Jimmy's Vans

Hi, I’m Jimmy and I love vans! I spend most of my idle moments thinking about vans and am always up for chatting vans with anyone. I’m always researching, mulling over and testing little features and techniques that I can use to make each conversion a little bit more functional, beautiful, durable and lightweight. I mostly do full conversions but happy to consider smaller works so feel free to get in touch.

I absolutely love working with solid wood and building custom cabinets. Most of my cabinets are made from high quality birch plywood which, although not cheap, is incredibly strong and durable as well as having a natural beauty which is brought out even more by oiling. I also use a fair bit of oak and other hardwoods in areas which see a lot of wear to improve durability and to add some natural feel to the van. I’m always keen on using self-sourced pieces of wood, from reclaimed items or pieces with some personal history to natural locally sourced or rough-sawn timbers.

A lot of thought goes into every element of what I do. Of course I try to minimise the material costs and labour time where it is practical but a great deal of consideration goes into designing and building every van in a way that is as future-proof as possible. I’m always trying to make things durable but also easy to maintain, repair and adapt. I wouldn’t want anyone to live in fear of damaging their van, it’s designed for real living! For example, I would always opt for a highly wear-resistant paint instead of a laminate finish. A laminate might be quick and easy to fit and look good for a photoshoot but after years of use, dents and fading colours can’t be simply repaired, whereas damage to a painted surface can be filled, sanded and repainted without much skill or tooling, and an oak worktop can be sanded down and re-oiled multiple times over decades if required. All of the interior elements that I fit are designed to be as modular as possible, so that they can be removed in order to redecorate or alter the interior, or in the event of an accident which requires bodywork repair to the van. Even if a van was written off, much of what I’ve fitted into it could be saved and transferred directly into a replacement vehicle of the same model. All electrical and plumbing/heating work is done with the same consideration, so that if anything ever breaks when you’re out on the road, it’s as simple as possible to fix or replace the offending item. Every aspect is carefully thought through before and during the build, but it can be hard to know exactly how you will you want to use your van in years to come. With this in mind, I really try to keep options open and allow for customisation and modification of all my interiors, which can help to make the decision-making process a bit less intimidating. All this is great news for you but also for me, as I hope your first choice would be that any future modifications would be done by me, in which case I want an easy life!

It’s not the easiest industry for it, but it’s really important to me to try and make my work practices as sustainable as possible.
I do my best to use materials that are responsibly sourced and recycled and/or recyclable where possible. The minimal waste that I create is reused in-house or carefully sorted and disposed of as responsibly as I can. Although obviously I hope the vans that I create will be used and loved for decades, I do consider the ease of dismantling and reusing or recycling the materials at the end of the van’s life. This also ties in with the ability to repair and modify as required, which seems obvious but I feel is often overlooked!
Another great way to improve sustainability is by using intelligent design and joinery techniques to minimise the thickness of materials (mainly birch plywood) needed in cabinetry. This reduces the environmental impact of sourcing the materials, improves fuel economy and payload, gives more storage space and, in my opinion, looks much more refined than using lots of chunky 18mm plywood.

I’m happy to tailor to clients who want to have a hand in decorating their own van but don’t have the tools or skills to build it. I can build all of your units to specification and do first fix electrics/plumbing/heating work and then return your van to you for painting/oiling/varnishing etc. This is a great way to save money, as a professional decorative finish can be very time-consuming, and also means you get to really put your own stamp on the build.

I first built my own van, Nessy, 9 years ago. She was no spring chicken then even then, I was on a pretty tight budget, and my skills certainly weren’t what they are now but we’ve made some unbelievable memories together over the years; I just want to help other people to do the same thing!

I understand the emotional (and financial!) investment that goes into a custom conversion and I always make sure to build a close relationship with my clients and keep them updated and involved all through the process so that they feel really connected to an end product that meets their needs and desires.

Please see my Instagram page for a full gallery of previous builds and work in progress https://www.instagram.com/jimmys.vans.bristol/

I’m excited to hear what you’re dreaming of!

The best way to get hold of me to arrange an initial phone call is WhatsApp: 07807905569

If you send an enquiry through the quirky page, pleeeease double check there are no typos in your email address, because I have had multiple exciting enquiries where that happened, so my response to them couldn’t deliver and I was never able to pursue the project!