The Build
Vagabonds in search of adventure, knowledge, and experience, Scott and I will be living in a 2004 AWD Chevy Astro for five months. When we made that decision, so many questions followed: What all do we take? Can we afford it? Where will we go?
Number one on that list: How are we going to build out the van?
**Just as a heads up, this post is detailed and goes deep into the process of our van build and decisions we made. For the final pics, or the TLDR version, scroll down for the goods.**
There are logistics you are forced to think about. How will the van handle off-roading? How big of a bed is necessary? How much head room do you want? How on earth are you going to fit all of your gear into a small passenger van. Scott began by installing a lift kit, overhauling the suspension components (shocks and ball joints), and put on a set of bigger all terrain tires so that off-roading would be made possible in Buster (a short sentence for such a large amount of time, effort, and money spent on the van...). Once that was completed, we decided the best way to start would be to figure out what we were working with. We gutted the van from the front seats back and took a look.
You would have thought that we had some sort of strange attachment to every plastic panel, every seatbelt bolt, every original piece on that Astro as more and more piled up behind our apartment building. That would soon change as we slowly added insulation and a subfloor after scouring YouTube for ideas on where to begin. We ditched the original paneling and plastic and were in awe of our own handiwork.
“Vanlife” build out videos became the manuals for our process. After some digging and multiple videos, we found Into the Mystery 13. This guy, while goofy, was a huge help to us. He took a Chevy Astro and documented his three different builds. We learned from his mistakes and made our first interior design based off of his experiences as well as our own.
In order to power camera batteries and the laptop (essentials to continue to our work on the road), we decided a secondary battery would be essential in our voyage. In order for the secondary battery to be useful and stay charged, we would need to wire it up to the alternator via an isolator so that we could charge it along with the starter battery as we drove the van without draining the starter battery. We would also need to drill through the firewall, install a relay, fuses, a safety switch, and an attached starter source...for those unsavvy electicity people, like myself, let's just say it was a learning process to get this thing installed properly and safely...but thanks to Scott's neverending know-how, he made it happen early on in the process. Once the battery was installed and wired up, Scott ran wires to attach LED lights in the hatch so that we would have plenty of light in the back where our "kitchen" would be located. We also installed a large light bar in the grill to keep us and the animals safe.
It was during this process that we also started to think about our food situation. We would have no problem storing dried goods, but keeping perishables cold seemed to be an issue as we love to cook with fresh produce. There were two options: get a small refrigerator or get a cooler. Van refrigerators take up a ton of room, constantly use electricity, and are expensive. In order to power and install it, it would compromise our living space while also using up too much of the secondary battery’s power. A cooler was the way to go. We decided to use two Canyon Coolers. The smaller cooler would go in between the front two seats and serve as extra food storage while the larger cooler would go behind the passenger seat, still leaving enough room for the passenger seat to lean back.
Next up? The dreaded side and ceiling panels. Because of the shape of the van, there would be no quick measurements and cuts to make these panels. Each panel would have to be custom made. Multiple cuts, checks, and more cuts were made before we had a perfect panel, which was followed by a stain and installation. The side panels made it in without a hitch, fitting easily into their perfect positions. The ceiling panels were a different story, and would have been nearly impossible to accomplish with one person. The process was difficult and strenuous and probably the most frustrating out of our entire build. At the end of the day, we were happy with the turnout, though some cosmetic adjustments would be put on the back burner for the time being.
Now the real fun would start. We went through six to eight different platform and shelf designs before landing on one we agreed would be the best. Our design was based around a few key requirements:
Be able to sit up in bed without our heads touching the ceiling.
Lean the passenger seat all the way back.
Have the platform be high enough to fit our camp stove underneath.
Measurements were made, wood was cut and installed, and in a few hours we had a platform. From there it was merely a matter of more measurements, cuts, and and installation to create the side shelving and the shelf behind the driver’s seat. This was definitely my favorite part of the build as the end result made the van look more like a camper van than just a floor and walls to haul gear around.
We bought a foam mattress at IKEA, cut it to size, added bedding, and packed up our Denver lives for a life on the road. There would be a few adjustments we would make with the help of Scott’s brother (Ben) in Flagstaff, but we left Denver with a content feeling of finishing what we started.
A few adjustments is maybe an understatement...Ben helped us immensely with his knowledge, skills, and tools. To name off those “few” adjustments he helped us with/we completed at his house:
- Welded metal tabs on the spare tire mount so that the bigger spare would fit underneath the van
- Drilled through the roof rack to mount clamps in order to easily attach the awning
- Built and installed a hinged lid for our “pantry”
- Mounted the jack under the van
- Built and installed the slide out drawer for our stove
- Drilled finger holes in the platform panels for easy access
- Changed the front and rear differential fluid
- Installed the bungee net for our clothes
- Installed panels to fix cosmetic appearance of ceiling
- Adjusted shelf behind driver’s seat to fit small drawers
- Installed our Denver skyline art given to us by a good friend
- Installed ukulele mount
These were completed with loads of help from Ben and his girlfriend, Taylor, and made the van truly feel like home.
Hours before we left Flagstaff we packed and organized our belongings. Each nook and cranny was filled with gear, though we knew things would get moved around as we got the hang of vanlife. We rolled out of Ben’s driveway to a chorus of “Happy Trails” sung by the entirety of Scott’s family. Tears filled our eyes as we smiled and waved goodbye to the best send off we could have imagined.
The open road is waiting; we are ready.
TLDR: We had a lot of decisions to make concerning space in the van. The build took us months to complete and a lot of frustration was involved along with major satisfaction at completing this massive project. Our van wouldn’t be what it is without the help of Scott’s brother, Ben, and we are super satisfied with the final product. We are ready to hit the road!