Ford Econoline Van Conversion: DIY Build (camper van)

Hey everybody, what's up? I'm Jeremy from Weld Tech Designs and we are hanging out with Tim. Why are we hanging out with Tim, you might ask? It's because he drives a Ford van. Who doesn't love the Ford van? And what's really cool about this van is he built it himself. We love checking out these builds, seeing what you guys are building at home. It doesn't have our stuff on it, who cares? It's still awesome. So we want Tim to show us, let's go take a look inside. Like that's what I'm digging. I love the interior of this thing. Let's go check it out. So now, first of all, Tim, where are you from? I'm from Riverside. Okay, so SoCal in the house. And he is also on Sportsmobile Forum, so which is really cool because I've got to see parts of this. I saw when he put the pop-top on it, which was really neat. And I love that he went and got it out of a junkyard for how much? $37. How do you beat that? That's like, you know, like Red Solo cup in it here. Like that's only like five of these things here. Like that's a deal of the day. So let's go check out this thing inside. Like I love having the seat back. Oh, I'm comfortable right here. Like, woo. So come on, Tim, jump in here and tell us what you did in here and what sparked all of this for you to want to build this. What was the method to the madness in this build? So I started with a Volkswagen Bannigan. It became too small and it couldn't tow my Jeep. So I decided I needed to build something bigger. I had a pop-top in the Bannigan and I wanted a high top and I wanted some cabinetry that I could store things. I don't like moving things when we camp. I like to roll up and grab my beer, have a beer and then fall in bed. Moving things got old with the Bannigan. So in this thing, every thought I had was where do I store things? Where do I build it? I want a place for everything I need. So in here we have our port-a-potty and underneath the seat here, I've got the water tank for the sink. And this build just- The necessities. The build really became looking at everybody else's vans and trying to figure out what my wife and I wanted to use and how we wanted to implement it. So this van is just- I spent more time thinking about how to do it than it took to actually build it. But every bolt on this thing has been done by me and that's a point of pride for me. But I also, I look at stuff like what Jeremy builds and other builders out there and it's like, you get some really incredible products out there. And I'm gonna be a customer of Jeremy's. He doesn't know it yet, but I'm gonna have to hit him up about lifting this van a little bit taller because I did my own little lift and it's got its issues and I wanna get it done right. And I know that Jeremy builds it right. So that's my goal. So yeah, we do an okay job at these things. We've done a couple of them. But what I really like seeing now, I'm assuming this couch behind you is also gonna turn into a bed, right? That is correct. Okay. So, and I like that. So it's like, it's big, but then it's also, it's gonna have a ton of storage back behind that bed also, which has gotta be nice, you know, for he says he's just a softie, so he's just a big oh-so, you know? So, and that means bear for all of you that don't know. So definitely super cool. I like this. I like this flooring. This is killer. You know, I'm running the same kind of flooring in mine because with four little monsters, I'm always having to clean it up and just carpet wasn't gonna cut it. Was that kind of the same thinking behind? Absolutely, yeah. You never know when you're camping if you're gonna spill something. You don't know driving down the road if you're gonna spill something. I have two dogs and they camp with us. And so that's why I have a full width bed behind me. I didn't want the couch bed or cabinets beside my bed because I have a Doberman and I have a wife and I have another little dog that nobody cares about. But me and the Doberman, we need some room. Yeah. And so we, this is why this bed is built this way is we're not little people and we don't have a little dog. So I needed a big van inside and this one filled the bill. Very awesome. Well, Tim, thank you for taking the time to show us the inside of this. I love seeing this. I love seeing what you guys build at home. So, you know, I also hope that you guys will also start submitting some of your videos, some of your videos for us because we love showing off what you guys are doing with your van. So, you know, thanks again, Tim, for showing us this thing. We're gonna take a peek at the outside of it. Super cool. I know you mentioned doing some bumpers on it. So I love it. I love giving other people ideas to what they can do at home themselves also. So thanks again for giving us a tour. Thank you, Jeremy. It's a pleasure to meet you. Yeah.