Our DIY Sprinter Conversion: 26 Steps from Planning to Build Out

We did our own Sprinter van conversion! But it was a process of driving, planning, starting, doing, and testing.

There was a lot to do, as we wanted to make it with everything we needed to travel in. And you might wonder about what’s involved.

So I’m sharing what we did before and during the build-out in 26 steps. You might get ideas for your own.

DIY Camper Van Conversion Full Process

Okay, the first step was to find the right van, and I discussed that in my other blog post. Note that this wasn’t a linear process. 

We had to go back to certain steps to fix and test things. Things don’t always go as planned.

1. Drive around in the van.

We drove around in our van before the build-out. Before even starting the conversion, we took it on a couple day trips. 

We wanted to gauge the room and get used to the size. Before buying the van, we already had a good idea. 

We took it to the beach for the weekend. For this kind of trip, all we’d need is a little storage and seating area, maybe a bed. 

But to travel or live in, we’d need more—a sink and bathroom perhaps. 

Stay overnight somewhere if you can. We did this and it gave us a better idea of what we wanted for our conversion.

2. Decide what we want inside.

Once we used the van, we knew what we really wanted in it. We already had a good idea when searching for a van to convert.

Now we knew we wanted a bathroom, shower, and kitchen area. But where would these things go? Should we put the bed in the back, or towards the front?

These were things that’d take up room. We could save room by making an outdoor shower or using the ones at campgrounds and truck stops.

But we decided that if we did dispersed camping, then we’d ideally want one inside. We’d also need our own water and power.

When staying at campgrounds and RV parks, there’s usually access to hookups. But we thought about either getting a solar system or generator. And how much power would we need?

There were so many things to think about. But for sure, we didn’t want to weigh down the van. 

We saw how people were using wood and tile in their vans. This would weigh it down, so we decided to go with aluminum and other materials instead.

3. Research where to get materials.

The next step was to research the materials and supplies. Yes, do this before the budget so you know what things cost.

We had to find out where to get them at the best prices. The components had to be the best, which would be marine grade. 

With everything, you can find expensive options and cheaper ones. Which ones do you want in your van?

While the cheaper items will save you money, you have to wonder about the quality and how long they’ll last. And we wanted quality.

For example, when searching for water heaters, we saw expensive ones and cheap ones. And we looked at the difference between diesel and electrical heaters.

They had different types, and the prices varied. And the price may sway you to go toward one type over another.

4. Make a rough budget.

After we did our research and narrowed down the price differences, we made a rough budget. I call ours a rough budget because it was mainly a list of the costs involved.

We had to decide how much we were willing to spend on these things. You might have a set budget in the very beginning.

We knew what so many yards or units of materials would cost. But we needed to make a budget with the highest priced items to the cheapest. 

For example, when we looked at the different water heaters, there were cheaper and more expensive ones. The price difference between them was $2,000!

5. Make a layout or floor plan.

After deciding on materials, we had to make a floor plan. We had a good idea about how much space these items might take up. 

This part took a long time because there are so many layout options, and there’s no perfect layout. 

Some of the camper van builds you see online might look beautiful in pictures. That doesn’t mean they’ll be functional for your use.

We had to think about the best places to put the larger items such as the bed, sink, and shower. 

Did we want the bed hot dog style (long) or hamburger style (wide)? The Sprinter is not a wide van, and we’re tall. 

Although sleeping width-wise would save us room, we’d need a pop-out on the sides.

6. Make a water management plan.

The water management was a big factor that determined our floor plan. While you make a layout, you’ll have to think about the water system.

If you don’t plan to have a sink or shower in your van, you need not worry. But we had to think about storing water, carrying it, and expelling it.

We decided on a freshwater tank and grey water tank. We also thought about a water purifier system, as we saw other people with this in their van conversions.

But we put that on the back burner and focused on the water tanks. The next decision was to decide if it’ll be indoors or out.

When we looked at van builds in person, we saw some with water tanks inside. While the water would warm up faster, it would take up room. 

If we put the tanks underneath, if there’s a leak, water wouldn’t ruin the inside of the van. 

7. Make electrical schematics.

Another major thing to plan out is the electrical system. We made a concept of where we’d put the batteries, solar system, lights, and plugs.

You’ll need to know where you plan to put large items like the refrigerator. For the outlets, you’ll need to run cables.

Would you like to be able to charge our phones and accessories? We wanted outlets and USB plug-ins. 

We also had to think about security cameras, light bars, and other things you may want. Sure, the original van already had interior lighting, but it wasn’t enough for our needs.

8. Start ordering materials.

Before and while working on the van, you’ll need to order materials. They won’t all be available at your local home improvement store.

You’ll want to check the lead times on larger items such as the diesel heater, solar panels, and refrigerator. Some of these took weeks or months to deliver.

You don’t want to start your van build and have to wait a long time for some parts to come in. So, planning ahead was crucial. 

If you’re okay with waiting around, then you don’t have to worry about it. But when we’re in the trenches trying to finish a job, we’d like to have our materials ready.

9. Strip down the van.

If you’re going to do a complete van build-up, you might strip down the van. This means taking out all the extra stuff down to the bare walls.

When we bought our van, it was previously owned by a contractor. It had passenger seats, tons of shelves, and a lift gate in the back.

We didn’t need these things, but we considered keeping the extra seats. After going back and forth, we removed them because they took up so much room.

You might buy your van without all these extras, so you won’t have anything to worry about. But, this took some hours to get all this stuff out.

10. Put in the new floor.

Our van came with a floor, a thick industrial, automotive wood floor. They refer to these as phenolic panels or multiplex panels.

So, we removed the floor down to the sheet metal. Then we added Styrofoam insulation, as a cargo van won’t come with any. 

After adding the automotive wood floor back, we added more wood on top of it. This was so it would be thick enough to screw the benches, furniture, and fixtures through.

11. Do the dirty work, cutting.

Now it was time for the dirty work. We call it this because this involves cutting out everything. 

So, we had to make cutouts to install the windows and ceiling fan. We also had to make cutouts for cables and wiring.

We decided to add four big windows in our van, because I like the natural light. Then we installed an exhaust fan on the top. 

12. Make the frame.

The next thing we had to do was make a skeleton or frame. You’ll need something solid enough to screw your furniture and fixtures to, besides the floor.

Without the frame, we couldn’t bolt down the shower, sink, etc. And we didn’t want stuff flying around while on the road.

Many people converting vans make their frames out of wood, but we used aluminum. It’s more lightweight and worked very well.

In this picture, you’ll see the insulation in the walls, but I’ll get to that later. 

13. Run electrical wires.

We routed the electrical wires from the power source. You’ll have to run wires to the thing that needs the power. 

This included the solar system, lights, USB outlets, ceiling fan, security cameras, speakers, etc. That’s why it’s important to plan this, as adding electrical outlets later will be a headache.

We left more slack in the wire so it wouldn’t be too short. And if you think you might change your mind later, you can run some extra lines.

You’ll want to test your outlets and electrical sources to make sure there’s juice running through the wires. 

14. Run water lines and install tanks.

We ran the water lines and installed the water tanks. Again, we had the fresh water and gray water tanks under the van. 

We had to run fresh water lines to the sink and shower. And we had to have lines drain the water into the grey water tank.

What about the toilet? Well, we went with a dry flush model, so there’s no emptying it with sewage lines.

At this point, you can test it out some. But it was easier once the shower and sink were installed.

15. Install the insulation.

We used insulation in our van build, and it does help regulate the temperature. I know some people don’t like to use it.

We stuffed it in the hollow spaces in the walls of the van. On the ceiling, we added some paneling.

16. Put in the walls and ceiling.

The walls and ceiling were made of 1/4 inch (0.25-inch) plywood. Of course, we had to make the cutouts for the windows, like before.

Then we glued automotive fabric over them. Now, this part was done twice because we used one material at first.

We changed our minds about the fabric and found another we liked better. So, the original had to be stripped off, which was bothersome. But we like the second one so much better.

We also made trim that ran around the windows that I sewed. This took a while to cut all the pieces and fit them.

When putting in the walls, you’ll want to be careful not to pinch any cables. And you want to make sure everything is tight in the walls and ceiling, so you won’t get rattling noises when you drive.

17. Finish the floor.

We finished the floor by gluing PVC flooring on top of the wood. It came from a home improvement store, and some people like to use laminate instead.

I really like the floor we chose, as it’s nice to walk on and easy to clean.

18. Install furniture and fixtures.

Then we installed the furniture and fixtures. At this point, we felt like the van conversion was almost ready. 

The benches housed the power system and doubled as convertible beds. The shower, sink, and storage cabinets on the bottom and top were put in.

I’ll note that our toilet was installed along with the shower. It’s in a little cabinet that pulls out into the shower area. 

When not in use, it rolls back into the front cabinet. This really saved us space.

19. Hook up the sink and shower.

After installing the sink and shower, we hooked them up to those lines we ran earlier. So, we had the fresh water and grey water.

We tested them out to make sure there weren’t any leaks. This was done by actually taking a shower and using the sink. 

Make sure the water works and drains where they’re supposed to. You’ll want to fix any issues now before going any further. 

20. Test the power.

All the lights and furniture had been installed, so we tested the power again. We had tested the lights early on just by flipping them on.

But you’ll want to test again to make sure no wires got pinched along the way. Make sure your power system is good and working like it should.

For us, this included the solar system too.

21. Build up the center console.

So, we decided at this point that we wanted to upgrade the center console. We wanted a place to lay our phones and make it into a charging station.

The original van didn’t have anything there, so we had to build it up with more outlets.

22. Do the exterior job.

You can get fancy and make your van the way you want it on the outside. We wrapped parts of the van with foil.

We also added tint and a foil to the window to prevent break-ins. 

23. Add optional additions.

You might want to add on to the outside like we did. We have a roof rack, traction boards, storage boxes, outdoor cooking table, and a roll-in awning. 

Some of these things we added while doing the inside job. For example, the security cameras and solar panels had to go on earlier.

We add more when we think of things we want to have.

24. Make the camper van cushions.

Towards the end of the van conversion, I made some DIY bench cushions for our convertible bed. 

I explain how I did that in another blog post, which was a feat of its own. I know how to sew, but they took a lot of time.

25. Do the suspension.

Since we had the 4-wheel drive, we considered having better suspension. We added a lot of weight doing this camper van build-out.

So, by the time we finished, the van sat lower. Raising the suspension was a good idea so the van wouldn’t hang down.

26. Do continual improvements.

As we go on more road trips, we think about new things to add to the van. For example, we changed the doorknob to the bathroom and did other small upgrades.

You’ll find that once you travel, you’ll want to add or change little things here and there. But overall, the van was done, and we’re proud of the hard work!

Additional Notes

The planning took a while, and the build-out took over six months total. This was working on it in the evenings and weekends, with mistakes and re-dos. 

It was helpful to watch videos on how other people did their van conversions. There are so many out there.

Our goal was to have open space and not feel cramped. We didn’t necessarily need it to look all luxurious inside with mahogany and leather.

When buying materials for your van, don’t just buy them because they look cool. Make sure they will fit and will be functional for your build. 

We ended up buying two toilets because of this, and wasted money. Yeah, we couldn’t return the other.

Remember, you can make your van as elaborate or as minimal as you desire. This is how we did ours, and there are many different ways to do it. 

Final Thoughts

The whole process of doing our camper van conversion took time and a lot of work. But, after doing it, we had a new appreciation for our Sprinter.

At the end, we’re so happy with our build-out. It’s exactly the way we want it, and we enjoy taking it on van camping adventures! 

More About Travel

I have more posts about van life on my blog. You might want to check them out.

• You’ll also want to check out how we found the right van to convert into our camper van.

• Would you like some van travel tips based on our experiences on the road?

• We stayed at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground for our first van camping trip. Find out what happened to us!

I’d love to hear all about your travel adventures!

Originally published: July 10, 2025