Spacious Self-Build RV over San Francisco Lifestyle
Matt and Amanda, known as The Van Project on social media, decided to call a 1964 Clark Cortez home. It’s an older vehicle and definitely a bit less common than other rigs out there, but it’s a bit of an American classic. It was the second RV that was ever launched and there's only about 3,800 of them. It was made by Clark Equipment, which is actually a forklift company.
They used to live in San Francisco, which they loved. They have great friends there, but it was really expensive. The amount of work they'd have to do to afford to live in San Francisco comfortably was completely consuming. It felt like all they ever did was work. They know people that live that way, and it just doesn't seem super fulfilling. When they first started talking about this idea it was kind of about finding a way that they could downsize their lives, work less, and enjoy life a little bit more.
They found their rig, affectionately named ‘Teziree’, on a Cortez group online. Amanda and Matt saw it and immediately fell in love with it. And the price was right too, they paid $7500 for it, so they were like, "this is the one. It's in good shape, it's been maintained, we got to go get it." So they called up this guy, King, and they said, "we want it", and that same day they bought a one-way flight to Portland Oregon and flew up there. King picked them up at the airport in the RV which was totally awesome.
They did all the renovations themselves. All in, they haven't done math exactly, but they spent about $4,000. They have a rear door so they didn't want to block that. They opted to put the bike rack in the front, which required them to get this custom receiver added to the front. It let them put their Thule rack on the front along with their touring bikes. Right behind the bikes they’ve got the grill covering the engine, which they’ll pop open to top up the oil. Matt knows this process really well because he has to put like a quart of oil in this thing every 250 miles.
Along the side of the rig there’s plenty of vents for various appliances. There used to be a propane refrigerator set up in the RV, but now the vent is for fresh air, so they have an air register cover that they can open and close on the inside. When they turn their fan on and open the vent to this, they have great cross ventilation. Lower on the chassis is a locker that used to store the propane, but they only needed a small propane tank to run their hot water heater and their stove so they converted it to their solar battery compartment. They’ve got two 12v deep cycle batteries to power electronics. They’ve got a couple fuses, as well as some tools in there that are easily accessible.
On the very back they have a door to get inside the RV, as well as a Full-size spare tire. On the other side of the rig they’ve got a Camplux on-demand hot water heater. It's propane powered, which is great for taking hot showers. It also gives them hot water in their sink whenever they want it.
With a vehicle this old, it’s important to keep an eye on engine temperatures and oil levels as a lot of the alert systems in modern vehicles aren’t available. Matt installed a tachometer so that they can keep an eye on the rpms and make sure the engine is running optimally. There’s also swivel seats which are great for using them in the rest of the living space while parked. The front bench seat converts into a bed, which is awesome for having guests.
They knew they’d be cooking a lot. They both like to cook, so they wanted a kitchen that had enough space for them to both tackle different parts of food prep. They have a two basin sink that is plumbed into the hot water heater, which allows them to use both hot and cold water. They have a campchef two burner propane stove which they can remove for extra counter space if they like, but most of the time they don't. They built a little wooden stopper that the legs sit in, so when they’re driving they can actually leave it in place without it slipping off. They have a really convenient cutting board that fits over the sink, which extends the area that they have to prep food.
The cabinets stay closed with magnets, they have two magnets on each side. They built in the kitchen area so they have two drawers which they built themselves. Amanda was newer to the carpentry than Matt, so building them was a huge step. They’ve found that it’s very important when you're building to keep everything shut and in place, so magnets and catches help with that. They have a 30 gallon freshwater tank under this, which they’re able to monitor by looking through a space in the side.
Their fridge was one of the purchases they thought about forgoing as it was pretty pricy. They thought about just going with a cooler for a bit, but in the end they’re happy they went with the upgrade. While the table they made is something that they put a lot of time into, they think they’re going to get rid of it and find something smaller. They don't need a table to eat, that's one thing you'll learn along the way is you learn things in your space, it's like any home, you learn how to rework it and fix it along the way.
They’ve opted to put their closets in different areas of the RV, which may sound a little strange at first, but it makes it really easy to both get ready at the same time, since they both have their own space to do so. They also replaced the original bed with a larger queen size, which they’re happy that they did. It runs widthways which is great if they’re ever forced to park the rv on an uneven surface. Instead of reorienting the whole vehicle, they can simply rearrange themselves so their head is uphill.
Under the bed they have climbing gear bins, Matt's huge, big tripod, and they have the heavy weight gear under there. One of the things they added toward the end was a bookshelf. Having this bookshelf and having a couple open storage areas have been really awesome, all of their climbing guides there and books that they’re reading are easily accessible. A lot of times they’ll pick up a couple books along the way and then get rid of others, so they have a rotation of different reading material.
One of the things that they didn't think they were gonna have was a toilet, but when they found a vehicle that already had it they decided to leave it in, which has been awesome. The original bathroom was much bigger, so they did a huge renovation to maximize space in the rest of the rv.
One of the scariest things Amanda did, for her, was leaving her job at YouTube. She worked worked what many people would consider the dream, but it wasn’t for her. She was not pushing herself to do everything she could creatively, and it was crushing her. She had to do that scary thing to become who she is now, and she’s a lot happier because of it. That's part of her message too, is that fear can hold you back and everyone has their fears, but a lot of life is about combating that. You have to be really persistent if you want to do this, and also simultaneously make a living on the road. You can save a bunch of money and then just stop working and live like this, or you can try and live like this and also work simultaneously, or even work intermittently and travel, but you have to figure out what way is going to work for you realistically. Ultimately, you have to be open to challenges. There's gonna be challenges no matter how adaptable you are. It's not easy, but the rewards are just incredible.
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