This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
Here is the video walk through of the Camper Van I built to stay overnight at HPDE track events that I attend
I inherited this 2005 Chevrolet 2500 Express Ext (155″) Cargo Van from my tortilla factory business that was used for delivery.
When I first had it I noticed there were some mechanical issues. I took it to the dealer and this is what they said:
I located a mechanic in Acworth, North Georgia Auto Inc to fix the engine issue.
Now that the van was mechanically good I began to wonder what I would do with it. In 2021 I tracked my 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S with Just Track It at Road Atlanta. The event is HPDE, High Performance Driver Education. It’s not a race. More about this event later. I’d have to load up my car with a chair, tent, cooler, and other items to be comfortable. The way HPDE works is you generally have 4 groups; Novice Instructed/Novice Solo, Intermediate 1 & 2, and Advanced.
If it’s your first time to a track they insist on you registering as a Novice with an Instructor. The instructor rides with you in each session and there is usually Classroom time you must attend. In the class, they go over safety and procedures. The way to advance to solo or another group is by testing out with an instructor, not necessarily the one that you were paired with.
At these track events, I noticed people came locally and from all around. About half trailered their car with a truck or suv and some had fancy RV’s with either open or enclosed trailers. The set ups range from u-haul to full crews
The first time I trailed my Porsche was to Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah and stayed at a hotel.
The more I went to HPDE events the more I started to trailer my car because I wanted to be comfortable on the way there, not use up tire tread on the track car, pack things, and heaven forbid if anything every happened to my car at the track I’d be stuck.
I started to think I could convert my cargo van into a track camper van that I could haul what I needed and use it to sleep over night.
The goal was the necessities.
- Air Conditioned
- TV
- Bed (twin)
- Power
- Refrigerator
- Jack
- Tools
- Drum Fan
- Apple Car Play
- Back up camera
Starting from here is a step by step walk through with link to purchase items that I used using my affiliate link to support this channel.
I first started by pressure washing the van to clean the inside with a RYOBI RY120352K ONE+ 18-Volt 320 PSI 0.8 GPM Cold Water Cordless Power Cleaner.
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “ugzruben05-20”; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”; amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”; amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”; amzn_assoc_region = “US”; amzn_assoc_design = “enhanced_links”; amzn_assoc_asins = “B0895PCQWD”; amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit”; amzn_assoc_linkid = “982d951269f9b848462baad6d27b090d”; //z-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/onejs?MarketPlace=US
I bought a bed liner from Amazon as the foundation.
Then I used a Ryobi Dremel to cut a hole on the rear driver side to add a power outlet
Qwigi 