Finally pulled the trigger on a VW T5 L2H1 — starting my first van build. Any advice before I do something stupid?
Title: Finally pulled the trigger on a VW T5 L2H1 — first van build. Any advice before I overengineer this thing?
After months of lurking, I finally bought a 2009 VW T5 L2H1 with ~200k miles on it 😅
Found a surprisingly good deal… only catch was it was ~800km away from home.
Our very first “vanlife weekend” was actually done in a standard car, trying to get to the seller... so this already feels like a massive upgrade.
The build
The van definitely needs some love, but I have access to a really solid workshop with tons of tools and people who actually know what they’re doing mechanically, which feels like a huge advantage for a first build.
So far:
- Added 2 side windows + a roof window
- Started treating rust on the chassis
- Trying to revive the factory Webasto heater
- Planning to make it road legal as VASP in France
The plan is basically to build something simple and reliable enough for road trips and remote work, while still being comfortable enough for longer trips across Europe.
First destinations on the list:
- Italy this summer (very hot so)
- Pyrénées soon after
- and hopefully northern Europe next winter for aurora hunting (very cold, sooo given I can get the webasto running !)
Biggest thing I’m struggling with right now is the water system / hot water setup. I plan to take the coolant loop from webasto/engine to the back compartment for other uses (heat exchanger to air for heating)
Now I’m wondering if I’m massively overengineering this for a first build.
Would love to hear:
- what you regret doing on your build
- what you wish you planned earlier
- smartest “small” upgrade you made
- and especially how you approached water systems in smaller vans
Will definitely post build progress if people are interested.
