Are you looking for a DIY Van Conversion Products List? If you’re planning to convert a van to a campervan, you’re going to need building materials, tools, and a whole lot of appliances and other equipment.
To make your van comfortable and functional, you’ll need specific RV friendly equipment, especially if you’re hoping to go off-grid in your tiny home on wheels.
In this post you’ll find a comprehensive list of all the products and tools you’ll need for building a van.
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Our Van Conversion
When we started to build a van in 2020, we followed a lot of “how to convert a van” videos on YouTube. This was great for the technical “how-to” however, a lot of these videos were from people building a van in the UK or North America, where they had access to a lot of different products than we have in Australia.
We found it tricky finding the best products here in Australia, and spent HOURS researching on the internet. If only we’d be able to find a comprehensive list of everything we needed!
Since we’ve completed our built and been living in our van for the last 3 years, travelling Australia, we get so many questions about the different products we used in our van build. We have put together this list of Van Build Must-have Products and hope it helps you in planning your own campervan conversion.
NOTE: Our van is a 2011 LWB Mercedes Sprinter. There are a couple of items on this list which are made specifically for this shape van, and these will be noted in the list. All other items can be used for any type of van conversion.
Electrical
We wanted an electrical system that was simple and reliable, so we went with Enerdrive. Enerdrive have a series of pre-wired boards, we chose the “E Board” and we simply had to connect everything up. We are set up to charge the 200Ah Lithium battery from Solar panels on the roof, from the alternator while driving, or from a 240v shore power hook-up if required. We have a 2000 watt inverter that powers our kitchen appliances and charges our computers and cameras.
- Pre-wired Electric Board with DC2DC charger, 40Ah AC charger and Battery monitor
- 200Ah Lithium Battery
- 2000 watt Inverter with cable pack
- 2 x 190W solar panels *
- Double USB Charge point
- 4mm Twin Core wire x 100m (for 12v)
- 2.5mm twin and earth and corrugated conduit x 20m for 240V wiring
- 2 x double pole double power points
- Rocker switches for lights/water pump/fridge
- Assorted Blade Fuse Pack
*We actually have 2 x 120 and 1 x 130 watt solar panels on our roof, however, these have been superceded. The Enerdrive 190W panels listed are the same size as ours, and you’ll only need 2 panels to get the same amount of power coming in!
Kitchen
Our kitchen needed to be functional above all else. We love to cook, and we didn’t want to feel like we were cooking on a camp stove, and digging through an esky to find food. So a proper stove (with oven) and an upright fridge were “must-haves” on our list.
Being able to look at a different beautiful view every day while cooking is one of our favourite things about vanlife.
- Bushman 130 L upright fridge
- Thetford Triplex 3 burner stove with oven
- Clark Monaco Sink (with strainer and chopping board)
- Stainless Steel Hot & Cold Mixer Tap
- Drinking water filter and tap
- Brackets for fold-up bench extension
- Mason Jars for under overhead cupboard
- Paper towel holder with ratchet (note: Nigel had to trim this to fit)
- Spice Rack
- Magnetic Knife Rack
- Benchtop – custom built Camphor Laurel wood
Bathroom
There’s a few schools of thought about putting an actual bathroom into a van build. Some people think it takes up too much room, and if they have a toilet, they stow it under the bed or in a separate cupboard.
We always wanted the luxury of a separate bathroom as we do like to wild camp and go off-grid as much as possible. We certainly don’t regret including an actual bathroom in our build.
*The Airhead Composting toilet is not currently distributed in Australia. You can order direct from the USA. Many van-lifers chose the similar Nature’s Head composting toilet.
Plumbing
We knew we wanted hot and cold running water in the van, as we are living in it full-time. Our kitchen sink and internal shower both have hot and cold water and we have a cold water outside shower. We also wanted our hot water “on demand” – we didn’t want to wait 20 minutes for water to heat before we could have a shower.
We have fresh water and grey water tanks under the van, and we can usually go 3-4 days before needing to fill up our water tank. Our tanks are from Atlas Tanks, who have a range to fit various different vans
- 110 Litre fresh water tank
- 86 litre grey water tank
- Shurflo 12V water pump
- Suburban Nautilus Gas Hot Water system
- Hot Water system vent
- Hot Water system control centre
- Water tank level gauge
- Water tank level probe (x 2)
- Water inlet pressure regulator
- Pipes and fittings – John Guest
- Kitchen Waste Trap
- Shower Waste Valve – HepvO
- Grey water hose (25mm)
- GAS box – external access for 2 bottles
Appliances and Fittings
These are the appliances and fittings we put into the van that make it a lot more comfortable to live in. After all, its our home!
- Maxx Air Fan Deluxe with Remote (x 2)
- Insulated Maxx Fan Covers (disc code nas_adventures)
- Swivel table mount
- Passenger Seat Swivel Base
- Chinese Diesel Heater
- Sirrocco Fans (x 2)
- Bedside light with USB charger (x 2)
- Awning Fiamma F80s 4m
- Insulated window covers (disc code nas_adventures)
- Door and Window magnetic fly/bug screens (disc code nas_adventures)
Building
There were so many products and items we used during the build, from timber, to screws, to paint and consumables like sikaflex. We’ve attempted to list and link most of the products, and have divided this section into the various build stages.
Floor
- Subfloor – 17mm ply 2400 x 1200m sheets
- Under floor insulation – reflectix roll
- Garage flooring – Grey checkerplate rubber sheet
- Living area flooring – wood look vinyl sheet
Walls and Ceiling
- Sound Deadener – FatMat Roll
- Insulation – 25mm foil board
- Insulation – Polymax Polyester batts
- Ceiling battens – 42 x 19 pine
- Ceiling planks – 4.8m tongue and groove planks from local timber shop
- Wall battens – 19m ply cut to size
- Wall panels – 9mm v groove 2400 x 1200 panels
- Cabot’s water based wood stain – Boxwood
- Paint for Walls – Taubmans low sheen Whisper White
Windows
We fitted 3 windows to the van, all of them being sliding windows with fly screens. However, this is one thing we would change if we were to build our van again. The sliding windows let rain in, so we have to keep them closed when it’s raining. In hindsight we would have been much better off fitting pop-out caravan style windows
These are what we would recommend now:
- Bedside windows 762mm x 280mm
- Lounge area window 762mm x 450mm
Cabinetry
Most of our cabinetry was from Ikea – some of the internal cabinets we had to trim to retro-fit to the curved walls of the van. The cabinet doors we used were “Savedal” which have been discontinued.
- Pull out pantry unit (door not included)
- Wine rack unit (door not included) we trimmed this down to be a single shelf unit
- Under bed 3 drawer chest base unit (40 x 37 x 80cm)
- 2 x Maximera drawers low (40 x 37cm)
- 1 x Maximera drawer medium (40 x 37cm)
- Sliders for under bed chest of drawers (to make it slide side-to-side)
- Ottoman for bed step/laundry hamper (fits under the drawers)
- RV Labs drawer latches
What’s next?
Check out our 19 Essential vanlife hacks, or watch our complete Van Tour video
Thanks for sharing. Very helpful as I am now thinking of doing the campervan conversion myself. Still thinking if I should get a pro to do it for me.
Hi Patrick, glad you enjoyed the article. We will have a few more posts up soon with more of a step-by-step to building your own van, to go along with our YouTube video series (which is incomplete due to loss of footage in a hard drive failure). We didn’t have any experience, but learned a lot from reading blogs and watching YouTube. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Nigel and Sue
This is beyond awesome, a massive timesaver for me if I do indeed go the vanlife conversion which looks more and more likely.
Thanks Gav! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Hi Nigel & Sue,
First of all luv your info and video’s, we have been fans for a little while now and shortly will be looking to source a van.
A big decider for us is whether to attempt the conversion ourself or not?
As I have basic DIY skills I’m reluctant to try this myself. From your point of view the time you invested to the final product, was the saving significant or would you have preferred to source a contractor to complete?
Hi Paul and Bee,
Yes, that’s a good question. We knew we wanted to do the conversion ourselves, and saw it as our “lockdown project”. I think the saving was quite significant. Another issue to consider is the backlog that all the good van builders have. You wouldn’t necessarily save time having someone else do it as you’d have to wait to song for them to start!
Nigel and Sue
Hi Nigel & Sue,
Firstly, we’ve watched many of your video’s and you are both inspiring – delighted to see you both living your best lives!
We’ve been house sitting in Australia, and thought of getting a SLWB Toyota Hiace pop-top to stay ‘in-between’ house sits. It is the biggest vehicle that my wife would be happy driving, and it’s Toyota, so we would be hoping it would be reliable. We were thinking we would need an air conditioning unit, being in Aussie temperatures – but I don’t see one on your list? How did you survive the heat?
Cheers, Richard & Denise
Hi Richard and Denise,
No we didn’t have an aircon in our Australian Van and we don’t have one in our European van either (I mean, obviously we had the one for the cockpit while we are driving!). We found that if we followed the seasons (north for winter, south for summer) we barely needed it. Also, you’d need to be plugged in at a campsite to use it, unless you have a super large battery bank and a 3000W inverter. We figured if it ever got too nasty hot we’d just stay in a cheap motel which would probably work out cheaper! Hope that helps, glad you’re enjoying the videos!
Sue (and Nigel!)
Hello!
Good cheer to all on this beautiful day!!!!!
Good luck 🙂
thanks!! and to you too
Hello.
Good cheer to all on this beautiful day!!!!!
Good luck 🙂
Loving watching your video adventure and van build. I’m learning lots.
I have just purchased an LDV and wanting to fit a Fiama awning on it but it does not have a roof rack. I notice you don”t either yet you were able to fit a fiama awning. Will it just fit on the lip rail that runs along the top of the Van? Do i need to drill holes in the roof?
I’ve googled these questions and cannot find an answer.
Thoughts?
Hi Linda,
Yes, we used special brackets that you can buy as an add-on to the awning. Ours were specifically for a Sprinter Van, I’m not sure if they do them for LDV. The Sprinter has holes already there, where you would attach a roof rack. Maybe look on the Fiamma website – they had specific instructions on their site for a Sprinter. Hope that helps!