Student takes Senior Project to New Level with Full Van Conversion
Disclosure: At no additional cost to you, you can support FLORB by using the affiliate links below
Ryan was studying industrial design at the University of Illinois looking around at his classmates and kind of the culture there. He didn't really see himself designing water bottles and designing shoes, he wanted to get into designing things that meant more to people, so that's kind of where his whole thinking went with this van. He drew the entire van in CAD and then he designed the cabinets in his 3D model of the van, so there's no excess space anywhere in this van. Everything has a purpose or a use. While building, he took his computer and he set it down when there was nothing in the van, and then he built prototypes of the cabinets and he put them in so he could go back into his 3d model scale it down a little bit and then build another prototype out of foam core board to make sure the model worked in real life. That made a significant impact on the design, using the space as best as he could as efficiently as he could.
The van is a 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon that he affectionately calls Bigfoot. He recently added the high top roof. The van wasn't tall enough, so the high roof makes it a whole lot easier to live in. The original headlights on this van were terrible at night, it was almost as if he was holding two candles in front of his eyes as he was driving down the road, so he added these led headlights that made a huge difference. When he bought the van it had smaller mirrors that when you hit 50 miles an hour they would just fold over and then you wouldn't be able to see out the side of the van, so he replaced them with truck mirrors.
The van’s got a one and a half inch lift and then it's got these all-terrain General Grabber tires which improve the vehicle’s off road capabilities. To make the space feel a little bit bigger he added this ARB awning which adds an additional eight feet of living space outside the van. around back he’s got a combination bike rack and Ladder, and on top of that he has a Gowesty Trasharoo which is intended for putting trash in, but he just uses it for additional storage for funnels, dog toys, toe straps, jug for doing oil changes and that sort of stuff. If he took the Trasharoo off the back he could fold the ladder down and put two bikes on as well.
The van originally came with The Volkswagen engine, which has since been upgraded to a Subaru ej25. He did the installation himself using a rocky mountain westy van cafe subaru conversion kit. It's a completely different car now than what it used to be before. In the back of the van he has a Gowesty Venture Libre tool holder for tools that he doesn't use nearly as much now with the Subaru, because it never breaks down on him, but it's still handy to have.
This rear cabinet is an original westfalia cabinet that he removed the door from because it was kind of useless. Now everything is held in with bungee cords so it's super easy to to get books out. In the bigger compartment, the larger door would fold down, which proved to be a problem if you had the back area loaded up. With your luggage or your pillows or anything like that in the back, you couldn't get into the cabinet, so he added this roll-up door here which solves that problem. Now it's always accessible. He also added this rear shower sprayer that is pressurized by a pump in the sink, which is great for coming back from the beach with sandy feet.
On the top is an 80 watt solar panel that helps charge the battery, but probably is a little too small for his uses. He hopes to change it out eventually. On the full Westfalia Campers they've got cutouts on the side for the stove exhaust, electrical and water input, but they all rust out from those ports, so that was a pretty big consideration that he had when he was looking for a van to buy. That’s the reason he got a Weekender version instead of a full camper. Along the bottom he added bed liner which protects the van from trees out in the back woods and also offers a little bit of rust protection.
On the dashboard he’s added the wood Inlet which matches the wood floor that's down in the van, and then in the center he’s got a scan gauge pod which is how he monitors the Subaru engine. The van has custom seats done by a company called Sewfine in Colorado. He actually picked out the fabric and sent it to them, which they used to make the seat covers. Once he got the covers back he reupholstered the seats himself with all new foam and everything, which makes them a lot more comfortable than stock Vanagon seats.
He did this van as his senior design thesis, where he wanted to come up with a kind of modular system that made it easy for van builders to build their own van. He added this cutting board to the side so he can stand outside, cut up vegetables or use it as just a drink holder when he’s standing outside the van. The stove up top is a Dometic propane stove. He wanted to have something that was easily covered, so he got a model with a glass lid that makes the area double as a working space. Below it, he has a truck fridge that barely uses any power and keeps his food and beverages super cold.
Further into the van, behind the driver's seat, he has a sink. It’s also made by dometic and has a closing lid just like the stove, so he can put stuff on top of it for extra counter space. Oftentimes see this under the sink Area not used so he added this nifty drawer that's got keys, toothpaste and a toothbrush. Under that is pots and pans storage, along with a six gallon water tank. Up front he has a drawer that pulls out and increases the countertop space with a cutting board that fits perfectly on top of the cutlery rack.
The space immediately behind the driver and passenger seats was an awkward space to design around. He knew that he wanted to be able to walk up and sit down in the seat, so he decided to pull the entire cabinet out, which makes it super easy to get to his dry foods and everything else. He’s not trying to fish things out of the deep recesses of the cabinet as he can pull everything out at once.
In the high roof he has all of his tools stored like a circular saw, jigsaw and other materials. Having the high top makes all of this space so much more useful than it is normally with just a pop top. It’s insulated and upholstered up top and adds a permanent sleeping area. While it might look tight on first glance, he says that it isn’t too bad at all. He always had an issue with condensation in this van when he was living in it in the winter time, so when he added the high top he wanted the best fan he could buy. He ended up getting this Maxxfan which has been great because it sucks the air out, or you can close it down and then reverse the speed and it acts as a ceiling fan.
He’s got a swivel table which can be used in any position. This can be easily removed to make the downstairs bed, which is modified westfalia bed with five inch memory foam queen size mattress that he cut down to size. Under the bench he stores his 100ah AGM house Battery, his inverter, Renogy Charge Controller, as well as his diesel heater.
If you're thinking about getting into van life, first of all buy a van or whatever, and just go do it while you're still in an apartment or a house. Go experience it as soon as possible, before doing an entire build out and spending all this money. Throw a mattress in the back and go sleep behind a gas station, go sleep in front of the walmart and go sleep at the beach. There's plenty of places that rent out fully built out campers now, and he wishes everyone would go do it just once to feel what it’s like. There's ups and downs to the lifestyle, but there's ups and downs with everything.
Watch the Full Video Here:
