The downside is that rolling over at night, I sometimes bang my legs on it. We try to park so that our feet go under it rather than our heads.

We were saving the kitchen for last. We had several evolving ideas, one of which was to use my craftsman tool cabinets for the kitchen. In the end it didn’t really fit well. I had noticed a home being remodeled on my way to work, and one day they must have gutted the kitchen in it. There was a kitchen counter sitting by the road for the trash, perfect for our use. I grabbed it and with a bit of trimming and cutting, it fit into our space almost perfectly.



Next was the electrical system. We had discussed various systems for a long time (solar panels, ventilation fans, etc) but decided to go simple and cheap. We got a group 30 deep cycle battery and a small 400w inverter. The system is charged off the vehicles alternator, with a relay in the engine bay wired into the ignition so that while the van is off we only drain the deep cycle battery, not the vans starting battery. So far it works pretty well since we have no real regular use of electronics other than occasionally charging toothbrushes, phones, laptops, etc. Our only electrical appliances in the van are a bear trimmers and electric coffee grinder.



Since the little 1lb propane canisters get expensive very quick we added a 20lb propane tank to power the Coleman 2 burner camping stove I already had. The propane tank sits beside the battery in my old clothes hamper which was re-purposed as the propane holder. I had some safety concerns with a battery that can leak hydrogen, a tank that can leak propane, and a stove that emits carbon monoxide right behind the driver’s seat. In the end I didn’t have the budget or time to properly solve these problems (by mounting them under the van, or at least in a sealed compartment that’s vented to the outside), so I settled with a propane/CO alarm wired into the battery to monitor for anything strange happening. We turn off the propane at the tank when it’s not in use. I’ve gotten pretty used to the setup now, and it feels pretty safe.

We wanted to add some cargo netting for extra storage throughout the van. Pricing it out online we found that it’s quite expensive, the amount we wanted was about $120. After a few days pondering alternatives we ended up getting about 100 square feet of bird netting from Lowes, at a cost of about $8, and used shock cord from a previous project to make our own. It’s not the most durable material since it’s a plastic mesh, but we keep the extra 70 square feet or so in the back of the van for replacements. About 2 months in, we still haven’t had to use any.

The spice rack was almost an afterthought – we had a bit of extra wood and a space on the wall so I decided to build something. It’s turned out to be a very good addition, combined with the glass jars we fastened to the bottom we can sit at the kitchen and cook without having to dig through too many other storage areas.



We also bolted a filing cabinet to the floor inside the door. We weren’t sure how well it would work, but it had a lock on it (useful to keep the doors from flying open when driving) so we decided to try it. It turned out to fit well and gave us a place to put our 5 gallon water jug + a 1.5 gallon water filter.



Mechanically the van didn’t take a whole lot of work. The 70mph vibration ended up going away when we replaced the worn out front tires. Other than basic maintenance like changing oil, transmission fluid, etc, the only engine work was a $30 switch on the master cylinder to fix the cruise control. There was some time spent attaching zip ties to the broken grill up front, realigning a headlight, oh, and the rust… The body had a few rust spots that we sanded down and spray painted with some matching paint from Auto Zone. It looks far from professional but the van looks considerably better with it. The worst of the rust was on the back doors where extensions had been welded on. Here, along with the one window, and on above the doors the rain was leaking in. A tube of caulk fixed 2 of the spots but the problem with the doors was that they were rusted through. I spent an afternoon with a wire brush scrubbing all the rust out, then put a fiberglass backing on the inside of the van (welding is not a skill I have, that would be the best way to do it though…) then put some bondo on the outside to level it out and painted. The end result looks amateurish but is an improvement over being rust covered and it doesn’t leak, so mission accomplished. I never really took good before and after pictures but you can see some of the rust in this picture, it was much worse on the other door.

The end result, after about 2 months of living in the van is this:

For anyone interested in building something similar I put the cost breakdown below. The summary is that we spent $5,750 to get the van fully ready to go, which includes 6 months of insurance. Fortunately since I was planning to live in a van, I had a lot of stuff I had to sell… by the time I sold most everything I own (highest ticket item was my motorcycle at $2900, lowest item a statistics book for $1) it paid for the van. We also spent a lot of time searching for deals, especially with the initial van purchase, and I already had nearly all the tools required so I think we got a pretty good result for what we spent on it. Of course, if I ever get the chance I have plans for a fully decked out van with solar panels, a fridge, sliding storage, folding bed, vent fans, awnings, air conditioner, etc etc.

Individual costs below:

$3500 – initial purchase

$380 – DMV fees (taxes, registration, plates)

$305.90 – insurance, 6 months

$299.93 – 2 front tires

$131.19 – insulation

$8.50 – plastidip (window blackout)

$92.14 – home depot/plywood

$83.87 – oil, filters

$28.89 – mount tires

$7.75 – home depot

$43.94 – lowes (wood)

$12.81 – lowes(wood)

$45.14 – lowes(propane tank, shovel, etc)

-$11.75 lowes return (insulation)

$43.46 lowes(flooring/vinyl)

$32.10 – cruise control part

$3.73 – home depot shelving

$6.88 – home depot screws

$14.33 – lowes plywood for shelves

$157.99 – cabelas battery

$12.45 – battery solenoid

$5 – ace hardware bit

$12 – autozone bondo

$4.25 – lowes metal brush

$30.48 – battery inverter

$6.85 – battery terminals

$21.15 – led light strip, switch

$13.88 – fm receiver

$62.71 – Co/propane detector

$25 – snow chains

$51.06 autozone

$56.19 transmission filter

-$24 mobil 1 rebate

$269 – mattress

$17.28 – lowes (cork, paint..)