Student takes Senior Project to New Level with Full Van Conversion

[Music] hey guys my name is ryan and this is my 1986 volkswagen vanigan affectionately called bigfoot [Music] this video is sponsored by babel start speaking a new language in three weeks with babel get six months free when you sign up for six months i was studying industrial design at the university of illinois looking around at my classmates and kind of the culture there i didn't really see myself designing water bottles and designing shoes i wanted to get into designing things that meant more to people so that's kind of where my whole thinking went with this van i drew the entire van in cad and then i designed the cabinets in my 3d model of the van there's no excess space and anywhere in this van everything has a purpose or a use i took my computer and i set it down in here when there was nothing in the van and then i built prototypes of the cabinets and i put them in here then i could go back into my 3d model scale it down a little bit and then build another prototype out of foam core board that made a significant impact on the design just you know using the space as best as i could as efficiently as i could this is my 1986 volkswagen vanigan that i affectionately call bigfoot i recently added the high top the roof of the van wasn't tall enough just makes it a whole lot easier to live in original headlights on this van were terrible at night it was almost as if i was holding two candles in front of my eyes as i was driving down the road um so i added these led headlights they've got the led halo lights there and then the led x's for my high beam that made a huge difference going around we've got these truck mirrors when i bought the van it had smaller mirrors that when you hit 50 miles an hour they would just fold over and then you wouldn't be able to see out the side of the van it's got a one and a half inch lift and then it's got these all-terrain general grabber tires something that i added to make the space feel a little bit bigger was this arb awning here this comes out about eight feet so it adds an additional eight feet of living space outside the van around back we've got a combination bike rack and ladder and on top of that we have a go sd trasharoo here this is intended for putting trash in i just use it for additional storage funnels dog toys toe straps jug for doing oil changes if i took the trash roux off the back i could fold this down and put two bikes on there as well it originally came with the volkswagen engine it's been upgraded to a subaru ej25 i did the installation of the subaru engine myself using a rocky mountain westy van cafe subaru conversion kit it's a completely different car now than what it used to be before one of the first things you'd notice is this venture libre tool holder back here i don't use these tools nearly as much now with the subaru because it never breaks down on me but it's still handy to have and then i also have my socket set up here some additional storage for the rear screen and umbrella just in case and the great thing about volkswagen vans is that you've got an awning already built into it all you have to do is close these curtains and now we're in a shaded spot it's perfect in this rear cabinet here this is an original westfalia cabinet i removed the door it was kind of useless it's just all held in with these bungee cords so it's super easy to to get books out this was just a regular door that folded down if you have this back area loaded up with your luggage or your pillows or anything like that you can't get into this cabinet i added this roll-up door here which solves that problem it's always accessible i added this rear shower sprayer back here there's a valve this is sink or shower so we have to swap it to shower and then we just turn the pump on via the sink and that pressurizes the the system so this is great for you know coming back from the beach and we've got sandy feet you can also attach this up top here if we're taking a shower off the back of the van rinsing off from the beach and you know just use it as a regular regular shower head on the top is an 80 watt solar panel this 80 watt panel doesn't really cut it but that'll that'll change eventually on the full westfalia campers they've got cutouts on the side for the stove exhaust an electrical port and a water input they all rust out from those ports that was a pretty big consideration that i had when when i was looking for a van to buy along the bottom i added bed liner protects the van from trees out in the back woods and it also offers a little bit of rust protection in here this is where i spend most of my time in the driver's seat i've added the wood inlet onto the dashboard this matches the wood floor that's down in the van and then in the center there you've got a scan gauge pod this is how i monitor the subaru engine it's a brass shifter this came from the previous owner these are custom seats done by a company called sofine in colorado i actually picked out the fabric and i sent them the fabric and they made the seat covers for me and then i i reupholstered the seat um myself with all new foam and everything a lot of people complain about vanigan seats that they're uncomfortable but they really aren't as long as you replace the foam let's go into the living area of the van [Music] i did this as my senior design thesis where i wanted to come up with a kind of modular system that made it easy for van builders to build their own van i added this cutting board to the side here so you can stand outside cut up your vegetables or you know i typically use it as just a drink holder for when i'm standing outside the van hanging out this is my stove up top this is a dometic propane stove i wanted to have something that was easily covered this area here also acts as um as a working space i've been super happy with it i just have to be careful not to drop anything on it and shatter the glass lid and then down here we've got our truck fridge barely uses any power keeps my food super cold keeps my beers cold over here we have the sink same thing it's a dometic sink it's got the closing lid so i can put stuff on top of it water faucet just an electric water faucet i often times see this under the sink area not used so i added this nifty drawer here that's got keys it's got toothpaste and toothbrush in here we've got pots and pans storage i've got a six gallon water tank and then up front here this pulls out and uh we increase our countertop space here for food prep this is a cutting board and then when we pull this out underneath is all the cutlery in here this was kind of an awkward space to design around knew that i wanted to be able to walk up and sit down in the seat so i decided to pull the entire cabinet out so this makes it super easy to get to my dry foods and everything else i'm not down in here you know inside of a cabinet trying to fish something out i pull everything out and it's right here for me this is where i've got all of my tools stored up here i've got drills i've got a circular saw i've got a jigsaw having the high top makes all of this space so much more useful insulated and upholstered up top added this wood trim to kind of match the wood that's that's found in the rest of the van this is the switch for the lower lights down here it's it's a dimmer switch got a usb charging port and then this is the this is the switch for the upper lights and then over here we've got another light here that swivels around it's reading light great for when you're stealth camped in a city you can just use this small reading light versus turning on all the other lights inside the van i always had an issue with condensation in this van when i was living in it in the winter time it was hot in the van because of the heater but it was cold outside so obviously the windows would always fog up so when i added the high top i wanted the best fan i could buy so i've got this max fan here it's great because it sucks the air out or you can close it down and then reverse the speed and it acts as a ceiling fan this is the original westfalia bed that's up here just modified to work with the high top it really isn't too bad sleeping upstairs i've done it a couple of times and and it really it it doesn't feel claustrophobic at all though i was worried about it feeling claustrophobic and it's not we've got our table swivel table so you can you know use it in any position down here we'll set up like our bigger ingredients um and then obviously when when it's time to eat we'll set our plates and everything just on the table here and it swivels up nicely the bed here all i have to do is remove the table and then it just folds down is a modified westfalia bed five inch memory foam queen size mattress that i cut down so it's kind of half of a queen three quarters of a queen size bed this is where my 100 amp hour house battery lives it's an agm my inverter is down there this is my renegy charge controller and then got my laptop i just throw underneath there sometimes water hose an electrical cord just in case i'm using a tool that needs to get plugged in i can plug in the electrical cord to my inverter underneath this is where my diesel heater is mounted it works great for me keeps the van at a nice toasty 75 degrees inside even if it's seven degrees outside and then also this is the thermostat and the controller for the for the diesel heater it's fully insulated with wool i pulled out all the wall panels i used truck bed liner on the metal walls in here and then on top of that i used two inch thick sheep's wool the original stuff was fiberglass fiberglass isn't really meant to be in a rolling vehicle it shakes around and bunches up it absorbs water not great to breathe this is just a cork board the odds and ends our phones when we're sleeping downstairs we'll go into the little bag here speakers in the head banger cabinet when you're sleeping downstairs down here in the morning when you wake up you immediately hit your head on the bottom of the cabinet here led puck lights for when i'm working on the engine this is actually final floor that's made to look like it's a wood floor so it's super durable i've carried around engine parts in here just on the bare floor and oil and gas and stuff can get onto the floor and all i do is wipe it up with a paper towel if you're thinking about getting into van life first of all buy a van or whatever and just go do it immediately like you know while you're still in an apartment or a house go experience it as soon as possible before doing an entire build out and spending all this money throw a mattress in the back and go sleep behind a gas station go sleep in front of the walmart and go sleep at the beach you know go out to the forest and go sleep in the forest with it and see how you like it there's plenty of places that rent out fully built out campers now i wish everyone would go do it i wish everyone would experience what it's like to wake up in a walmart parking lot but also wake up in the middle of the forest and walk outside your van open the sliding door and walk out and see you know the entire universe because there's there's ups and downs there's ups and downs and everything as things are opening back up i'm sure like me that you're itching to go somewhere and nothing is going to enrich your travel experience more than feeling comfortable communicating with locals which is why this offer from babel is so great babel is an effective app that teaches you languages university studies have shown that just 15 hours of babble equals a whole semester of college spanish so with 10 to 15 minute short easy fun classes babel is proven to get you speaking a new language in just three weeks the lessons are built by over 150 real language teachers not machine learning or ai so you know that it's tried and true and now with the new podcast stories and games you can immerse yourself in a new language so take a break from your 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Channel: FLORB

Views: 92,810

Keywords: Travel, tiny house, van life, van dwelling, simple living, van tour, tiny house on wheels, van conversion, florb, dylan magaster, student, senior project, senior thesis, design, bigfoot, vaandesignco, van life build, van life tour, living in a van, vanlife, diy van conversion, van conversion ideas, vw, Volks, volkswagen, volkswagen westfalia, westy, #vanlife, van life conversion, camper van, van build, camper van conversion, van build tour, diy van build, CAD, student project, van

Id: D9UgqAhDQA4

Length: 13min 54sec (834 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021