ABOUT JIM'S VANS

I built my first truck camper way back in 1973. It was a pop-up for a Datsun pickup – later to be known as Nissan. Over the years, I’ve built camping systems for pickup shells and converted a couple of cargo trailers into “toy haulers”. Back in 2014 I built the “Otter” 2012 Transit Connect pictured above and I was hooked on the fun and challenge of building adventure vans.

Since then I’ve built vans on both the Promaster and Transit platforms. I’ve found that I love traveling and building vans just about equally. Now that I’m retired I usually have a finished van that I’m traveling in and another van (or two) that I’m building out. Usually when I finish a build, I sell the van that I’ve been driving and “move into” the recently completed one. By doing this, each van that I sell has been thoroughly tested and any issues corrected. Improvements and lessons learned are carried forward into future builds.

Unlike many van builders you may see on YouTube, I’m not an inexperienced builder. Over 50 years in business for myself, my primary function was designer/fabricator. My dad was a builder so by the time I was in high school, I had mastered all the homebuilding trades except air conditioning. During my career I built everything from furniture to trade show exhibits as well as high tech stuff like laser engraver/cutter systems. In my personal life I’ve built two houses from scratch doing 95% of the work myself. I bring all this experience (and a well-equipped shop) to my van building passion.

Now that I’m retired, I no longer do custom van building. I’m enjoying not having the deadlines that I had to deal with in my professional career. When I feel like it, and a van is ready, I’ll sell it. If you’re interested in one of my current projects, let me know and we can talk about approximate finish date and price. I’m also not too big on doing YouTube videos other than tours of the finished projects. If you’re interested, please use the contact form to get in touch.