#diycamper

I’ve been working on the camper for about 4 weeks now after a 4 month break. I realized early on that I can’t work on the camper if it’s under 50 degrees so I pushed to get the fiberglass and paint done before closing down for the winter.

Now I’m back and I’ve spent the last 4 weeks worried about the tail and marker lights. I had to install and wire the brand new tail and marker lights and I’d never done any electrical work before. The first hurdle was finding the time to wire the camper. Youtube tutorials said it should take 30 minutes to an hour to wire a trailer. I expected it to take me even longer because I needed drill holes to feed the wires in and out of the camper. I also had to make a wiring map to reference throughout the process. In the end it took me 3-4 hours to finish and when I plugged the camper into our SUV nothing lit up. This was the second hurdle.

That was hard. Because I had no idea how to figure out why it didn’t light. I guessed that either my map was wrong (it wasn’t) or that my connections weren’t secure enough (they weren’t). So I called my mechanic. He came out and did a free look over and confirmed my suspicions. Everything was wired correctly, I just needs special adapters and connectors to complete the circuit. 2 weeks later, he came back and secured everything. Even though all the wires were in the right place and matched up perfectly, the connectors required a lot attention to detail and it took him another 3.5 hours to finish. When we plugged the camper into the SUV, it lit up! 

I don’t know the last time I squealed with so much joy. Until this point, I’d spent so much time second guessing this project. I thought I was in over my head. I thought the lights would never work. I again wondered if I should just sell it. But now I am ready to finish. I’m riding this excitement wave until the end. At this point I estimate 2-3 weeks until it is camping ready. Maybe a few more weeks to be “done” (decorating, etc). The end it in sight. I can’t believe it.

Here are some photos of the current interior. While waiting to get the lights working, I filled some wall patches, added some waterproofing to the interior cardboard, installed the ceiling panels, finished the bunk bed structure, made progress on the pop top, and cleaned up the door frame. 

When we converted our van, one part we were always disappointed in was the back doors. We’d tried to cover them up with curtains and tapestries, hide them from view, but we were at a loss for how to make them look like a part of our van. They were just this big ugly expanse of metal and paint that leaked in cold air and made us shiver at night.⁣

Finally, last summer, we decided to do something about it. We drew up a plan, a vision for how we wanted them to look, then spent months trying to bring that vision to life. We have almost no carpentry skills, very basic DIY knowledge, and tended to cover up any unsightly areas in our van rather than address them. This was going to be a big challenge.⁣

But bit by bit we worked it out, pieced things together like one great puzzle, and gradually the final unfinished piece of our van fell into place. First the door cards, insulated and made of out plywood, then the cladding, cut into shape and fitted together like dozens of misshapen puzzle pieces. We charred the wood, added in windows made of Perspex, gave them a lick of blue paint and some adorable curtains to match our van, and finally we could stand back and admire our work.⁣

Our van felt warm and homely, but most importantly it felt finished. After four years of living in it, making constant changes and improvements, finally we were happy to call our tiny home on wheels complete.⁣