The Vanagon Renovation
Late last summer, I bought a Vanagon from a guy in Santa Cruz. I had been looking for one for several years, but hadn’t found anything that was a good fit. I was looking for something mostly mechanically sound (as I’m no mechanic), and something that was ready to be renovated. The Vanagon I found was mechanically sound, and someone had recently started a renovation. He was moving out of the area and couldn’t take it with him, so he was unloading it. That’s when I bought her, and named her Poppy.
When I say that someone had recently started a renovation, let me show you what I mean. Here’s what you’re looking at.
There was no back seat, no storage, no seatbelts. Nothing. The guy had made siding out of furniture backing (basically thick cardboard) and painted it sea-foam green. The top was a 1/4” sheet of plywood screwed into 2x4 strips glued to the top of the van. He had installed a solar panel, and added a switch to the wall for two ceiling lights. He had attached a marine battery for the solar panel, with an inverter for power. In the back was two wall mounted lights that were wired incorrectly and didn’t work. The curtains were just some fabric cut and sewn to be curtains, and curtain rods were dow rods. The flooring was new, but cut pretty poorly (as you may be able to tell from the photo).
One of the first things I began to do was gather parts. Immediately, I wanted to find a back seat. I hit up a Vanagon junkyard a friend told me about and sure enough, was able to grab a back seat and frame.
It was a junkyard, and these seats were pretty disgusting. But we were able to get them cleaned up, and the frame spray-painted black so it would look nice. Our intent was to wrap the seats and hand-sew on a Baja blanket on-theme with California poppy yellow as our color. That of course, would come a little later.
Next up was to remove everything. Once the panels and ceiling were removed, the mess of the electrical system was exposed. The guy before had done some insulation, which was good to see. But all of that electrical work would need to be redone. Rather than jump on this, I went ahead to the next project. I took the van to a little welding shop here in San Jose and had some cross bars welded into the ceiling.
With the cross bars in, I was ready to get to the fun part. Let me start by saying that I’m a photographer / videographer, and buying this van had two purposes. First, it was to be a photo prop for the commercial shoots I do. I wanted to create a look that would photograph well, be light and airy, and work for storytelling leather goods, boots, fashion, flats, tourism, landscapes, portraits, and other photography work I do. Second, I wanted something that felt good to be in - something I could take my family and friends somewhere that would feel relaxing, inspirational, and fun.
My design was to shiplap the entire interior, add a cabinet, and paint it all white. Shiplap is very light and thin, so I wasn’t too worried about making the van too heavy. I would also rewire the van to make sense, add outlets, and make it functional for both photography and adventure. With this vision, we got to work on the interior to make it awesome.
One of the most fun things about this renovation has been involving the family. Everyone helped out, especially with the painting. We went with a fairly glossy and easy to clean shade of white. It took four coats total to get this thing done.
Once it was all painted, it really began to shine. We got the seats covered and sewn using a large needle and butchers twine, and it honestly worked great. I also ordered custom foam to build the bed. All of that got installed and the van really began to become what I had envisioned. A few other things that were done in this phase was removing all of the old window tint, spray painting the bumper and grill to a matte black, and adding storage under the seat and a center console in the front. We also strung some fairy lights around the van interior for softer lighting at night.
Since this isn’t a popup tent Westfalia, I mounted my Thule tent for a camping trip with some friends. I also use the racks for surfboards when we hit the beach.
This Vanagon has been a joy to adventure with, and I’m excited that it’s just the beginning. Don’t get me wrong - this past year has been a lot of learning and frustration as well. In the past year I’ve had to replace an o-ring that cracked and exploded oil out of the back and all over the cars behind me on the 101. I’ve had to replace a dry-rotted fuel line that was leaking gasoline all over the driveway when I started the van up. That was terrifying. I’ve replaced the window regulator in the passenger door. I had to replace the ignition switch because my original key broke off inside the other one and broke it. All these little things. I’m thankful for the community I’ve found, which have been super helpful. And I’m thankful for the team at GoWesty.
I’ve got a quick video tour from somewhere in the middle of this initial renovation, if you’d like to watch! In the video, I share some more details and video of the van interior. Enjoy a few commercial shots of the van, and the video below!
