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Today Nick at Van Builder HQ is giving a tour of his Shop (Odyssey Custom Vans) where he builds his Camper Van Conversions. Tune in and let us know what you think.
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0:00
[Music]
0:03
hey nick here with odyssey custom vans
0:05
and welcome to the shop i'm going to
0:06
show you around and also show you a
0:08
little bit about what i'm working on
0:10
today
0:11
here at odyssey custom vans we are
0:12
working on two vans specifically we have
0:16
two
0:16
brand new
0:18
ford transit
0:19
all-wheel drive high roof
0:22
and these are the the regular link
0:24
they're not the extended
0:26
and what i'm going to do is i'm going to
0:27
walk you through both of them just so
0:29
you know a little bit about the vans
0:31
first and then we'll talk about details
0:33
on the inside how we up fit them and
0:36
then our plans for these actual two fans
0:38
okay we've got the camera off the tripod
0:40
i'm gonna move the light around just so
0:42
you guys can see a little bit better but
0:44
the van that i'm showing you first this
0:46
is the ford transit 2020. this one
0:49
almost has a 100 miles on it
0:52
and this is the one that we purchased
0:55
from minerva ohio this is where we got
0:58
this one i'm not going to move the
1:00
ladder because
1:02
i'm going to show you guys up on the
1:02
roof here in just a second
1:06
and let me get the keys
1:09
[Music]
1:10
2020.
1:14
the reason i'm working on this one first
1:16
is this is the
1:17
2020 model year so we want to get that
1:19
completed this year the one behind me is
1:21
the 2021. we'll talk about that one in
1:23
just a second but
1:25
this van right here it's almost like a
1:26
unicorn van because
1:28
not only is it new
1:30
but this is a 350 chassis
1:33
and
1:34
if you guys didn't know in 2020
1:38
the all-wheel drive system on the ford
1:40
transits were only available on the 350
1:43
chassis so that's why
1:45
this year has the all-wheel drive
1:48
and it's a 350.
1:50
even more rare this has
1:53
the ecoboost engine which is the
1:55
turbocharged engine so a lot of power
1:58
especially when you load it up but the
1:59
350 chassis weight ratings you're going
2:01
to be able to load this thing up really
2:02
nice and i have to worry about
2:04
being overweight or getting over your
2:06
gross weight
2:08
now
2:09
a couple things in this van this is a
2:11
premium trim on this van so i'm gonna go
2:13
ahead and unlock it come over here jamie
2:17
so if you guys look in here let me get
2:19
the t-shirt off the seat
2:24
we have black leather seat so this is a
2:27
rare trim in this van we got the big
2:30
screen up here for the reversing cam so
2:32
this is the biggest screen you can get
2:34
in a ford transit
2:36
so everything in this front part is very
2:39
luxurious
2:40
and that's the exact type of build that
2:43
we're doing on this van so since this
2:45
van is is so nice trim wise we've
2:48
decided to make this a spec build
2:52
for the company
2:53
and to do that we're using adventure
2:56
wagons interior
2:58
kit
3:03
so show you a little bit about the
3:04
inside of the van
3:06
what's so nice about the high roofs as
3:09
opposed to the mid roofs
3:10
is i'm six feet high
3:13
or tall
3:14
and you've got
3:16
an extreme amount of room
3:19
and if you're in a mid-roof
3:21
you can walk into this van
3:23
and you can stand up in it but there's a
3:24
lot of things you've got to take into
3:26
consideration you have the added
3:29
height
3:30
or the removal of height by the floor
3:32
system that you're going to put in the
3:33
van so depending on if you want to have
3:36
one inch foam insulation your half inch
3:39
plywood
3:40
laminate or
3:42
vinyl for your flooring
3:44
that's all taking away your your height
3:47
from the top of the van so you need to
3:48
have that in consideration also how much
3:51
insulation are going to put into the top
3:53
of the van
3:55
now this adventure wagon kit i've got a
3:57
couple of the components here what's
4:00
really nice about it
4:01
is
4:04
this company is super professional
4:05
customer service getting back to you any
4:08
type of questions you have
4:09
uh
4:11
true maybe explain
4:12
where these go yeah get into that so
4:15
this company true professionals and you
4:17
can really see it in the quality of
4:18
these products so i'm really excited to
4:20
install this this system
4:22
should take on average about four to
4:24
five days to install so it is a pretty
4:27
in-depth install but in the future you
4:29
guys will see that in coming videos
4:32
but i just wanted to move some stuff
4:33
around so you guys can see the beauty of
4:35
buying this
4:37
essentially interior kit in a box
4:40
is they do something special with the
4:41
rear of the van you can when you buy the
4:44
kit you can request it is an additional
4:46
charge but you can request to have the
4:48
thermoformed plastic bump outs
4:50
so if you don't know a bump out is
4:52
if you go in the back of the van here
4:56
you'll see that
4:58
the the van actually bumps out and
5:00
you'll have this cavity right here
5:02
so
5:03
if you use this in a ford transit
5:07
you're able to
5:09
sleep sideways and i had the same type
5:12
of setup in i don't have the adventure
5:14
wagon in my van but in my personal van
5:17
i've
5:18
holstered these two sides and that
5:20
allows me to
5:21
sleep
5:22
i'm six feet tall and i can sleep
5:25
sideways
5:26
you know perfectly fine
5:29
okay we're back on the tripod here
5:31
talking about bump outs on the bump outs
5:34
what you can do on a ford transit
5:36
is you can sleep sideways
5:38
there is a company
5:40
that's called flare space
5:42
and you get even more if you wanted to
5:43
fit like a normal queen instead of like
5:46
a queen short or rv queen type of thing
5:49
i found that with the bump outs and the
5:52
mattress size that we use somebody
5:54
that's six foot tall can sleep
5:56
comfortably sideways
5:58
again flare space makes it to where you
6:00
can actually cut these panels out
6:03
which is a little invasive some people
6:04
might not be comfortable with that
6:06
that's why going with
6:08
a solution like adventure wagon has
6:10
with a thermoformed plastic you're
6:12
getting the best of both worlds you're
6:14
not having to cut this
6:15
but you're getting the space to be able
6:17
to put your mattress and sleep inside
6:20
that's the plan for this van there's a
6:22
lot of other components that i'll show
6:23
you guys in a future video but let's get
6:26
back to talking about the van
6:28
ford transit 350
6:30
high roof this is the non-extended so
6:33
it's really comfortable to drive around
6:36
you don't have it doesn't feel like an
6:38
rv you can fit this in a normal parking
6:40
space let's see where else to go we'll
6:42
go to
6:44
let's go to the roof we can talk about
6:46
that now all right i'm gonna hop back in
6:48
here and i'm gonna show you guys or try
6:50
to explain
6:54
we just cleaned up the shop so that's
6:55
why all this stuff is in here when we go
6:57
to van number two i'll show you that
6:59
actually has a taped out layout it's
7:01
kind of like a mock-up
7:03
anyway
7:04
this one we're going to do more of a
7:05
classic van interior so we have a fixed
7:09
bed platform that we're putting in the
7:10
back
7:12
and then
7:14
here we're going to have a kitchen
7:15
galley we're going to have a
7:17
isotherm cruise 130 fridge
7:20
that's the big fridge huge huge fridge
7:23
that's going to be over here on the
7:24
right it's a 12 volt fridge
7:26
and then we'll have drawers
7:29
cabinets cabinet door for the sink area
7:31
and then we'll have an induction stove
7:34
that's all going to be there
7:35
moving further back you're going to have
7:37
your water tank
7:39
this one since this is more of the
7:41
premium build out
7:42
we're probably going to do a 32 gallon
7:44
tank
7:46
and that way you don't have to use 32
7:48
gallons but it's there if you really
7:50
wanted to go off a grid and stay out for
7:52
a while paired with that
7:54
on the left hand side over here on the
7:56
second or the other wheel well we're
7:57
going to be doing a 300 amp hour lithium
8:00
battery system
8:02
that's going to be that's going to be
8:03
complete with a
8:05
dc to dc charger so
8:07
what the dc to dc charger does is going
8:09
to take your starting battery for your
8:11
engine and your alternator will start
8:13
charge your battery and that will be
8:14
connected to the dc to dc charger which
8:17
will top off your
8:18
lithium batteries
8:20
and then on the roof removing the max
8:22
air fan which is the vent fan for the
8:24
vehicle to get your ventilation we're
8:26
going to be doing that right here
8:27
so on my van i have it in the back
8:30
because i have vents on the front
8:32
windows and that's how i want my airflow
8:33
but on this van we're doing it opposite
8:36
we're going to have rear
8:38
cabin windows and those rear cabin
8:40
windows are going to
8:45
those rear cabin windows are going to be
8:48
open
8:49
and then not only does that help pull
8:51
air from outside over your bed and
8:54
exhausted but when you're cooking inside
8:55
the van
8:57
you'll probably do moisture cooking
8:58
outside but if you are inside it's
9:00
raining
9:01
or you just want to cook something at
9:02
nighttime
9:04
the vent fan is directly over your
9:05
cooking area and you're going to get
9:07
that ventilation too
9:09
so
9:11
that is a
9:13
power system to power your induction
9:15
stove and all this stuff will be broke
9:17
out in future videos so you guys will
9:19
get
9:20
details and we'll be able to answer ask
9:22
questions if you have questions so
9:24
that's the bottom portion and then as
9:26
you come up you're going to have all the
9:28
upholstered panels from adventure wagon
9:31
and
9:32
the number one reason to
9:34
buy adventure wagon or the reason
9:37
somebody that's doing a diy build will
9:39
use an adventure wagon is because
9:42
they're the only company that has this
9:44
internal skeleton that's actually bolted
9:46
into
9:48
the van and why that's so important is a
9:50
lot of people that when they design vans
9:53
they'll just bolt right into the
9:56
structure of the van
9:57
well
9:59
that's not really the best way because
10:02
not every single member that you're
10:03
going to bolt into is structural
10:05
so having that frame
10:07
as your your core skeleton
10:09
allows you to
10:11
bolt different accessories to this
10:13
system
10:14
so if you check out a venture wagon
10:16
you'll know that they have something
10:17
that's called l track which is
10:18
logistical track so that is the same
10:21
thing
10:22
that's on airplanes so if you look when
10:25
you're sitting on an airplane the tracks
10:27
that hold the seats down to the
10:29
structure of the airplane
10:31
same exact thing so what they're doing
10:33
is they're reincorporating that into the
10:35
van so
10:36
it does two things
10:38
not only does it clamp and hold these
10:41
panels into place
10:43
so it's kind of pop it in lock it down
10:45
with a track
10:46
but
10:48
it's functional and it's structural so
10:50
you have a structural element
10:52
an ease of install if you have to access
10:54
one of these panel you can take the
10:55
track off
10:57
but it is a modular system so if you
10:59
want to buy bags you want to buy cabinet
11:02
systems bed systems everything is
11:05
modular and can be connected and
11:07
attached to this track since the track
11:09
is structural
11:10
because we have the frame
11:12
bolted to the van so
11:15
really awesome system i'm really excited
11:17
to install it on this van
11:19
see how it works out and then as we go
11:20
to the very top of the van we're going
11:22
to climb up the ladder here in just a
11:24
second before we move on to van 2
11:26
we have a max air fan
11:28
and our max air fan just come on over
11:31
here
11:33
so here let me point up here
11:35
so right here is where we're going to
11:37
cut a hole in the roof
11:40
and everybody cringes when they cut a
11:42
hole into a brand new fan but
11:44
i've already done that so
11:47
over that
11:48
moving on to
11:49
cutting this out the fan makes a world
11:51
of difference i'm gonna show you what
11:52
the fan looks like right here
11:55
so on this table this is these are
11:57
portions of the adventure wagon kit
11:59
everything's boxed they ship it to you
12:01
on a pallet
12:02
and that pallet weighs about 600 pounds
12:05
so
12:06
it's
12:07
uh
12:08
i'll tell you a bit more about the
12:09
system later but
12:11
this is the fan
12:15
so this is the max fan
12:17
deluxe what makes it deluxe
12:20
is that max man is really cool i like it
12:23
personally better than fantastic fan
12:25
because fantastic fan doesn't have an
12:27
integrated rain shield
12:29
so if you have an old school fantastic
12:31
fan i think the medic makes that if it
12:33
starts raining you have to close the lid
12:35
and you can't pinch your van but max fan
12:38
has it to where there's a rain shield so
12:40
if it rains
12:41
the air comes up under here and you can
12:43
continue to circulate air out of your
12:45
van or in your van
12:47
if you want to it comes with a remote
12:49
control it has an automatic ventilation
12:51
feature to where things like 74 degrees
12:54
it will automatically open up your vent
12:56
fan and exhaust that hot air out of your
12:58
fan even if you're not in the van it's
13:00
just really nice
13:02
so that is part of the system
13:05
we'll be we'll be installing that let's
13:07
see
13:08
if you can come on this side ladder i'm
13:10
going to walk up on this side
13:13
and then that way we can
13:16
talk about the roof
13:18
okay we're on top of the roof
13:21
and the reason why i show you this
13:22
before i get started is there's kind of
13:24
two
13:25
two
13:27
two
13:28
streets of thought on
13:30
scoot
13:32
two schools of thought on
13:34
the roof
13:35
and so
13:36
for this one the designs that i have and
13:39
that i've i've worked out
13:41
still contemplating something i want to
13:42
do it's going to have the fan regardless
13:45
it's going to have solar panels
13:47
that's just going to be up here now how
13:48
those are mounted is another thing
13:51
so
13:52
if you're building your van on your own
13:54
budget is probably your main concern
13:56
so you can buy an extremely expensive
13:58
roof rack that has add-ons modularities
14:01
stuff like that but when you have a high
14:03
roof van like this when you see one in
14:05
real life it's very high so stay up here
14:08
i'm just gonna go down the ladder
14:11
so i'm on the ground
14:13
and then so this is six feet and so
14:16
you've got an additional at least like
14:18
three feet going back up the reason i
14:20
say that is
14:24
accessing the roof
14:25
you're probably not going to do it that
14:27
often i know my van that i have i have
14:29
roof rack solar panels
14:32
i really wouldn't think to load anything
14:34
on top of the van to use that so
14:38
you can go with a roof rack that allows
14:40
you to put like a deck or cross members
14:42
so that you can load luggage and stuff
14:44
like that but just remember
14:46
you have to get up on the roof to put
14:48
the stuff up on there and then you have
14:50
to get all that back off the roof so
14:52
what i try to do is just maximize my
14:54
designs
14:56
your interior garage of the back of the
14:58
van we'll show you that in just a second
15:00
to have as much space as possible
15:03
so you don't have to end up putting
15:04
stuff up on the roof
15:06
because it's just troublesome to access
15:09
plus the real estate is very expensive
15:12
and if you can put
15:13
as much solar as possible on there
15:16
i think that's a better idea so we're
15:19
probably going to do our own in-house
15:21
design of a low profile roof rack using
15:25
80 20
15:27
and a couple of
15:30
manufactured bracket there's a diy vans
15:33
kit
15:33
that we'll probably buy for the the
15:35
place up here other than that you can go
15:37
with a company like flat flatline van
15:39
code they make an exceptional rack you
15:40
can really grow into it you can add
15:42
cross members you can add ladder you can
15:44
add a front fairing all this stuff
15:48
but first we're going to put the fan
15:50
and then we're going to try to fit
15:52
three to 400 watts of solar up here
15:56
and
15:57
yeah so
15:59
now let's show you van number two
16:01
because it's got some painters tape all
16:03
over the place and you might get a
16:04
better visual idea of how that layout's
16:07
to look like
16:09
okay welcome to van number two that we
16:12
have in our shop
16:13
this is a
16:14
brand new 2021 ford transit 350 high
16:18
roof
16:20
non-extended so the exact same
16:22
floor plan
16:24
and
16:25
weight capacity as the van that we just
16:28
showed you it does not have the ecoboost
16:29
engine
16:30
it has the v6 engine
16:32
which is the same engine that i have in
16:34
my van
16:35
it's excellent move it in here
16:39
we have a little bit of a smaller screen
16:41
same screen i have in my personal van
16:43
black seats they're a different leather
16:45
type of trim
16:46
and but this does have the new ford dash
16:49
layout and i really really like it
16:51
because
16:52
they put they've got usb outlets and all
16:54
kinds of stuff up here i'll probably
16:56
show i don't know if you can see that
16:57
detail
16:58
oh it's over there on the driver's side
16:59
jamie
17:01
this one actually has the extended
17:03
mirrors so these are the big mirrors
17:05
with the side markers so that's pretty
17:06
cool the other one has a little bit
17:08
shorter mirror
17:09
so these are the wide mirrors you can
17:11
really see a lot so this has this one
17:13
just has 40 miles on it so this is
17:15
really new
17:17
and up here so see if you can get that
17:20
so you got your usb connection and you
17:22
got a charge port it's so cool you can
17:24
just put your phone right there
17:26
this one
17:28
van builders out there or diys another
17:31
reason you'll love this van is because
17:33
this one has the electronic parking
17:35
brake so
17:37
if you've been in a ford transit before
17:38
there's a big handle parking brake and
17:41
this one has it
17:43
deleted so
17:45
we're gonna go around we'll look at that
17:46
and then we'll get into the layout
17:52
it's okay here
17:54
it's better
17:57
yeah i like it all right so come on over
18:01
here
18:03
all right guys we're going to take this
18:05
camera off the tripod and i'm going to
18:07
show you a couple details i'm going to
18:08
point out
18:11
all right so come with me
18:14
you got nova
18:16
the shop dog
18:18
nova sit
18:19
come on do it for the camera
18:21
all right
18:23
she says
18:24
she thinks we're going in the van
18:27
all right so check this out
18:28
notice how i said the the parking brake
18:30
is deleted look look how much room you
18:33
got here it's it's so nice
18:36
this way you can really tie in your
18:37
flooring it's just much much easier to
18:39
build if i go over here to the other van
18:45
you'll notice that you see that big box
18:46
right there on the left
18:48
so it takes up
18:50
your space kind of going in and out of
18:51
the cabin
18:52
which is not a big deal they do make a
18:54
kit that deletes this bottom portion and
18:57
you can lower it so you can swivel the
18:59
driver's seat
19:01
in this van the driver's seat will not
19:03
swivel that's not part of the design
19:04
layout
19:05
this seat will swivel there'll be a
19:08
upholstered bench here with a lagoon
19:10
table mount that you guys can move
19:12
around
19:14
and then if we go in here
19:17
now we start this is my personal
19:19
favorite layout the kitchen galley is
19:20
here at the door
19:22
so if you guys can imagine this is the
19:24
area where you walk up
19:26
you're in your van
19:28
you're going to have a dinette right
19:29
here where this seat can swivel around
19:31
because we don't have the brake
19:34
i'm going to have a nice window right
19:35
here with vented window
19:39
we'll move around here
19:41
and if you can imagine you're going to
19:43
stand right here
19:45
open the door and besides that big soft
19:47
box right there
19:49
that light you're going to have a nice
19:51
view of the mountains or your campground
19:54
or friends that are out there
19:56
or nova
19:58
and
20:00
right here what i'm going to do is we're
20:02
going to do an isotherm 85 drawer fridge
20:05
so that you can pull it out here
20:08
get stuff to cook with the induction
20:10
there's a couple inches of area where we
20:13
can put the induction cooktop
20:15
and then we can put the
20:17
sink over here that allows you to take
20:19
the faucet turn it around
20:22
and use it outside to rent stuff off
20:25
i didn't mention this in this van
20:28
but
20:29
same
20:30
system back here
20:31
so both of these systems in the back are
20:33
standardized for odyssey custom vans we
20:35
have standardized water system pump
20:38
rear shower
20:40
at the back
20:41
as well as the battery system over here
20:44
so that'll just let you know that there
20:46
is a rear shower i did not mention that
20:48
on this van
20:50
but there is always a rear shower
20:53
hookup connection in the back with
20:55
independent controls for the
20:58
water pump to turn it off and on
21:00
remotely from the rear
21:03
and then
21:05
so this is your kitchen galley there'll
21:07
be a little door compartment right here
21:10
and
21:11
we'll talk about this probably in a
21:13
future video about winterization under
21:16
mount tanks great gray water tanks
21:19
but in these two vans you're they're
21:21
more geared towards inclement weather
21:24
snow that type of stuff
21:27
so that if you do want to go up in the
21:28
mountains skiing snowboarding are just
21:31
winter camping in the snow which is so
21:33
awesome
21:35
there's going to be gray water tank
21:37
access on the interior so there'll be
21:39
jugs probably like 7 gallon jerry can so
21:43
maybe two of them that way you can get
21:45
at least 14 gallons of gray water
21:47
storage that way you're not having to
21:49
worry about undermount tanks freezing
21:51
that sort of thing it's really the
21:53
simplest solution
21:55
and it's what i use on my van
21:57
if i go over here on the right hand side
22:01
this layout gives us
22:03
incredible options as far as
22:06
how deep you want to go into the van
22:08
build
22:10
you have your there's going to be a seat
22:13
here
22:14
and then this space is left open so that
22:17
when this swivels you have a little
22:19
dinette area with lagoon mount as well
22:22
but over here
22:25
the possibility of an indoor shower
22:29
we have room for that
22:31
so this can be adjusted to
22:33
include the indoor shower and the ones
22:35
that we source are an all in one unit so
22:39
all welded aluminum they're really nice
22:42
but need some thought ahead of time if
22:45
you do want to integrate that i do leave
22:47
spaces in these design layouts so that
22:49
if you wanted to opt in for an indoor
22:51
shower you can
22:53
so it could be over here and then in
22:55
this layout
23:00
over here would be the actual area for
23:04
the indoor shower on here because we can
23:05
move the fridge over keep the kitchen
23:08
just like that and then allow this to
23:10
still be the dinette area
23:15
this one is going to give you a good
23:16
visualization of the bed height this
23:19
line is going to be the bottom of the
23:20
bed so if you can imagine this is how
23:24
much height you have in both vans for
23:27
rear storage
23:28
and that is taking into account mountain
23:30
bikes if you want to store your mountain
23:32
bike inside the van so it's more safe
23:35
don't have to worry about it getting
23:36
taken off if you've got a bike rack on
23:37
the back that sort of thing
23:39
i will let you guys know this is the
23:41
garage we call it the garage
23:45
because it's kind of like your garage
23:47
like you would have at home except this
23:48
one is designed to put
23:50
bikes in you have a ton of storage so
23:53
really
23:54
don't worry about
23:56
feeling like not having a
23:58
full roof rack with cargo boxes and all
24:01
that stuff is going to
24:03
hinder you from storage i don't have the
24:05
cubic feet off the top of my head but
24:08
we might put that in the video yeah
24:10
yeah let's wrap this up let's get you
24:12
back on the tripod here
24:17
all right guys i hope you enjoyed this
24:18
video with the tour showing you the vans
24:21
that we have currently in stock and that
24:23
are ready to be built
24:25
again the spec build over here on my
24:28
right for van number one that is already
24:30
in progress depending on when you guys
24:32
see this video and it comes out
24:34
however van 2 is going to be probably
24:36
about two months behind van number one
24:40
so if you're interested in purchasing
24:42
any of these vans or having van one or
24:44
two customized changing it up like we
24:46
were talking about the shower the roof
24:49
rack system even the power system
24:51
upgrading that from 300 amp hours say to
24:54
600 amp hours just depending on your
24:56
usage of the van let me know put it down
24:59
in the comments below if you guys are
25:00
watching this on youtube otherwise you
25:03
can contact me directly at sales at
25:06
odysseycustomvans.com
25:09
that's
25:10
odyssey customvans.com
25:14
my name is nick eilerman for odyssey
25:16
custom vans and i'll see you guys in the
25:18
next video
25:19
[Music]
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