The stock interior of a Sprinter Crew van isn’t anything special. Lots of exposed metal, no insulation, and no storage space. We stripped out all the stock plastic wall panels and headliner, then we got to work creating a cosy, livable space.

Floor and walls

We started with the floor, by adding 1/2″ depth of heat and sound insulation and a protective vinyl mat layer. We put this on top of the factory wood floor, held in place with flanged l-track.

We also used flanged l-track to hold the wall panels up. We insulated behind them with Thinsulate against the van walls, then an air gap, then a layer of Low-E foil faced closed cell foam. Here’s a comparison we made of most of the different insulation types that people use in vans.

On top of that insulation we added 1/4″ plywood panels (actually 1/8″ with some double layers where the attachment points were). We covered the panels with 1/8″ closed cell foam behind strong Olefin upholstery fabric (automotive tweed/ church pew fabric / interweave). The ceiling was built up the same way.

In the front of the van, we used bamboo ply below the windows. In the back, we used 1/2″ plywood covered in the same rubber coin material as the floor.

Cabinets

We mocked up the cabinet locations using cardboard boxes so we’d know what equipment would fit in which locations, and how it would feel to perform tasks like cooking, eating, or just sitting in the van with the cabinets in place.

The cabinets are mainly made from pre-finished maple plywood – a relatively light plywood that comes already varnished in 1/2″ and 3/4″ thicknesses. The visible areas are 1/4 bamboo ply, either as a panel or glued into a triple layer (3/4″ thick) for the drawer and door fronts.

We’d originally intended to build the cabinets like road cases (flight cases) and we still kept the aluminum corner extrusions in the final design, even though they ended up more as a visual element than a structural one. Even though we didn’t go full flight case, the cabinets are all removable. They bolt in to the l-track mounted in the wall and floor.

The countertop is Stratum by Richlite. It’s a 1″ deep slab made from bamboo with a top and bottom “sandwich” of highly compressed and bonded paper. It’s not as light as we might like for a mobile situation, and it’s a bitch to work with, but it’s visually stunning.

We realized these cabinets were heavier than they needed to be, so when we built our sink unit we experimented with 80/20 aluminum extrusions to make the frame for it. It’s a lot lighter, just as strong, and easily reconfigurable. We may even re-build our other cabinets using it.

Removable platform bed

We installed removable bed panels from Overlandsprinters.com.

Initially we were going to build a DIY bed but Overland Sprinters came out with a cheap, sturdy bed platform kit. Two rolled steel rails and three aluminum panel frames. You add your own plywood facing to the panel frames. This keeps the cost down to about 1/3 the cost of the RB Components alternative.

That means we now have removable bed panels above the storage area at the rear of the van. They sit on rails mounted to the walls. The mattress and bedding go on top of the panels. During the winter we add a 12 Volt mattress heating pad.

When we want to use the van to carry larger items or on biking day trips, we just take the bed panels out so we have full height access to the entire rear area.

Storage space

The back of the van is where the bikes live. But they have to play nice and share that space with our bed, the battery and electrical control panel, the water tank, and the shower hose.

At the moment, we’re just using regular bike stands mounted to a panel that is free standing on the floor. We might add a slide-out drawer with two roof rack style mounts that clamp the front wheel in place, and also some fork mounts attached to removable plates that can clamp in to the l-track.

What we used:

Interior build news