Hello and welcome, find people of the internet.
This is your captain speaking...
just kidding, it is I... Lefie.
And I'm about to show you a tour my van build, so buckle up (literally), because that's
where we're going to start - we're going to start in the front seat.
There's not much build that really went on up here
except for the addition of a magnetic phone holder, a USB port, and these hardy seat covers.
When deciding on the layout, I didn't want to have
to get out of the van in order to get from the front seat to the back.
I wanted to be able to park, hop up on the seat completely (without ANY semblance of grace)
and struggle my way into the back area,
so putting some seat covers on was just an extra way to keep things easily cleanable.
This is also why there's no overhead storage in the front area, too:
I needed the headspace in order to do this maneuver.
Right now, I keep the front windshield sun-guard up on this little shelf thing.
The ability to move to the back without going outside has come in handy when it's raining out
and also when it's either late at night or
early in the morning and you'd rather not call attention to yourself or annoy anyone around
by opening and closing a bunch of doors.
I'd say it's also for safety - I can go from sleeping in the back to driving
away from any location in less than a minute if necessary.
Once you are successfully in the back area, the biggest piece of furniture is the couch-bed.
This is it in its most collapsed form, but by first moving up the driver's seat a little bit,
and then unhooking both sides of the bed and untying the back top cushion,
you can extend the depth of this couch for easier lounging,
or you could pull it out entirely to make a twin size mattress.
And under the bed are four storage bins, meant to be used as removable drawers.
The fact that these are removable makes them easier to clean,
easier to rearrange your stuff, and easier to pack up in the first place.
I like to designate them for different uses, with the kitchen and the bed stuff in the back area,
and the tools and clothes up front.
I had to glue felt under the bins so they wouldn't scrape up the linoleum floor, but now
they slide around a bit too much, and there was extra space in the front half,
so I actually shoved my drill bag between the bins and added this bungee so that they
wouldn't slide out.
The back half is actually a snug fit, so those bins don't need a bungee to stay in place.
I decided to put the bed behind the passenger seat so I could
easily get into the vehicle from the driver's side more quickly,
So I, you know, wouldn't have to walk around the entire outside.
And I often will hang my backpack from this hook on the back of the driver's seat headrest,
and that's where I store my electronics when i'm out and about.
Speaking of electronics, there is a solar panel and a ceiling fan attached
to the roof, that are both fed down to this Goal Zero battery.
The ceiling fan can be used by turning on the switch of the battery and
either pushing the buttons on the fan itself or by using this remote.
Besides the fan, this battery is really just
used for charging my laptop and other small electronics.
I do have a couple of lights, though they are just battery powered touch lights.
When considering integrating lighting into the ceiling,
it seemed like it would just be impossible to repair if something went wrong,
and I really didn't want to cut any extra holes into my beautiful tongue-and-groove ceiling -
plus, these are actually removable and can be taken with you,
though I do also have a headlamp back here for that same purpose,
and I can always use the factory built-in lights if I really want to.
Opposing the bed is this shelving setup -
I've been using the top area for toiletries and pantry items.
These hooks are for mugs. There's a towel bar,
and there are cubbies all along the backside for various bottles,
cleaning products, and the mandatory fire extinguisher.
The bottom shelf has a hand pump that draws water
from one tank and a sink that drains into a different tank.
There's a perfect amount of space under the sink to house my two-burner stove,
which I only use outside of the van because fire scares me.
(Remember the mandatory fire extinguisher?)
and on the other side of the shelf is the battery, of course,
and some extra space for odds-and-ends,
and there's a beach towel there right now.
These compartments are all fairly empty at the moment,
because I do use this van for day-to-day driving,
and keeping it empty means that it's quieter and slightly lighter,
and also there's less things for people to steal if they are so tempted.
I actually first thought that I was going to close in all of the under-bed storage and shelving
with cabinet doors, but I reconsidered when
I thought of the unnecessary weight that this would add.
It could always be done in the future, but for now,
I'm happy with leaving it all open like this -
though there is one area that is entirely closed off,
and that is this hidden back storage that I like to call "THE GARAGE."
It is meant to be inconspicuous and overlooked,
so I didn't feel the need to make it look really pretty,
and I didn't really want it to be easy to get into,
so you actually need to unscrew this top part in order to open it up.
Right now, it's full of more long-term storage stuff - wiper fluid, a snow scraper, and whatnot -
but it could also be used for hiding valuables or mini folding chairs, if you have those.
This fold-down portion can actually be used as
a side table at a campsite if a picnic table isn't provided.
All you have to do is attach these legs to the corners.
It could definitely be made more structurally-sound,
but I didn't want to add more weight
or spend more time or money on a feature that I don't plan on using very often.
Oh, and I keep my scissor jack and lug wrenches behind the front passenger seat for easy access.
The only remaining build details to talk about are on the back doors, which have pegboards on top and
tongue-and-groove on the bottom to match the beautiful ceiling.
I used to have a flip-up table on one of the back doors,
but I exchanged that for this first aid kit, which fits perfectly
next to the shelving and the cubbies on the shelf when the doors are closed.
And the pegboard hooks up on top are all screwed in,
so nothing will come flying off when I'm driving around.
Of course, because - uh - I don't know if I've ever told you this, but
I AM SCARED OF FIRES
so there is a mandatory combination carbon-monoxide-detector-fire-alarm
on the back door.
If you're interested in seeing how I prepared the van through the insulation process,
fan installation, and more - or if you're interested in
hearing why i chose this 2012 Ford Transit Connect (XLT) in the first place,
I will link a few of my past van videos in the description below.
I didn't actually film myself building this last stretch, because it's honestly a lot of work.
I do have some photos that I can throw up on the screen now,
and I also have some photos of my camping trip
that I took in Maine last week, that shows the van off in use a little bit.
So that's it! The van's name is Lump.
She's named after a song by the band "The Presidents of the United States of America."
I do not have costs on this. I'm sure that you could kind of add it up if you just look around.
It's not that much stuff inside here - um - but I think that time and effort and, like,
physical labor were really the things that felt
the most substantial in terms of cost with this build.
I definitely came to this already with some knowledge of,
and experience with, building stuff -
plus, I already own many of the power tools and I
had access to a wood shop for the first half of the build.
So if you're trying to think about how you're gonna do this for yourself,
and you're looking at what I did, that's all stuff to keep in mind.
Anyways, I hope that was a satisfactory conclusion to the "van saga" on this channel.
Let me know if you have any questions below -
I could make a follow-up video if necessary,
but otherwise, I hope you have a lovely week!
'til next time!
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