2003 long Tall Passenger Trial Build

Slowly making a “Trial build” in a 2003 long tall passenger van I recently bought after a year of looking. In January I attended the ‘RTR’ where there were thousands gathered for an annual event of mostly van dwellers dry camping near Quartzsite. Got to see lots of builds, but one in particular interested me. In 2012 owner converted new Sprinter and has been living in it and running his outdoor equipment business (www.sixmoondesigns.com) full-time since with minimal need to make changes. It was open, huge amount of counter space, room to walk around, un-cluttered, etc.

Started by adding Maxxair deluxe fan then pulled side panels & headliner and installed Thinsulate insulation, Put headliner back, (but it will come out soon when add overhead cabinets). Van has rear A/C that that is in rear ceiling, no bump on roof. It works well; not sure want to remove it. Insulation seems to be doing well; if doors open, van remains fine even on hot days. Also added backup camera and swivel drivers seat; will add passenger when in stock.

I not a carpenter and never built cabinets, so decided to see if I could learn and put basic configuration together to see if it could work for me. If it works, will return with much better materials. Build is rough, much is just .33” plywood over a light but amazingly rigid frame made with help of Kreg Jig.

• Has over 12 feet of counter space
• Hidden sink and induction cooktop
• Will add Self-made composting toilet.
• Sofa folds out to be comfortable bed; High-density plus memory foam. (Bought brackets and made bed)
• Still room to walk plus fully open Fridge when bed folded out
• Over 38” of free “Garage” space behind rear counter.
• Using TruckFridge TF-130. Huge capacity
• At rear shelf, it is exactly 72” wide (window to window), so I could put in an extra bed. (Width decreases rapidly as you go higher up.)
• There is a good amount of storage under counters plus a lot under bed (hinged) and will have more when build overhead cabinets - - plus lots of "garage" space. Depending on how use cabinet space, could have room for 6 or 8 foot long items (slide in from rear garage area).


Solar is not installed yet, nor is wiring and lighting. After much reading, think best to put in 24V system:
• If use compact 100W panels have room for 600 watts on roof (1 in front of fan, 5 behind).
• Probably start with 400 watts then add more later … maybe portable so can park in shade.
• Intend to buy 8 LiOnPO4 Prismatic cells to make two 12V 100AH batteries and series connect.
• Just got interesting proposal from ElectricCarPartsCompany.com

Many other things left to do, like learn to make drawers, work out wiring and lighting, make nighttime insulated covering for windows and decide if want wall off the "Garage" like was in build I liked or leave open.

Images attached of interior design I liked plus what I have done so far.

Comments, suggestions welcomed!

Tom
 

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HarryN

Well-known member
The great thing about a DIY interior is that it can be what you want it to be.

To some extent it depends on your use plan. Living in a van for months on end is different than a build for weekend trips.

"Mother ship that carries supplies and conveniences for tent camping" or "sleeping in the van".

To each their own.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Going to be interesting to see how you deal with windows. I also bought a T1N passenger van and although the view is nice and are some benefits (added length for bed going width-wise) I have found there is be drawbacks. Mainly heat, they get really hot so they are mostly blocked off. Secondly the inability to build/mount on them, prevented me from putting the bed at a higher height.

I like your setup so far and love that you are doing it slowly. I think to many builds are completed before the owners spend any real time in it. Spend time in it and see what you like, what works and what doesn't, what your actually need and what you realistic power consumption is.
 
Thanks for comments!

For well over a year I'd been hoping to purchase and had watched countless YouTube build videos, with particular interest to what people do on the 2nd 3rd or 4th builds. The 'RTR' event last January was a chance to get into over a hundred different vans see how they looked and functioned while actually being lived in and get owner feedback. Frankly, a lot of them were awful; poorly constructed and extremely messy. The one I liked and am modeling my build after really stood out; far more open feeling plus it easily stayed neat. The owner had a 2002 Sprinter he'd lived in a few years before, so he had experience. Perhaps most impressive was that unlike others, this guy had been living in the build nearly full time for about 7 years making it an extremely well tested functional design, one he said he didn't need to change.

I had NOT planned on getting a window van, was just looking for a T1N with minimal rust I could afford. This one had a lot going for it with fairly low mileage (163K), had never seen commercial service, had a lot of extras and an interesting exterior without a single dent. Owner bought it to convert, but never did more than the floor and was almost never driven for 5 years. Luckily, so far all seems good mechanically. I had to replace the tires; put on 245-75-16 Nokian Rotiiva AT Plus, which just fit. Also put on a boost regulator, fixed central locking, got AC working, and even got to experience the early T1N loss of prime. Luckily, found Autel AP 200 scan tool just in time so could do most work myself.

I too was worried about heat with all the windows, but it hasn't been all that bad. If I open the awning so side door is shaded and open a rear door, van interior stays close to outside temp. I have been working inside it while outside temp is up to 90. I bought the van to use in the winter - want to go to Arizona desert Jan - March. Van dwellers I talked with say temperature mostly fine, but if gets too hot they just move to a higher elevation. They say having heat is more important than AC; it gets cold at night. Van has the factory Espar heater with timer, etc, but haven't got it running. Looking through some threads it seems like this could be quite a chore to make work!

Solar may start next week. The adventure continues!

Note: Owner of van I like has posted some YouTube videos; search "fallingwater adventures" and look at "Part 1 Interior". It is a long video; you might want to skip to 8:00 mark.
 

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autostaretx

Erratic Member
The black-tinted windows will (i think) increase the heating effect of sunlight ... instead of reflecting it, the black captures it and re-radiates it as heat.
One possible trick would be to either spray-paint the inside of the glass silver or aluminum ... it'll reflect what it can.
Even better would be to line the window opening with reflectix ... that will both reflect the heat, and add a layer of insulation against the thermal emittance (which paint alone won't do).
Cutting a few holes in the reflectix to serve as *small* windows would still provide some access to "outside views".

--dick (we have curtains we can close inside the windows, and drop sheets of reflectix in on really sunny days. Out windows are not tinted beyond MB's minimal level)
 
Agreed on Reflectix. I bought a roll and tried on sunny side; it did drop the temp radiated by the window I put it on, but then I couldn't see outside. People on outside cannot see in.

It is a bright sunny day here and currently the outside temp reads 87 and it feels hot in the sun. Without any Reflectix, awning is stored, but side, rear and passenger door open, heat gun on van interior mostly reads 90.5 and there is a breeze; it feels much cooler than outside!

The experiment continues.
 

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