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We are new in Australia and want to build our campervan to be our home for couple of months. If someone can help us with advices and consultation - we will be so grateful
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and Australia @Nave. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about fitting out a campervan.
You'll find a myriad of resources online for advice and inspiration on how to maximise space and make a campervan livable. I'm sure our helpful members will have plenty, too, so you might like to start with some images of the interior so they can see what you're working with.
Typically, you'd start by removing the rear seating from the vehicle. Make sure to store these somewhere, as you might find replacing them when you sell the vehicle returns a higher resale value. Once the seats are out, I'd recommend picking up a drill driver, jigsaw, circular saw, plywood and plenty of screws. You'd start by cutting out the plywood to suit the shape of your floor. This will give you a solid base to work off. Next will be the walls, and you should consider installing insulation depending on the months you'll be travelling and the locations you'll be visiting. The floor and walls can be screwed into the vehicle's frame, but use screws only long enough to go into the frame and not pierce the outer panels.
With the floor and walls installed, you can start customising your space. It would be best to add a frame for your mattress and consider what type of storage can go underneath. Long slide-out drawers that can be turned into a kitchenette at the vehicle's rear are a great idea. Shelving and storage are the real winners with campervan life; any nook or cranny should be turned into storage. Have a dedicated space for clothes, tools, cookware and anything else you'll need on the road.
Additional items would be roof racks and possibly a small solar charging system for your mobile devices.
I'm keen to hear more about your project and provide further assistance.
Please let us know if there are any questions that we can assist you with.
Mitchell
Hi @Nave,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We are looking forward to seeing how you can transform your van.
Just thought I'd let you know that experienced caravan renovator @Peggers created a three-part series for us on How to renovate a caravan. I'm sure some of the advice shared would be applicable to your Hiace project.
Jason
thank you so much Mitchell! its very helpful.
what the best wood type you would recommend to use for the walls?
additionally, do you know about a place where we can park the van and work comfortably? A workshop or something like that...
we will upload imges soon! the van is still in the garage 
thanks!
Nave & Shiraz
Hello @Nave
My number one suggestion is to make sure you are not using treated timber panels. This type of timber is usually used for exterior building purposes. If you have friends or relatives close by I suggest asking them for a temporary workspace. I recommend making a quick sketch first so that you have a general idea of how you want the back of the van to look like. This will give you ideas for size and how much material you will need.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
