SIMPLE Van Camper Conversion - Start to finish project build
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- čas přidán 2. 11. 2022
- Please know that this simple van conversion is within anyones capability. I have no previous experience with DIY projects, or van conversions and I managed to create this camper that I travelled round Europe in!
Watch my van travel series here - / watch
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Business enquiries - alexfordhamsmith@gmail.com
Alex, please make sure to turn your mattress over every now and then! With a flat surface under the mattress it can get musty and create mold. But you probably already know that. Love your videos! Greetings from Finland
« Please » 😂
Probably his mother.
@@reinderblodnos8056Im his Daddy now 😮
I use slats to create the bed base
The work you personally did on this project was much more than acceptable ( love your van ) I’ve seen many cases of so called qualified professionals work and it’s nowhere near as good as yours. Watching your channel I can’t help but think that you have an extremely good understanding of everything you do very soon after you have started something new. You consistently show us that you always become good at anything that interests you and you’re a great problem solver 👍👍
Man. It’s crazy how much a person can inspire others. I’m currently starting up a freelance writing business, and you’ve been so influential to me. So thank you for that. I found you a week ago and in that week I’ve managed to binge all of your videos 😂
How's it going ?
See I love that. I sure would love to have a writer work with me to talk about my van life in Mexico now
Came for the Bees, Stayed for the Gardening, Subscribed for the Charming Wholesome Entertainment.
I'm loving watching you admit that you've never done anything like this, or done any woodwork at all, but yet there you are, figuring it out like all the best self-taught people. This is exactly how it should be done. Well done indeed, mate
"using 3d modelling program to design interior"
Totally approve of this, it's quite nice how you can design it without having to write it on paper.
I quite love using blender for stuff like this, been playing around with designs for things.
Wow! I am very impressed with your conversion, considering you didn’t know anything about building stuff, congratulations. Hope to see more videos from you.🎉
Alex, I really enjoyed watching your video. The best was all the headaches that happen which most other videos do not show. People think after watching some shows it's so easy to do it yourself. You showed everything, the easy, the not so easy, and the pain in the a## parts. Also you mentioned you had very little experience with power tools and that made it more challenging. All in all very educational, showing the reality of working a van from start to finish. Again, great job. Barry from Ct.
For someone without experience you did very well. I like the simplicity and practical use of the space.
Alex you can get a sheet with magnets in the edges and it goes over your back door to stop any rain or just for privacy so it's like a tent over your back door, they are great.
😎🎣🐟
Nice detail. And yes, you can subtract the costs of the tools from this project because any proper bloke would need to have those tools anyway...
Literally just watched everything on your channel Alex. You are so easy to watch, your content is superb and your trip round Europe meeting random people has given me the idea for my next book so thank you! One of my favorite channels on the tube. Well done 👏. Tracy 🙂
Me too 😊
Always useful to have a very cheap tarpaulin, connected with magnets. In fact magnets are useful for many things.
I'm so happy to have discovered your channel, Alex, I think this is one the best van build series I've watched, explained so simply. Keep up the good work young fella.
Thanks for watching Gary!
Haven't watched this all yet, but I have just spent 4 months searching for the 'right' van, right mileage, right size, right year, right PRICE ‼️ and I know it's a nightmare out there, but once you understand the mechanics (pardon pun) of the pricing etc it gets easier ... I wanted to downsize from a big Tranny to a small, and newer van and I achieved both. Found a Vx Combo for £12k, but the dealer paid me £2k part exchange, so I only (🙄🙄) paid £10k. It's a Special Edition so I got SatNav, parking sensors, electric mirrors and rear camera ‼️👍💯 - I'm about as chuffed as you are with yours but 100k plus miles is a bit ott ... mine is a 19 plate and has 85k miles. Yours looks great ✔💯🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Alex, You've done a magnificient job for a non-tradesperson. Congratulations on your courage to take it on and again for the finished project. There's nothing more satisfying than creating a project such as this and getting to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Now just to add to Jenny's comment below, you should select a spade bit (drill) of perhaps 30mm and sink a series of holes through the plywood bed base because it will accumulate moisture very quickly and turn moldy. I am halfway through a similar conversion on a Hyundai iLoad and my layout is almost identical 😅
A quick note on cooking in the van - the other thing with that being carbon monoxide. You'd probably be wise to get an alarm in there along with the vent if you haven't already just to avoid the kind of side effects carbon monoxide inhilation can cause.
Either way, it's good inspiration for me to do a bit more with my 9K Caddy.
You’re adorable! So proud of you for learning all this stuff and doing it (mostly) yourself!
I prefer the double door vs the tailgate door. My reasoning is many tailgates don't open from the inside but the double doors does open from the inside. There maybe some tailgates that do open from inside but the ones I've used did not.
Well done Alex, its nice to see a none professional having a go, makes the rest of us inspired to do it too,
Alex, you did a great job on your conversion and made it look easy. I'd like to suggest that you install a Maxx air fan in your ceiling for ventilation, especially while cooking.
I hardly ever leave a comment after watching those kinds of videos but this one deserves more than just a thumb up. Here, talents have come to light that you yourself had not previously known about. You have created the showpiece of a thought out, well planned, and nicely built mini camper. Hats off to a "novice"!
Doing these builds yourself gives you a sense of accomplishment.
I like any content where people are just videoing their day and of course fishing.
Great job and video When you use a skill saw the blade show only come out 4-6mm out the bottom of the board for safer neater cleaner cuts ! And a tip tight turns with the jigsaw The best blades are Bosch T101AO on no1 oscillation, low dust & clean cuts Welcome to carpentry. ;-
Amazing work Alex, I’m from the UK too and will be going on a road trip of my own across the US, and am thinking of doing a similar thing. I hope to buy a van or a larger car but not to fully convert it as I plan on selling it at the end of my journey and I don’t have the time even if I wasn’t as I’m only there for a couple of months. However I will want to make it live-able and will be implementing some of the basics of what you have done. Thank you and keep up the good work. 👌
Best of luck with all of that, sounds amazing! :)
Great admiration for this young man, going solo has made you blossom. Look forward to the next.
thank you for this I am a climber older than u I learned about outdoors late in life I paid off my car and can't wait til my apartments lease is up and want a van
Really impressive, great achievement…just need to catch up on the tour! 👏
Don’t worry Alex. You spend worthy money on tools , are good brand , and trust me you need it for new hives. Later on you will do our self your own bee hives or some parts for it for example the honey supper , the lids which are easy to do and no need to buy it ....remember we have a saying between bee keepers : “ “every bee keeper is a carpenter as well””. Sooner or later if you expand with your bee hives you will do your own hives. You don’t need many tools to do so ! Give some search on CZcams on how to build , pass over the fear of using the circular saw , and trust your self ! 😊
So cool to see the whole build from start to finish. Only extra things I would have added, would of been a mini extractor under the cupboard.
Would bee cool to have an awning made for it too
Just before I started growing veg I found your channel and now I’m about to start converting a van I find you have done it too. Thanks so much for your videos, you’re a kindred spirit mate.
nice to see your journey
3:44 oh i have the cruise control and the automatic distance/braking option (dont know the name) and it is such a massive plus if you do a lot of miles😍
Great job . Good to see a younger person learning on the job. Ps Rustins Danish oil is the way to go in future projects. Dries quickly, low odour once dry and excellent waterproof finish 👍
Great Video! Some amazing life lessons learnt and something you will cherish for a long time to come! Good luck and happy adventures!
That was a fantastic conversion you did there Alex , what a superb job you did , you should be so so very proud .
another brilliant video, Another consistent 9am upload. A lot of appreciation for the dedication keep up the great work !
That's amazing. Congrats 👏 you did a really good job explaining everything too.
Really great video! Thanks for inspiration on what to do with the space between the bed and the wall!
This is a stunningly well thought out and constructed build! Very, very impressive. It’s a credit to you. Thank you for sharing
Also super new to power tools, thank u for such a detailed and transparent video:) I think a lot of ppl will love seeing this vid
brilliant mate, got me thinking now, something i should have done at your age to. love camping and fishing, lovind your programme
Awesome, I love what you've accomplished. I can't wait to start my journey. You have inspired me to finally move forward with my build, great job.
Great to see the start to finish and costings for the van coversion... U should be very proud of yourself mate. Inspiring 👍🏼😊
Brilliant job and thanks for documenting your journey. About to build some cupboards and benches in my van. Got the bed built just need to push on with the other stuff.
That is something to be proud of. It works and is functional. Well done 👏 ✔ 👍
Great video Alex ! Im doing a similar conversion to my caddy maxi now too. I think the level of satisfaction you get from doing the work yourself is all part of the journey. I had a few questions about electronics and you’ve helped answer those with this video so thanks 👍🏼👍🏼
Great! Glad it was helpful!
Inspiring video showing what's possible. Really interested to see how the insulation works out in winter when you go to the alps.
Well done! You took an intelligent approach to make your van comfortable. We live and learn from our mistakes. When I was camping in my old van I just threw my camping gear in the back and headed for country to find a perfect camping spot.
Have really enjoyed the van content and the trip was amazing! Looking forward to more Alex 👍
Very good job for your first real go at DIY! Very good, indeed!
This clip was awesome, very inspiring. i've been watching over a hundred clips, but your clip was easy to understand how the beginner learned from it 😀 i have dreaming of having the small camper van like this for a long time, Thanks for sharing 👍 😊👌🙏🏻🙏🏻🥰
Great video Alex, I'm about to embark on converting my own van and you have given me lots of ideas
keep up the great content from a fellow fisherman, mushroom nerd and beekeeper 👍
Mint, nice clean lines, did yourself proud!
Been watching since the time you were looking for a van and I've enjoyed all your videos and I love the integration of cooking, fishing and meeting other people on your trips etc. So relaxing to sit back, watch and chill after long days at work. You are an inspiration to so many people. Keep up the great work and loving the life you're having 🙌 Thank you and now subscribed 😃👍
Thanks so much, appreciate your comment!
Excellent job top to bottom. Love that everything was your first time and you showed brilliantly how doable everything is/was.
Think your gonna eventually want:
- a roof fan towards the rear so as to suck air from the slightly opened driver and passenger door windows
- some flexible magnetized screen material again for the driver and passenger door windows and maybe the rear or side openings
- another nice touch is a couple of 'rigged up' grommeted rain fly tarps for over your rear and side openings for when it's raining
Superb job
Feels like we just got started on your trip, and its already over. Hoping you embrace the stye more and do longer trips.
Great work Alex , the caddy is a great little van and with that milage it is just getting run in. I will say I was quite surprised you never considered the Nissan nv200 van as a base.
Well done, fantastic job.
Well done!
Wow ......Wow........Wow...... its sooooooooooooo wonderful , Mate . Keeeeepppppppp going please......
....lots of love from Bangalore India.
Fantastic presentation and you did a great job of building the camper conversion for someone with no woodworking experience. Very inspiring! I'm in the USA starting to look for a used Honda Odyssey minivan. We don't have the VW Cabby or Transporter over here. I'm looking forward to designing and building the camper conversion. I figure the electrical will boggle my mind as well. :)
Great job Alex
I think you did very well , I went to Southern France in 2003 in an old Ford Escort Mk 4 Van , with tent etc . very good presentation Good Luck !👍
Glad you like your van conversion as it is about what 100% works for you. You did well on a low budget. Personally I don't like the set up, more so inside, but commend you for doing something that works for you. I do like the storage system the draw. Keep doing you! Trial and error car or van camping. Stay blessed.
well done Alex
Morning.. Like the time of these.. Vids popping out.. Good watch b4 bed after the night shift and School run
Nice dude. Well thought out. Well executed.
Thank you for this mate
I searched and found your video just because i m planning for the same 😊
Very good job man !
Good job. Stay safe.
Nice for fishing in the top lake🎣😎
Well done. Very nice camper van.
You did very good job 👍
Congratulations, from wishing to doing and enjoying it! Beautiful ¡ congratulations Again Alex
With using your gas burner in the van and heating it up I would highly suggest you look into portable induction tops, more direct heat output and also the added safety of no open flames, have used both and it does take a little getting use to but not much. I do love your series so I say all this supportively, I think it's tipped me over towards buying a van and getting started at the right time so thank you!
Very nice van, especially since it's your first attempt. I like it a lot and have enjoyed your journey. Looking forward to more.
Thanks Robert!
Great video. Very informative. Think I might give it a go
Well done. ❤
Great Job. I really enjoyed the video!
You can retrofit cruise control if you feel like you need it mate. Great videos btw
So inspiring! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for this video. Very informative
Big things have small beginnings ☺
very well explained. enjoying your content
I really amaze for what you do in your van❤️
Great video. I enjoyed it very much.
You posted again! Thanks so much for making this and awesome job keep up cause i wouldnt survive without your videos😅❤👏👏👍👌🙏💪💪🤩😅
A very good interesting vlog Alex. Well worth watching 👍
Awesome Video
Alex you done an amazing job on this van. Especially for your first time using power tools! I would absolutely love to have something like that. I'm currently on the market looking for a plot of land to eventually develop and have an off grid home on it. Cheers Alex! We all look forward to your next adventure.
Vantastic ;);)
I bought a vw transporter (2007 model) With the same idea converting to a camper. Seeing this vid has taken some of the worries out of it. Gone down a different route for power. Just bought a Bluetti power bank whilst it was on sale, as I plan to power some astronomy kit as well so my wiring will be a lot more simple (just to a socket) also looking at solar. But not looking forward to drilling wholes in my van 😵💫.
Anyway great vid. Cheers 🍻
Only one thing I can say after watching this video is that you are so hardworking man
Great work 👏 you gained a sub. Love it ❤
You should consider bringing your van over to @Project Kamp and visiting them for a bit.
Excellent video Alex, I didn’t want it to end
God Bless You
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video. Really informative 👏 great conversation
Thank you for showing by example how this can be done. Living Life OutLoud is the Best! 💫Lead2Gold!⭐