- 16 minutes ago
After trading a large motorhome for a retired U-Haul, Carl turned a low-mileage Chevy Express into a compact DIY camper van built for outdoor adventures—and did it without a garage or a full workshop.
On its maiden trip to the Jersey Shore, Carl gives Patrick a tour of “Birdie,” from the swing-out outdoor kitchen, hot-and-cold shower, and 350-watt solar panel to the cozy sleeping area, clever storage, and portable power system. Repurposed wood and practical choices make the small-space build personal as well as functional, with roughly $41,000 invested in the van and conversion.
Explore this budget-conscious camper van conversion, Chevy Express van life, and DIY RV build for ideas on weekend road trips, off-grid camping, and making every inch count.
On its maiden trip to the Jersey Shore, Carl gives Patrick a tour of “Birdie,” from the swing-out outdoor kitchen, hot-and-cold shower, and 350-watt solar panel to the cozy sleeping area, clever storage, and portable power system. Repurposed wood and practical choices make the small-space build personal as well as functional, with roughly $41,000 invested in the van and conversion.
Explore this budget-conscious camper van conversion, Chevy Express van life, and DIY RV build for ideas on weekend road trips, off-grid camping, and making every inch count.
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TravelTranscript
00:05This is my first build. I bought the van for $29,000. I think I have about $12,000 in
00:11it.
00:11There's a lot of expense in building the van. And I wanted to do something that was nice and I'd
00:15love it for a while, you know.
00:16You buy a van to travel because you want to live outdoors. You know, the main thing is the sleeping
00:20and food.
00:21Welcome back to the show. This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.
00:26On today's episode, I met up with Carl. And Carl has a really cool DIY custom camper van build that
00:32he's going to give us a tour of inside and out.
00:34And this thing is pretty incredible. So join us for the tour.
00:38Hello, Patrick. Great meeting you. I'm Carl, of course. And I'll give you a little background.
00:44So I sold my house in 2023, bought a born-free camper, lived in that for a little bit and
00:51traded that in.
00:52I wanted something smaller. It's a little too big. So I bought this 2019 Chevy Express 2500 from a dealership.
01:01It's actually a retired U-Haul van. It had 19,000 miles on it.
01:06And I wanted to convert it into something I could travel, something easier to get around in.
01:10So let's start the tour. So we'll go over here first.
01:15What I did, I hooked up a shower. I'm going to put a shower still up here eventually, but I
01:21got the shower, hot and cold water here.
01:24We got a water fill. I got a 20-gallon tank inside.
01:27And also we got a plug for shore power.
01:33On the top, we have a 350-watt solar panel.
01:40We have that fan. It's kind of unique on the top.
01:43It kicks on 75 degrees, brings the temperature back down.
01:47If it gets above 75, it then shuts off.
01:50It's all solar panel, not hooked up to any electric.
01:53Then on the front there, we got a basket.
01:55We have Vantec crossbars.
01:58And on it is a basket to hold firewood or whatever.
02:02And then there's awning on the top here that folds down.
02:05It's all manual awning.
02:06Around here on the roof, we have the shutoff switch for the solar.
02:12Keep it under there. It keeps the weather off it.
02:14It's easy to turn on and off.
02:16And this tube is traveling with me right now because I made a couple homemade walking sticks.
02:23So we keep them in there.
02:24Whatever. Fishing rods go in there sometimes.
02:28And also got on the top, I got a Starlink Mini, which works out great.
02:33I can go anywhere and get the reception.
02:36Along the bottom here, the bumpers, they were all chrome.
02:40I've sanded them all off and refinished them with Herculiner.
02:43Same with the bottom along the edge here.
02:46That was all sanded all, roughed up all the white paint and painted it all with Herculiner.
02:51It holds up better.
02:52And also with the side rails here.
02:56They came on the van actually.
02:59But I sanded them all down and sprayed them.
03:01They'll hold up a lot better and nicer.
03:05In the back here, this is kind of different.
03:07This was like a two-tier rack and I changed it.
03:10I put like a cooktop on the top so I can bring my grill out.
03:14I'll show you.
03:16Let's open this up.
03:17I keep it locked when I travel.
03:19Because you never know.
03:20Somebody wouldn't want to steal my drinks out of that cooler.
03:23It's only iced tea, but who knows.
03:32We'll open this up.
03:33It'll be easier this way.
03:52So, to use a cooktop,
03:58we've got this cool little grill.
04:13Kind of opens up like that.
04:16Cook on.
04:17Got a slip-up table here.
04:20That's all out of cherry wood.
04:22I love my wood.
04:23So, I have cherry, oak, cedar.
04:25So, I can swing this around.
04:28Keep my propane tanks in here.
04:30Keep a water jug here.
04:34Also got to have a little pop-up sink.
04:37So, when we're done cooking,
04:39I can put this away.
04:47Fold this down.
04:55Pop-ups sink.
04:56They're childproof, so it takes me a little while.
05:00There we go.
05:01Like that.
05:03Bring your water jug out.
05:06Do your dishes.
05:08It's easy.
05:08And just drain it out there.
05:09Dump it wherever it has to be dumped.
05:12Also in here, we've got the cabinets.
05:14These are all oak.
05:15They're refurbished cabinet doors that I found at a yard sale.
05:22So, I made those.
05:23Redid them all.
05:23Just keeps my silverware.
05:25Everything cooking is back here.
05:26All the cooking utensils.
05:30Spatulas.
05:33More cooking utensils.
05:35A little bit of seasoning.
05:36Dishes and everything are down here.
05:38These metal boxes are kind of cool.
05:41I forget where I got them.
05:42But they fit in here really nice.
05:43And I can slide them out if I've got to work on anything underneath.
05:46There's my 20-gallon water tank.
05:48And I left it like that so you can see the amount of water that's in there.
05:53Yep.
05:55Also, I've got some outlets here.
05:57I've put in three outlets.
05:58And I'll talk about my electrical system when we go inside.
06:02Like I said, this is all oak.
06:03And the red cedar.
06:04You can see the red cedar on the walls here.
06:07These covers, these window covers, they're like an insulation.
06:10It's, I think it's crushed denim.
06:14And I bought them in panels.
06:15And then I had somebody sew these for me.
06:17These are just bungees that I hook in.
06:20You want to take them out.
06:21You can pull them down to look out.
06:22Or you just unclip the bungees and take the whole thing off.
06:25So, that's that.
06:28Around here we got a...
06:31I like ammunition boxes.
06:33So, we got an ammunition box here where I keep a shovel, a rake, and then the pie makers for
06:39the camp, of course, for the firewood camp.
06:42Got a rhino bag to hold miscellaneous stuff.
06:46I have a ladder in here now to get up to the roof.
06:48Also got two recovery boards.
06:51And the ladder doesn't get used much because it's used for that stuff now.
06:55Also, my mascot, Bertie, is right there.
06:57That's the name of my van.
06:59Back here we did some murals on the side.
07:02I worked on this from November until I just got it done last week.
07:05This is my first trip down to Jersey right now.
07:08So, that's the side.
07:11Inside the van, pretty stock.
07:15I wanted to keep it stock.
07:16I had a really nice one-piece molded mat, which is really nice for when you get snow and stuff
07:21in here.
07:22And all the plastic keeps it nice and clean.
07:27Coming around the front, also my wheel covers.
07:29They are called wheel skins.
07:31It's not a wheel.
07:32They just pop on.
07:33But I love them.
07:34They're black.
07:35You know, I like to keep everything kind of black on my trim.
07:38Black.
07:39I got Goodyear wheels there.
07:41Goodyear Wranglers.
07:42I'm thinking about maybe doing a three-inch lift kit, but I'm not sure, you know, what I want to
07:47do yet.
07:48So, bumper here also.
07:50All the chrome was taken off.
07:52Painted with Herculiner with a spray can.
07:54It came out nice and smooth.
07:57We got an ammunition box here.
08:00Keeps toe straps in.
08:01Not for me.
08:02It's to pull other people out, of course.
08:04And there's my license plate, Bertie.
08:06Got my dog on there, Dembe.
08:08He's my Boston Terrier.
08:09He goes with me everywhere.
08:11Now, we got the fog lights here.
08:14We got this brush bumper, whatever you want to call it.
08:16Deer stopper.
08:17I don't know.
08:19That's on there.
08:20It's from a dark horse.
08:21Or black horse.
08:22I'm sorry.
08:26Coming around, we got up top there.
08:27We got a wind deflector on the top of my rack where I keep my firewood and miscellaneous things.
08:36Oh, I also got these so you can crack the window a little bit, you know, when it's raining and
08:41stuff.
08:42They're nice.
08:44Back around, we did the same thing.
08:46That's the piece along the bottom we painted.
08:48Now, we're going to go inside, which is a lot to talk about, but I love the way this turned
08:54out.
08:54I've been working on this full time since November.
08:57So, whenever I got a chance when I'm not working, this is what I was doing.
09:02So, I made this cabinet here.
09:04It's oak plywood just to keep miscellaneous things in there, a little whatever, you know.
09:09I have a water jug here.
09:11So, when you wash your hands, you can turn it around, wash your hands.
09:14You can set it on here to wash your hands.
09:18I got my axe cut in firewood.
09:20That fits under there perfect.
09:22Everything kind of fits together.
09:23I can close the door with this up.
09:25Everything fits together.
09:27And also, the van, since it was a U-Haul van, it came with this metal partition, which I'll show
09:34you inside.
09:34I cut the center of it out, but I kept the sides for protection.
09:38You know, anything flying around in here won't come up front.
09:41I love cast iron stuff, so I got something.
09:43You've got to have a bottle opener, too.
09:45Got a fire extinguisher.
09:48Yep.
09:49Also got a handrail I made out of black pipe, and it's sturdy.
09:54You can rock the whole van with it.
09:55It's sturdy.
09:56And we got more shelves.
09:58Like I said, I like wood, so I like cherry.
10:00It's got some ebony inlay in it.
10:02Pop it up if you ever need.
10:04So, if it's kind of wet and rainy, I don't cook out there.
10:07I bring my cooker up here.
10:08I pull the awning out, set the awning up.
10:11That can be under the awning, not getting wet.
10:15Also, these door panels, these plastic door panels, they're the originals.
10:19I like them because you can wipe them down.
10:21You know, they're easy to wipe down and clean if they get splattered with dirt or anything.
10:28My flooring here is ebay foam.
10:32They're sort of boat decks.
10:33That's what they recommend it for.
10:34But I thought kneeling around in here, since you can't stand up in this kind of van,
10:38it's good, easy on your knees.
10:40I'm old, so it's easy on your knees.
10:43It's not slippery.
10:44My dog gets in and out.
10:45He doesn't slip on it.
10:46You know, this, I kept this so I can hose it down if it gets any dirt in there.
10:51I did this trim piece on to make it look nice and trimmed it up.
10:55So, all right, let's go inside.
11:05So, in here we have two cabinets.
11:08These are oak cabinets.
11:09They were actually, I own a tattoo shop for years, and they were at workstations for my
11:13tattoo artists, and they retired.
11:15So, I've reused those too.
11:18I figured I'd do those.
11:19I'll open it up and show you.
11:20And, which is really nice, this front door keeps all the drawers in place, keeping clothes,
11:28we keep whatever we need to store.
11:30This is our main storage unit.
11:32On the top here is cherry countertop.
11:35I had a friend that worked at a lumberyard, and he got me some nice cherry wood.
11:39There's the red cedar that I talk about.
11:41I love the red cedar.
11:42These are just planks, what I used here.
11:46And I made a couple slip-out countertops.
11:52They're like a, I don't know what they call them, plastic or some kind of plastic.
11:57And that just slips right back in there.
12:00And then when you travel, you just close these up, just like that.
12:04Doors won't come out.
12:06My lighting is done with, it's just, you recharge them and use a remote control to turn them on and
12:15off.
12:16They're pretty simple.
12:17I try to keep my electrical simple.
12:20So, my ceiling, so like I said, I'm an artist.
12:23So, my ceiling, I like stormy, cloudy weather.
12:26So, I figured what cooler thing to kind of do the grays and the whites like a cloud.
12:30And the fan vent back there, I did like a moon with like a lunar eclipse look to it.
12:35You can hear the fan kicked on because it's hot here today.
12:39Also, I got a little bit of storage back in here.
12:42Knee thing to kneel on because it gets a little rough sometimes when you're in here a long time.
12:47But, all cedar.
12:48The cedar goes all the way down to the floor.
12:50So, that's that.
12:51So, then we got the refrigerator here, which I like the retro look.
12:56So, we got the refrigerator pretty full because we were camping this week.
13:01So, this is actually the maiden voyage of Bertie this week.
13:04We brought it down here to New Jersey.
13:07Got a microwave, which runs easily off my Jackery.
13:09I'll show you the Jackery in a minute.
13:11Paper towel holder here.
13:17Underneath here, I got a Jackery 3000, which runs everything.
13:20It's charging right now off the solar, or I can plug it into shore power.
13:25Also, I have the plug for my Starlink.
13:28Everything runs off of that Jackery.
13:31Here's just storage.
13:32There's a toilet.
13:33It's a simple toilet.
13:35We're at a campground this week, so we're using the public toilets.
13:40So, that's it.
13:40There you can see the water tank in the back there also.
13:44Yep.
13:45This is more storage in the toilet back here.
13:52I keep an extra Jackery.
13:54I don't know why, but I just have had it before, so I keep it.
13:59Also, in the front there is the doorway that I cut and took the door out.
14:03I just put curtains there.
14:05There's Dembe, my dog's bed.
14:06He likes sleeping in there with us, and the curtains just pull across.
14:12I got some shelving here.
14:14I got a little shelving.
14:15It keeps some channel changers, my lights.
14:19My lights, see if they pop on.
14:21You can pop them on, or I use different colors, too.
14:25Look at that.
14:25Fancy.
14:26Or I use a remote control for those.
14:29And in the back here, we got the TV.
14:32It's a 14-inch TV.
14:34You can lay in bed and watch it.
14:35This is a 6-inch memory foam mattress.
14:41It's got bamboo cover.
14:43It's real nice.
14:44And I did the slat so it can breathe so I don't get any mold or mildew underneath it.
14:49Got some mushroom hooks that we love forging.
14:54And you know what I did?
14:55I used all screws because a lot of people glue their stuff together.
14:59But you know, I know where all the wiring is.
15:02So if I ever need to get to some kind of wiring or something, I just take the screws out
15:06and pull out each panel, you know, and I can screw them back.
15:08And I don't mind the look of the screws, you know.
15:10So the mattress, this mattress topper here.
15:15Let me get in bed and show you.
15:16I can get in, actually, believe it or not.
15:21There you go.
15:22Look at that.
15:22Imagine.
15:23A big guy in a small bed.
15:28Oh, this is pretty cool.
15:30Thanks, Patrick.
15:30This is a Chevy Express van.
15:32I featured a few of these Chevy Express vans.
15:35They're not pop tops.
15:37They're not high tops.
15:38Yeah.
15:38And what you have to do with it is pretty genius because you really, really have to think everything through.
15:44Every inch has to be utilized.
15:46Yeah.
15:47And going from a full-size RV and a fifth wheel, you know what you need and you know what
15:53you don't need.
15:54Right?
15:54So indoor shower wasn't a priority.
15:57No.
15:57Because you're doing what?
15:58And you don't get all that steam and stuff inside, you know what I mean?
16:00It's all outside.
16:01Same with the cooking.
16:02You don't get any food smells in this.
16:04And you buy a van to travel because you want to live outdoors.
16:07So, you know, the main thing is the sleeping and food.
16:10So this is not like living.
16:12You still have a place to live.
16:14But this is for adventure camping and adventure road trip.
16:16But you could take this out for a few months if you wanted to, right?
16:20Eventually, I'd like to build something.
16:21I'm looking and I don't know what next time.
16:23But I want to build something to be able to live in, you know?
16:26But this is my first build.
16:28So I watched your videos, your big inspiration, and a couple others, you know what I mean?
16:33And I said, I'm going to do this.
16:35So it was all outdoors.
16:36I have no garage to do it in.
16:37No special tools, you know, to do.
16:39I don't have a router or anything.
16:41My newest tool was an oscillating tool.
16:43I love that freaking thing.
16:44But I love how you put, like, the little, what is there, a mushroom design on the top of each
16:49one of these.
16:50You know, you had fun with it.
16:51Yeah.
16:51And you used several different species of wood.
16:53A lot of it was repurposed.
16:55Yeah.
16:55Yeah, I wanted to do that.
16:58So now that it's done, are you doing, people are going to have questions probably about heat, about air conditioning.
17:06Is that fan sufficient?
17:07Yeah.
17:08Yeah.
17:08And you know, if I do need air conditioning in an emergency, I turn the van on.
17:12Okay.
17:12Open the curtains, and it'll cool that down in seconds, you know what I mean?
17:15And heat's not, you know, this van with just two people in it will heat up.
17:19Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:20And it's really good insulated.
17:21Like I said, I use this stuff in the walls, you know, and it's nice.
17:26I keep a little vapor barrier in there between it.
17:28The floor is also done in insulated underneath the three-quarter inch plywood, and then I put another quarter-inch
17:34plywood on top of it.
17:35I like that floor because I was kneeling around in this off-camera before we started.
17:39I was like, this is kind of nice.
17:41Yeah.
17:41I looked at all different kinds of flooring, but this is nice.
17:44My dog doesn't slip on it, like I said.
17:46Yeah, your dog jumps up here and there.
17:48The first thing they're going to do is slide out into the cabinet, right?
17:51So that gives them the grip.
17:53Yeah.
17:53Now, you have a social media for this van.
17:56Is there a YouTube?
17:57I have a YouTube.
17:58I don't have a YouTube.
17:59I have an Instagram.
18:00Okay.
18:01So I'll put a link in the description so our viewers, because you showcased the build of this, some of
18:06the build, right?
18:06The pictures of the build.
18:07Yeah, yeah, on my Instagram, yes.
18:10Yeah, so I'll put a link to that in the description so our viewers could check it out.
18:15Yeah.
18:15So you mentioned time frame.
18:17What about budget?
18:18So it took about 10 months and my days off and stuff.
18:22Budget, I bought the van for $29,000.
18:24I think I have about $12,000 in, and that includes the jackery, which was a good chunk of it,
18:29you know what I mean?
18:30Starlink, jackery.
18:31Yeah, Starlink, jackery, everything.
18:33Those are some of the pricier things, right?
18:35Yeah, just the wood even, you know, even though it's cheaper.
18:37It's just, there's a lot of expense in building the van.
18:40And I wanted to do something that was nice and I'd love it for a while, you know?
18:43Well, I could definitely tell you're an artist.
18:46You could see it all throughout this whole entire van.
18:48Thanks, Patrick.
18:49I appreciate you meeting up with me today on your maiden voyage here in New Jersey, heading down to the
18:55beach for what we call local summer.
18:57So after Labor Day, some of the businesses still stay open, so the locals can enjoy that summer feel, but
19:04without the big crowds.
19:05And I'm from upstate Pennsylvania, so it's a five, five and a half hour drive for me.
19:09Wow.
19:10So I needed to get away after, you know, it burns you out building the van.
19:14It's a lot of work.
19:15You don't realize it, but I'm burned out from it, so.
19:17Do you have any suggestions for anybody that is trying to attempt something like this or a tip that might
19:22help them along the way?
19:23I didn't even have a plan.
19:25I just got the wood and started building it, changed it around like two or three times.
19:29I changed the whole setup until it was something I really liked, you know?
19:32I pulled it apart, redid it.
19:34It was like a learning experience.
19:35Watch a lot of YouTube videos, you know?
19:37So next year, our plan is to go to the Pacific Northwest.
19:40I've taken all the way up to Oregon, Washington, into Vancouver Island.
19:45There's a van gathering up there I want to go to in June, so.
19:50Well, that's going to be a fantastic trip.
19:52Yeah, and it's low miles.
19:53I've got 30,000 miles on this, so I can put a ton of miles.
19:56Another reason I picked the Chevy Express is parts are easy to get, from what I hear.
20:00Chevy Express hasn't really changed in 30 years, so.
20:03They got their money back from the engineering.
20:06Yeah, yeah.
20:06They keep the design going and going and going.
20:08I love it, and I like the size of it.
20:10That's my main thing.
20:11Well, Carl, thank you very much for coming out today.
20:13This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.
20:16I'll see you guys next time.