I spent about a year daydreaming and researching custom camper vans and tiny home designs and then bought a van in March 2017. I continued planning how to work with the space until May, at which point I quit my job and spent four months working on my custom camper. I planned on living and traveling in it for a year, so all design decisions were made with that in mind. 

I bought a 1997 Dodge Ram Van 3500 5.9L with extended base and a raised roof.

I salvaged some used flooring from a remodeling company dumpster and removed all the nails.

The old floor was rotting and had to be removed. 

There was a large section of the floor rusted away beneath the rotting top wood cover.

The inner ceiling was too low for me to stand fully upright and it had about five inches of insulation space between it and the outer shell, so I decided to raise the roof. The new inner ceiling would be three inches higher allowing me to stand, and the remaining insulation space would be insulated with natural sheep's wool since it's an excellent insulator.

The ceiling had to be cut out in sections.

I cut out most of the inner scaffolding so that I could raise the ceiling height in those areas.

I contemplated fiberglassing over this hole but decided to weld some sheet steel over it instead.

The hole in the roof was originally a fire escape hatch and needed to be smaller to fit the ventilation fan I planned to install, so bolted on a plywood cover.

The scaffolding that I didn't cut out was used to brace the roof around the ventilation opening.

The Fantastic Fan installed.

Fiberglassing the edges of the steel plates after welding them down over the holes in the floor.

There was a large amount of rust throughout the van and I did my best to remove it and then coat the surfaces in a rust converter. Some areas like this one needed a fiberglass patch to cover holes.

My first leak test revealed over a dozen leaks along the edge of the high-top roof seal.

My first trip of many to get lumber for the interior remodel.

Old weather strip around the edge of the high top section.

It's trash!

The metal band around the high-top shell has outlived its usefulness as well.

I cleaned the channel around the rim of the high top shell and then sealed it with a polyurethane adhesive caulking. 

The sealant I used bubbled and cracked as it cured. That's not at all what I wanted for a watertight seal. I ended up knocking out the cracked sections and using a different polyurethane sealer that didn't bubble when curing. 

Another leak test.

Installing my salvaged hardwood flooring.

Experimenting with joists to fit to the curvature of the hightop shell.

Insulating with foil bubble wrap to reflect radiant heat.

I got the ultimate leak test in the form of rain and found several more leaks.

Resealing the leaking window.

I didn't end up using this method to connect the joists because the wood "fingers" were too fragile.

The door covers were gross and I wanted wood one's to match the interior of the van.

Insulating the door panels.

Building cubbies into the new door panels.

Filling the doors with recycled sheep's wool.

One down, five to go.

Installing the wiring. 

Lower AWG for higher power cables.

My roommate helped me install and insulate the ceiling.

Anchoring wall studs to the frame of the van.

Blacking out the windows that will be walled over.

gluing together the shower basin.

Three drawers beneath the shower basin. The trough at the end of the basin will be filled with water, heated with 12 volt heating elements, and then recirculated through a filter and back through the shower head, allowing a long shower on only two gallons of water and less power used to heat new water.

Those white strips are waterproof LED's because it's a custom project and I'll do as I please.

Adjustable light switch touch panel.

A lap joint is as (un)sophisticated as I got with the woodworking.

Storage area above the cab.

Trying to figure out where the water tank and sink belong.

Leak test on the shower basin. All good!

Building the composting toilet.

Checking measurements for the toilet and shower basin to fit in the bathroom.

Fiberglasssing on a funnel for urine collection.

Cutting holes for kitchen sink waste water, shower waste water, and toilet vent.

Water heater coils.

Grey waste water tank.

Building the electrical panel.

Installing the shower drain.

Toilet ventilation unit made from parts on hand.

Secondary fuse box.

Access panel, because I've been known to make mistakes.

Color control touch panel in bathroom.

One of seven holes for ceiling lights. 

Water tank built into kitchenette. 

Bench, bed, and storage unit. The lifts up to access the storage beneath and the front can slide out to turn into a bed.

A/C power outlets are located at the end of the bench and underneath the kitchen counter.

Due to poor planning my wires running to the secondary fuse box weren't thick enough which caused a two volt sag when the line was under load from the water pump. The increased resistance from the thin wire also caused the amperage to surpass the rating of the charge controller, so it would shut down every time I tried to run the water pump. Rather than attempt to run a new heavy gauge wire through the ceiling I upgraded my charge controller to an 80 Amp model.

I sewed some window covers with magnets at the edges that attach to the metal frame surrounding the windows.