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Possible Sprinter Conversion Noob

Started by OutdoorOregonian, August 17, 2016, 11:03:13 PM

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OutdoorOregonian

Hey everyone! I'm looking to purchase and convert a 2016 Sprinter van for me to live in and travel. I'm trying to decide if I should do it and how I should go about doing it. If you have any answers, it would be really helpful in my decision making process.

Did you convert yours or have someone else do it for you?
Was it worth it (price and time) to do it yourself?
How many vans do you think are converted each year? With that, how many people do you think do them by themselves?
What was the most difficult part of converting it on your own?
If I do decide to buy one to convert and decide to sell it down the road, does it have a good resell value?

If you have any other information, it would help me to decide what I'm going to do!

Thanks,
Kylee

Phranc

Kylee,
1. I did all the work myself... to see the process, please see the Chronological build page on www.vancave.wordpress.com
2. Definitely... but I was looking for a ongoing project that I could tinker on as well as enjoy.
3. Good question... after searching for a couple weeks I found multiple webpages documenting DIY builds... some complex, some simple.  The best sources I found were www.promasterforum.com and www.buildagreenrv.com which have active discussion boards with multiple builds.
4. The "hardest" part was cutting holes in my water-tight van... it was a point of no turning back because right or wrong, the sale-ability of the van is diminished... you can reduce the chance of making mistakes thru planning, measuring, re-measuring, waiting, the more measuring... then measure one last time.
5. Another good question... I've come across examples where folks have sold their DIY conversion but they never gave the sale price.  There are DIY conversions for sale (www.promasterforum.com).  My view going into my build was that the van's resale is the same as if I hadn't made any improvements.... not that I plan to sell mine, but if I needed to, I could always strip out my interior and sell it as a regular van (after welding & painting the cutouts back in... yes, I kept those).
Best,
Phranc

kryten

Kylee, just to add to Phranc's informative points. You don't have to cut holes in a van if you don't want to. If the van already has side/back windows then you don't need to cut out more. A roof fan is nice to have but you can live without one. You might be able to find a van that is already paneled inside so you can reuse those panels after removing to clean and add insulation. A couple of more websites to look at are http://sbmcc.co.uk/ and Vince Amendola youtube site. He converted a Sprinter in a week and is currently reposting all the videos of his build. There are lots of videos on converting a van, and although it will throw up challenges , it's not that difficult, even if you have no or little d.i.y skills. You could buy Mike's book which not only goes through the process step by step but also helps Mike fund his adventure.

The more stealthy you make your van the easier it will be to stay under the radar.

shinobidef

Hi Kylee. I have Van Dog's book and also bought the Sprinter Sourcebook - although this is geared towards the US market, I did find a lot of useful information in there and there's a lot of discussion about buying a new van.

We're buying our van this month but we're going for a 2005 Sprinter Luton and we'll be doing most of the work ourselves - my view is I'll learn a lot, save money, and can tailor it to our exact requirements and finish!