ABOUT US
We’re just two kids, Bogdan and Yuki.
Where to Begin
In the Spring of 2020, after some searching, we finally found the van of our dreams: a 2011 Freightliner sprinter van for approximately $19,000 and 169,000 miles on the odometer. We’ve dubbed him, “Groky.” Not G-O-R-K-Y, but G-R-O-K-Y like in Robert Heinlein’s concept of “grok” from the novel, Stranger in a Strange Land.
So why did we pay nearly $20,000 for a ten-year-old vehicle with high mileage you wonder. I know, it’s kind of pricey. Well, in California, 144″ high top sprinter vans are highly desirable and super rare in the resale market. For 20k this is what we could find. Gorky is in sound mechanical condition, gently used, and carefully maintained, and with a clean title, what more could we ask for? We purchased him right before the pandemic lock down after weeks of searching. We even drove 3 hours from our house to get him.
So, that brings us to lately.
For the last couple of months (years), we’ve been self-converting the van at a glacial pace. Thanks to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions it has been more difficult to source certain components (thinking about boat hatches), and the arrival of brutally hot summer weather has slowed our progress to a crawl (that’s a nice way of saying we’ve completely stalled).
Meanwhile, we have decided to document our van conversion. I hope you find some of our thoughts on converting our van useful in your own journey. We are not experts so we encourage you to do your own research.
Latest Updates
June 30, 2022
We’re building again! We finally mounted the roof rack and we’re so proud of ourselves. This is no ordinary roof rack. It has outdoor lights mounted in the front, sides, and back, as well cameras in the front, sides, and rear. We also have a micro-deck with grab handles. We’re oozing with joy at finishing our first big job after a long time.
January 27, 2021
At this point, we are again on hiatus. Will we ever finish this built? The thought seriously lingers. We’ve made very little progress since changing our minds about the floor. While we installed LifeProof vinyl flooring last spring/summer we were not satisfied with the results. The contraction gaps caused by temperature fluctuations were stunning and frankly, unacceptable. We did not anticipate the flooring to shrink as much as it did, at least 2 mm. To remedy the situation, we first tried filling the gaps with polyurethane. It did not work. Then, we ordered coin grip flooring and installed that instead. We used polyurethane to glue it on top of the LifeProof flooring. It is holding on to dear life. On the other hand, the diesel heater works and can heat up the van up to 60-ish degrees Fahrenheit even without any insulation. We turned it on and kept it on overnight a few times in November or December to speed up the polyurethane’s curing time. Lately, snowy weather and other projects have gotten in the way. We eagerly await warmer days.
October 26, 2020
Summer is over! We are still stalled out on the build. On the bright side, we landed a big project which will help us cover some of the conversion costs. Yay! On the downside, that means we are still far from getting back to the building process. The weather is progressively getting worst. The days are short and cold. Last week, or maybe two weeks ago, we bumped into someone who is converting a bus locally and got really excited. He is an engineer, which is promising. We must remember to follow up with him and check out his build. He has an interesting idea for a scissor bed lift.