The Van Conversion Bible
The Ultimate Guide to Converting a Campervan
- 331 page book to help you plan, design and build a campervan
- Available as a physical hardback book (£27) or a PDF ebook (£18)
- Over 350 detailed illustrations, graphs and photographs
- Find out exactly how much it costs to convert a campervan
- Features data and insights from the largest self-build campervan survey
- Includes example gas, water and electrical system diagrams
- We have partnered with Ecologi to plant a tree for every order placed
- Based in North America? Order a copy of our new North American edition!
Winners of the 2022 Writers Digest Self-Published book award 🏆
You can read more about the award here!
Build a campervan, travel the world
Want to wake up to a breathtaking new view every morning? Have you been dreaming about owning a vehicle to fuel your adventures? Building a campervan gives you total freedom to create your very own rolling home. Escape the daily grind, hit the open road and re-write the way you live.
The Van Conversion Bible is the ultimate guide to planning, designing and converting a campervan. It’s more than just the story of how we built our own van Ringo, it will help you build a van bespoke to your needs. It provides definitive answers to your questions (even the ones you haven’t thought of yet!) to ensure you save time and avoid expensive mistakes.
From detailed gas, water and electrical system diagrams to a step-by-step build guide, you’ll find everything you need to start your journey inside. Whatever your skills and budget, you can learn how to build your dream campervan. Your very own home on wheels awaits…
Plan: Study reliable data on costs, read detailed case studies, and learn everything you need to know before you start your build.
Design: Learn how to design the perfect layout and use example gas, water and electrical system diagrams to create your own.
Build: Follow the step-by-step build guide to convert your campervan.
Van life: Make sure you’re ready for your first adventure with our van life tips and ideas.
See inside...
2022 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award
First place winner in the Non-Fiction category for the 2022 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award.
2022 Best Indie Book Award
First place winner in the Non-Ficton: How To category for the 2022 Best Indie Book Award.
Customer reviews
“The Van Conversion Bible has already received hundreds of glowing reviews. You can read them all here, or see some of our favourites below.”
Charlie Low – Author
Why we wrote the book
As our backgrounds lie in science and engineering, we spent a long time planning and designing our van build before starting it. Long after we finished, we kept receiving questions about Ringo and we wanted to be able to answer them definitively.
We realised there was a gap in the market for a book that wasn’t just about our own conversion, but about the entire van conversion process. We believe the planning and design stages are just as important as the build. We spent thousands of hours researching and building our knowledge so we could write a book based on science and data rather than anecdotal advice. We wanted to create a book that was inspirational to read and flick through, full of beautiful photographs and detailed illustrations as well as being the ultimate guide to converting a campervan.
Detailed chapter breakdown
Chapter 1: Introduction
- Why we wrote this book
- Climbingvan 2020 Van Conversion Survey
- The van conversion process
- The history of van life
Chapter 2: Planning
- Importance of planning
- The cost of converting a van
- Vehicle preparation
- Exterior
- Insulation
- Floors and walls
- Electrics
- Layout construction
- Water
- Gas and heating
Learn about how much it costs to convert a campervan and how long it takes. Read detailed information about each section of the build, and all of the options available.
Chapter 3: Design
- How to design your van
- Design time vs build time
- Define
- Concept
- Develop
- Detailed design development
- 3D design development
- Design checks
- Final design blueprints
Advice on how to design the perfect layout for your campervan. Includes example electrical, water and gas diagrams to base your own system on.
Chapter 4: Shopping
- Shopping for your build
- Tools
- Timber
- Consumables
- Places to shop
- Estimating quantities
- Forecasting costs
Chapter 5: Build
- Phases of the build
- Vehicle preparation
- Exterior
- Insulating
- Floors and walls
- Electrical
- Layout construction
- Water system
- Gas and heating
- Decorating and furnishing
Chapter 6: Van life
- Van life essentials
- Security
- Should you reclassify your van?
- Insurance
- Weighing in
- The ‘boring bits’
- How to travel
Stockists
Bristol
Better Food Co, 94A Whiteladies Rd, Clifton
Good Store Studio, 31 Old Market St
Bookhaus, Unit 4 Rope Walk
That Leisure Shop, A370, Hewish, Weston-super-Mare
Peak District
Lake District
North Wales
Edinburgh
London
Pages of Hackney, 70 Lower Clapton Road
Online – UK
stitcha.co.uk
shop.thebmc.co.uk
Online – Europe
getsalt.com – Netherlands
strayoutdoor.com – Belgium
avventura.be – Belgium
scanvik.dk – Denmark
vanlifer.pl – Poland
Good Store Studio, Bristol
Meander Apparel, Edinburgh
Conquer Lake District
Fantastic! Great quality book, probably one of the best self build books on the market. Really informative, and so much information, it absolutely deserves the title of van bible!! Love it! Worth every penny. I’ve got several van build guides, and this one is the best I've read! If your a self builder you have got to get this!