Hello All!

I bought this 2002 Chevy Express Cargo Van in July of 2016 from CT

She has a few issues that need correcting and repairing

I have officially decided to transform her from a cargo van to a Camper Van. I want to travel and I want to do it with as little as possible, which is why I decided my van would be perfect for minimal living.

I will be searching and posting in this forum whenever I have an issue or just some basic questions.


To start off, has anyone ever transformed a 2002 Chevy Express Van into a Camper? If so, on a scale of 1-10 how difficult was it? Was it too pricey or can you find reasonable deals?

 

It's going to get real hot in there in the summer with no windows to open.

 

I realise that. Lol. I haven't begun the transformation, this is just what it looks like since I bought it. I have to make quite a few changes to make it livable.

 

I converted my 2001 several years ago. It is not fancy but it is functional and my wife loves it compared to our camping in our old 1990 K-Blazer. I did it in such a way that when I was finished using it as a camper I could convert it back into the passenger van that it originally was. I will only have a couple of small holes to plug with covers. Many of my ideas came from my old 1990 Blazer camper and many other ideas came from others on the web. You can see everything I did to it at my thread on this site:https://chevroletforum.com/forum/exp...ion-van-72308/
For more detail you can follow me on this site:
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: My Chevrolet Express van Class B- camper

 

Obviously it depends on what you want to get from the conversion. You can call it done for $20 (throw an inflatable mattress in) or you can spend $30k and do a luxury conversion with outside labor for everything.
The van is quite rusty though, and that will be a big problem for some future repairs. If I were to put so much work in an older van, I'd at least travel 500-1000 miles south and get a southern rust free van. The money will come back to you in what you save for repairs (not paying a mechanic $100 an hour to fight rusty bolts), not mentioning the healthier, nicer looking vehicle.

 

I read the thread and two points I came away with is Black'95 has done a incredibly nice camper conversion with the conveniences one would need nothing fancy he and his wife have done a exceptional job. Take some time and view their posts ( many many pics) lots of good ideas.

Oldchevy makes a point that can not be dismissed a full size cargo van without any opening (vent) rear windows is not something you can camp in, the moisture from camping would make the interior very humid and likely full of odors if you can't establish good ventilation the moisture from will likely become overwhelming. I have never had to consider such things but maybe look into how those companies like Roadtrek deal with airflow.

 

Artie1, I have to say his van doesn't seem too rusty I am from Massachusetts and have seen my share of rust buckets and his is pretty nice for a 16 year old work van. I agree with your point to get a southern van if possible but I think he would not be foolhardy to move forward with this one. I look forward to folks transforming their vans because they never fail to have great innovative ideas.

 

I'm in the middle of doing it now, and have even blogged a bunch on it.
I have a 2001 Chevy express 1500 LT with the 5.7 liter V8.
This weekend I finished (mostly) the bed build. Which means that so far
I've gotten done the counter top, the bed, insolated the walls, primed painted them,
the floor and the ceiling is finished as well.
Next comes the scary part. The electric.
Mine was a passenger van so it was tougher to gut it and start again. If I were to do this again
I'd do it from a cargo van. This is totally do-able, but it's been a challenge for me because at the
beginning of this project I didn't know my thumb from a nail...if you know what I mean.
I'm not sure if it's allowed to put other links on here so I'll sort of hint to it. trevormarty is my name
it's a blogspot which is a dot com thing. I have a few photos and videos of the build so far.
Good luck to you Starchaser2020

 

Buying a van for living is an important decision. It is also important to equip it correctly. Moreover, its most important advantage is mobility — the house can be put anywhere, or you can go on a trip. Many people have told me that it was their dream to hang out in such a house, but we originally bought it exclusively for stationary use. That is why we have no big problems with movement. From this article you can learn a lot more about living in a van and buying it. I am sure that this will change your life dramatically.

 

I converted a 2004 Chevy Express a few years back, and while it was a rewarding project, I’d rate the difficulty around a 6 or 7 depending on your tools, space, and how custom you want it. Insulation, electrical, and ventilation were the most time-consuming steps, but manageable with patience and research. Costs vary a lot—buying secondhand parts, repurposing materials, and doing most of the labor myself kept things within reason.