Show off your DIY Camper Vans!

[steelcitybrew]

I'm sittin here waiting for the girlfriend to get back. So, I figured I'd snap some pictures of the van, and maybe start up a thread to show off the vans any of yeahs live in or have lived in.

I'll start 'er off. I got me a Chevy express 2500 extended. Had it for about 4 or 5 months, been livin in it for about the same amount of time. I live with my girlfriend, 2 dogs and a cat.

We stay in and around toronto for the most part other than short jaunts up north or hamilton.

Anyways, lookin forward to hopefully seeing a few other vans.

Sorry for the triple pictures. I didn't think clicking full photo worked so I cliked it 3 times I guess. But i dunno how to delete them because I'm using a cellphone. Hope a mod can help. Thanks guys

 

[ByronMc]

 

[ByronMc]

I just worked a deal,for this Ford cutaway van,body is a Wayne Chaperone 2. The seller is allowing me to pay him off,with first payment of $400,on Tuesday,the other 300,as soon as I can ! She runs great,needs tires,and making sure the brakes are spot on !

 

[Matt Derrick]

Sorry for the triple pictures. I didn't think clicking full photo worked so I cliked it 3 times I guess. But i dunno how to delete them because I'm using a cellphone. Hope a mod can help. Thanks guys

Fixed those pics for ya.

@ByronMc , love that bus man. super jealous. both of you are making me miss van living!

 

[Matt Derrick]

oh, also fixed the pics in byronmc's post.

 

[Matt Derrick]

you've all inspired me to add my own! i haven't had her since 2012, but i got her from ebay in ridiculously good condition. in the two years i owned her i didn't have to make a single repair to her.

Name: Thunderhorse
1995 Ford Carpenter
116k on a diesel cummins engine
rebuilt allison transmission
35 ft long!

i saw it get re-listed a few times, then just sent the guy an email asking him if he'd sell it for 1800 (i later found out the reserve on his auction was 2k) and he said yeah as long as i put a 500 dollar deposit on it. turns out he had a few unpaying buyers and was tired and just needed to get rid of it to pay for his wife's funeral (sad!). it was maintained to DOT standards up until about 3 months before i bought it. probably one of the best deals ive ever had in my life

i put about 6k on the engine myself, going from indiana to nola, then nola to yellowstone, then to SF, then to slab city, and finally to austin, tx. traded it for a van in 2012, which proceeded to crap out on me 2 months later

 

[ByronMc]

Matt,awesome ! I got lucky with mine,but need to put tires,etc on her. Gonna be awhile,but at least we making money at QuicknessRva,now

 

[landpirate]

here's my shitty little van I lived in for a year with my ex in 2009. it was damp, drafty, cramped and awful to drive yet I miss the Starship Hobo so badly. We travelled all over the southern UK and spent a long while in Wales, a Summer working all the festivals and a few months living with horse drawn gypsies.

Sadly I didn't own a digital camera at the time so I only have a few photos. I'm seriously considering getting another live in van.

 

[Roosterruler]

There are pictures of it already on STP --- but, here's Tobbit again to add to this collection of documentations of rad vehicles.

Tobbit is a '81 Volkswagen Diesel Rabbit Truck

You can see hooks, on the outside of the side, which are used to create a canopy. There is also a ramp that is screwed on the otherside that can be used to get a dirtbike in the back of the truck and also doubles as a table that attaches to the side, underneath the canopy.

This is the inside:

One of my favourite parts? Definitely the little marine stove:

I slept in this thing in freezing weather and managed to stay warm. With a few sheets of newspaper and a piece of old wood.

The original owner kept good track of the mileage. 45 mpg, yo.

Wonder if there will ever be a STP rubbertramp gathering.. I'd be keen on that.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Due to my stationary status this year, I've been thinking about putting together another StP gathering, so that might be a possibility.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Oh, and sweet ride! Where can we find more info about that stove?

 

[Roosterruler]

Here's more about the stove.

What I've got is a Newport Solid Fuel Heater, 00-NEWSF. It's a marine stove so it's meant for heating up small spaces safely. Here's a link to the manual.

It's about 8 x 9" so it doesn't take up much room. It takes only a few very small pieces of wood to heat up the entire camper. It gets really hot in there, sometimes, like a sauna. Unfortunately, Tobbit isn't insulated (yet - that might be a future project) so the heat only lingers for a little bit.

I usually just make fires out of twigs I find around the property, newspaper, and recently, I got all of the old wood my grandfather had been storing up for years so I've got boxes of pine and oak I've chopped up small.

The ashes come out in a drawer.

The chimney screws into a hole on the top, a metal bracket of sorts. There's a screw-in metal cap/plug that I put in when on the road (as wonderful as it would be to drive down the hwy with a chimney sticking out....

I always open up the windows when I make the fire, otherwise it burns out the oxygen and my head doesn't feel too terrific. They say at least a 3" "hole" will be enough.

It does require a bit of tending (small pieces of wood burn fast) but when you're in a truck, you normally don't have anything else you're supposed to do with your time.

 

[Matt Derrick]

wow that's pretty sweet, i might have to get one of those someday! thanks!

 

[Wild Ty Laserbeam]

This is my 97 Ford Aerostar named the Dethstar. Spent roughtly a year living and traveling in her with my GF. It's pretty small for two people but it gets 23 mpg. These pix aren't great, but the back is just a raised bed with storage space underneath.