Stealth Campervan or Full VW Conversion?

 

Before I plan the interior, I need to consider the finished campervan’s exterior, as that will also dictate the layout to some degree.

And to plan the exterior, I need to consider how I intend to use the van after it’s been converted. Since I may want to ‘sleep for free’ from time to time when I’m travelling through Europe in it – ie possibly in car parks or other quiet off road areas not necessarily designated as campgrounds – I don’t want my campervan to attract any unwanted attention during those times.

I need the campervan to be as inconspicuous (or as inconspicuous as a large white VW van ever could be), which means implementing as few external modifications as I can get away with.

Ultimately, I reckon if I throw a large dollop of creativity at the interior modifications, I won’t have to sacrifice much comfort by leaving the outside of the van well alone.

In addition, not only will free up more cash to put toward improving the interior, it should save me a few quid after the build, too. Possibly enough to pay the fines for camping in prohibited areas…

So, stealth camper it is then.

But what are YOUR thoughts on this?

Do you feel this is the right decision?

 

What would you choose and why?

 

The Project

The aim of this project is to convert my VW T4 Transporter Panel Van into a campervan. The campervan must be comfortable enough to live in not just for weekends, but for prolonged periods of time – possibly months, if not longer.

This VW campervan conversion has to be done on a budget, but not to the point of sacrificing reliability or too much comfort for the sake of saving a few beans. To keep costs to a minimum, I will be doing the majority, if not all, of the work myself.

This will to include a heck of a lot of research into finding the best value products on the market and considering how best to incorporate them in my van conversion. I dare say it’ll have to involve a spot of creative thinking, too…

Each bit of progress and all discoveries, successes and failures will be recorded on this website in the hope of helping others who plans to undertake a similar campervan conversion project.