@@TheirHappyTrails oh man i watch to the very end and was thoroughly intrigued cause i got an astro with issues in the beginning of this year as my first car and have still been working on it. It runs now but i will not drive it until my suspension Replacement is complete, out of having comfort when carrying loved ones. But you have been a huge inspiration for a lot of features i want too implement!
wow! I have an Astro here in the UK (16 years now)! Converted using old wood from boat yard but yours has to be the best I have seen. Some real skill there guys. Love it!!
Very nice Astro build. Probably the best I've seen on the passenger version with Dutch doors. My cargo version build is not even half as nice but I only had $1500 to work with.
Hey y’all !!! Awesome build out! I’m in the middle of doing my 99’ Astro right now.. what’s the name of the black wrap you used on the windows and exterior trim??
Hey Austin! I’m not sure the exact name of it, but it’s a high quality “air release” vinyl wrap. Hope the videos on the channel help! If you didn’t know we have a whole series the Astro Van on the channel 🤘🏼
Wow, I have a 96 Astro and wow, you guys did an amazing job!! That is my style absolutely mine! I was going to build my bed in the back but more people are doing a bed down the side and now my plans have changed … again. 😉
So happy for you and your new home on wheels. Also very grateful for you awesome friends and the help they have you. I also love that they gave you the space to do a lot of the work yourself so you can own the build as well as have those amazing helping hands, giant, tiny and furry! LOL Good luck with your adventures and hope to see your channel up soon. 🙏✌💖
Thank you! it might look heavy, but it’s actually maybe only a few hundred pounds heavier than an originally was. Those seats are super heavy! Plus, this fan is rated for quite a bit weight
Hey Alyssa! Matt here. I built this van for a friend of mine. We are definitely open to building for other people, and/or giving advise! Go to www.theirhappytrails.com to get in touch with us :)
hey! i’m building out my astro to live in for a while. i ripped out my rear heat and ac units for more space but now i have these large holes to fill! i plan on taking it in the snow so i need to have it waterproofed. i’ll use jb weld for the small screw holes but how should i fill the large holes?? do i need to weld more metal to cover it? i’m hoping for an easy fix i can do myself :) thank you!! love the videos!
Hey!! I would use fiberglass! Any Walmart will have it in the car section. Then you can sand it down, and put Bondo on it if you want it to look prettier lol
I never had any doubt you could do the build, but I really did expect it to take at least 2 weeks or more. Great job, awesome budget, & unbelievable start-to-finish time!
Thank you David!! Yeah, it went faster than we expected also! But we were also on a tight timeline so I was working on it a lot!!! Luckily the van is a small space so that helped a lot too!! Glad you have followed it all the way through!! We appreciate your support!
Amazing and very impressive. Learned a lot. However, I'm sure without the help of the dog and the kid this would have taken much longer than just 9 days ; - )
Outstanding! Your build is amazing! Any chance you have plans to sell? I second the comment that this is the absolute BEST Astro conversion. Thank you for sharing your build.
Hey there! I totally can help. Surprisingly the wood does not way down the van. We use lightweight materials like cedar to keep the way down. Plus we removed all the chairs so the weight kind of adds up to being almost the same. It's a little bit heavier than before but nothing that actually affects the driving or fuel mileage!
Hope your astros still running good, I’m going to buy one today and it has 285,000km so seeing your comment with 322k miles makes me less worried about the mileage
@@BrandonPrive1432 maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. I wish I knew what I know now 10-15 years ago. I've had issues with misfires which haven't led to anything too serious yet (fortunately), and besides her slightly off idling she's doing alright. They do burn a quart of oil every so often so keep them handy, and change every 3000 miles!
Just bought my Astro today! Do you by chance have an Amazon wishlist or some equivalent for the breakdown of all that you used in this video as I love the layout and the price! Thanks so much 🤗
Great build! Very clean "cabin" look overall to my eyes. Would you mind sharing what wood you used for the siding and framing? Thank you for your video!
Thank you very much! The cabinets were built out of three-quarter inch plywood. The ceilings are a tongue and groove barn style from Home Depot. And the rest of the wood is cedar slats. The countertop is a type of project board that we also found at Home Depot. I hope that helps!
Hey! Matt here. Thanks man!! Well if you need any advice to make it as nice as possible feel free to reach out! Theirhappytrails@gmail.com We’ve build full skoolies and this was my first time building a van. It was a lot harder than I thought, but still a great time!
@@TheirHappyTrails The biggest obstacle is only having a jigsaw and drill on hand, so it's not the prettiest build, but functional at least! Thanks, I'll be sure to reach out if I have any questions!
@@RDuude yeah I get that! A jigsaw can do just about everything! Might take a little longer, but can be done!! And yeah, for real, reach out at anytime
No reason really, just didnt. We installed a diesel heater that keeps that van toasty even at below freezing temps. Im sure the insulation would have helped, but this isnt a full time living quarters
Oh my, all that wood must make the van weigh a ton. Regardless, it was inspiring to see this build in a Chevrolet Astro. Well done. Will look forward to seeing more vids on this topic. - Fred
Hey Fred! Matt here. To my surprise, and probably yours, we really didn’t add as much weight as one might think. By the time we took the captain chairs and everything else, then added the new material we were only about 200 pounds over the original weight! If you haven’t seen the the videos that came prior to this one, they are worth checking out!
@@TheirHappyTrails I am glad it's not too heavy. With gas prices these days, every pound matters. I will be sure to check out your other vids. Thanks Matt!
Hey! Thanks for commenting. Glad you enjoyed it. We are actually in Costa Rica looking for another van to build, and then travel all around the country! Comments like this make the journey so much more fun thank you.
This is prolly the best van build out video I have ever seen!! You did an amazing job of showing all of the steps to create this beautiful home on wheels! Bravo!! 😍😍😍
Thank You Kellene!!! I really appreciate you saying that :) if you need more step by step videos we have a play list that goes more in depth on this van! Cheers!!
These men are amazing and a blessing.. so much hard work.. but they are dedicated and want to create something magical and this is so dope.. great job...
@@MinutemanMedic yeah that would have work well for us also, but it was much easier todo a few metal screws compared to having to metal tap every single one 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Excellent work! Just curious of your choice of the diesel heater. I've read (or listened to...) the debates / preferences / pros and cons of either the propane Little Buddy (or other propane heaters....), or diesel -- which also require the electric pump.... Have you tried / compared both propane and diesel heaters, and why do your prefer diesel? (Thanks again for your video and any reply.)
Diesel heaters are much better. Watch the electrical video we did. That basic set up runs the heater for a long time. Also the Mr. buddy/heaters ran from propane caused a serious amount of condensation inside of the rig. So if you run a propane heater, you can count on your windows sweating and eventually causing water damage over time. Plus they use a lot of propane and are not recommended for indoor use overnight while you’re sleeping. the diesel heaters dry the air and are very very efficient on electricity and diesel fuel. We live in a 40 foot school bus and have two diesel heaters. One of them heats up the whole entire bus with no problem so in a small van, it hardly uses any fuel to keep it nice and warm 1 gallon of fuel can last easily three days if it’s not running hard it is definitely the way to go. Hundred times better than a Mr. buddy heater.
