The Strife of Brian

I am finally getting around to taking some photos of the van. I should have taken before shots and documented some of the projects but I didn’t. I bought this van at an auction from the State of Michigan last year. It was used to transport prisoners. It looked basically like a REALLY dirty church bus. After a lot of work it is now pretty nice inside and setup so I can take it camping but I mainly use it as a delivery van. I have installed a complete auxilary electrical system with two marine trolling batteries, a 1200 watt inverter, a 3 stage battery charger/DC converter, a transfer switch to toggle between inverter power and shore power and all the necessary wiring and fuses. This powers a Dometic fridge from a popup camper, a microwave, a DVD and audio system and any other DC or AC item we might need. Here are some pics of the back of the van. I built a bulkhead wall that seperates the rear cargo area from the front seats. I will show the front later.

Here is a view from the back doors with the bed installed and folded down. The bed is held in with metal pins that allow it to be removed
pretty easily. The benchs that run along the sides of the van are for storage and also house the AC and DC power systems.

This is a view from inside the van. You can see the DVD player on the ceiling. This is portable and comes out when we aren’t using it. I did run wires so I can plug it into power and also output the sound through the van’s rear stereo system. You can see some of the speakers in the ceiling also.

Here is another shot looking forward. You can see the Fridge and Microwave in the background. I paneled over the windows for security and privacy. I left a small porthole opening to let in fresh air. All the back windows have custom made screens on them.

The DVD screen swivels so you can see it from pretty much anywhere in the van.

The sofa bed in booth mode. I just put this table in today. It uses a standard RV table base so it transforms for sleeping very quickly.

Here is a closeup of the fridge and microwave. The fridge draws a lot of power but should last long enough on the auxilary batteries to make it to the next campground. The batteries are stored in a compartment below the fridge.

The DC Switch Panel for the overhead lights, outlets and stereo system controls are in easy reach from the bed.

The AC transfer switch is next to the main electrical outlet. I also made custom ducts for left the rear heat and air system.

I made these custom door panels and the curtains as well. I think they look pretty good.

Here is a pic showing one of the screens I made. I also put in a pretty nice roof vent/fan and a lot of insulation. It still gets pretty hot in there in the summer.

There is a hidden compartment in each door. Not a huge space but every bit helps.