A DIY van rescue worth filming.

Oh, hi.
Meet

Our much-loved, not-quite-finished camper van.
We’ve owned him for five years but barely used him. That’s why it’s time to let someone else take it from here.

Come have a look

Actual unfinished Benji interior, looking past the kitchen toward the open rear doors — **Benji, now & imagined.**March 2026

Design vision, not completed: wood ceiling, curved cabinets and upholstered rear lounge — **Benji, now & imagined.**March 2026

2018 Ford Transit 350HDExtended · High roofApproximately 70k milesWestern Massachusetts · 01257

The before & the “ooh, imagine”

A little unfinished.
A lot to imagine.

Actual unfinished van interior with counters and cooktop in place, exposed cabinet openings, bare floor and unfinished ceiling edges

Proposed finished interior with slatted wood ceiling, curved cabinet fronts and upholstered rear lounge

Warm creamLight oakSage greenDeep matte black

The photo reel

A little look around.

The bare Transit with its first wood framing and floor battens in place — The first framing. December 2020.

Cristina working on a panel on the workshop floor — Cristina on panel duty. January 2021.

The van interior lined with insulation and plywood, looking toward the cab — Insulated and lined. January 2021.

Mark kneeling inside the van, drilling into the wall panels — Mark building out the walls. January 2021.

Mark running wiring along the van wall — Wiring runs going in. February 2021.

A husky lying on the van floor between new cabinet frames — The site supervisor. February 2021.

The view through the rear doors: the electrical bay and bench frames taking shape — The electrical bay. February 2021.

Plywood cabinet boxes along both sides of the van, looking toward the cab — Cabinet boxes. February 2021.

The galley counter and plywood bench boxes coming together — The galley comes together. February 2021.

The curved counter mid-finish, surrounded by paint cups and tools — Painting days. March 2021.

The curved white galley counter with clamps and tools nearby — The curved counter. March 2021.

The finished curved kitchen counter with induction cooktop — Counter and cooktop in. March 2021.

The interior with recessed lights on, the cooktop and bench storage visible — Lights on. March 2021.

Mark sitting on the rear platform inside the van — Testing the platform. March 2021.

The view in through the rear doors: electrical bay, platform and counters — From the back doors. March 2021.

Mark working at the counter, seen through the open rear doors — Counter work. March 2021.

Cristina in a respirator, brushing finish onto a plywood panel outdoors — Finishing coats. March 2021.

Mark hamming it up at night beside the countertop on sawhorses — Late-night countertop. March 2021.

Cristina tucked into a made-up bed in the van with the husky — First cozy night. April 2021.

A rounded arched cutout in a white panel with a small plant — The arched niche. April 2021.

The arched niche above the made-up bed — Niche and bed. April 2021.

Two people building the new day-bed base inside the van — Rebuilding the bed. April 2025.

The new plywood bed platform taking shape inside the van — The new platform. April 2025.

The galley counter covered in tape rolls and tools mid-project — Mid-project galley. April 2025.

The interior looking toward the rear, with counters and the new lounge base — The lounge base. May 2025.

Carpentry on sawhorses beside the van — The sawdust days. May 2025.

The matte black curved kitchen cabinet with white countertop — The curved cabinet. May 2025.

The rear lounge and day bed seen from above — The lounge from above. May 2025.

Benji from behind with rear doors open, showing storage and hose compartment — Around the back. May 2025.

Benji’s interior today, looking forward toward the cab — Benji today. March 2026.

The people behind the plywood

Made with love.
And a lot of sawdust.

We’re Cristina and Mark. We’ve owned Benji for five years and put over $30,000 into materials. But we’ve barely used him, and we don’t want to keep leaving him unfinished.

We love making things. Finding enough time to finish every one of them? That’s the tricky part. We’d love to team up with someone who sees the possibilities here and wants to get building.

— Cristina & Mark

@markandstina

Mark working on a light’s wiring beside Benji during an earlier build session — The wiring days.
April 2025

Cristina standing inside the half-built van beside new plywood bench boxes — The sawdust days.
January 2021

Let’s open the cupboards

He comes with
quite a bit.

Power & charging

640W Newpowa monocrystalline solar — 2 × 220W + 2 × 100W panels
Three 170Ah BigBattery 12V OWL batteries, plus an additional BigBattery reported as a 220Ah “OWL 2” — additional battery’s model & capacity pending label confirmation.
Victron MultiPlus 12V / 3000VA inverter with 120A charger & shore power
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 solar controller
Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12V, 30A / 360W isolated DC-DC charger with Bluetooth
Victron BMV-712 Smart battery monitor & Lynx Distributor
Two 120V outlets, a dedicated cooktop outlet & laptop-grade USB-C fast charging

Climate & connectivity

VELIT 2000R Mini rooftop AC — 12V, 7,000 BTU
Maxxair fan
Starlink Mini
VELIT gasoline air heater — 14,000 BTU / 4,000W; included, not installed

Water & wet room

40-gallon fresh water tank with pump, accumulator & water gauge
Under-van grey-water tank
Bosch Tronic 3000T ES4 4-gallon electric mini-tank water heater
Sink, PEX plumbing, water filter & city-water connection
Outdoor shower
Indoor-shower plumbing in a framed wet room with built-in niche — not waterproofed; no drain yet.
Vented & wired for a toilet — bring your own.

Kitchen & living

TruckFridge TF130 — 130L, 12V fridge
Furrion FIH2ZEA-BG double-burner 1,800W induction cooktop
Counters, cabinet structures & rear platform — finish work remains
Permanent day bed with an easy slide-out full bed — rebuilt summer 2025.
Spacious garage storage
Removable cab window covers — ready to use

Roof & exterior

Flatline roof rack
Tow hitch

Lighting

Overhead lights on a 3-way switch & dimmer
LED toe-kick lights on a dimmer
Under-cabinet lighting — wired
Wet-room lighting with its own switch
Exterior lights front, sides & back; sides dimmable — Nilight 52-inch 300W curved spot/flood bar, ZH003 20-inch 126W spot/flood bar & four 4-inch 18W LED pods

Ready to install

Premium matte black laminate for the curved cabinet
White laminate for the upper cabinets
Cover/trim already made for the door-access cabinet inside the curved cabinet, which opens into an exterior table
Two upper cabinets, already built — use them, or build the ones in the rendering.
Table mount — included, not installed; reported as Lagun, exact model unconfirmed.
…and more materials on hand — full list to come.

A walk through Benji and what’s left to do. 1½ min · sound on.

The not-quite-done list

A few things
to get into.

Here’s what’s left between Benji today and the van in the rendering. Honestly? The fun part.

Flooring
Ceiling slats & trim
Cabinetry, fronts & hardware
Rear-door finish
Lounge upholstery
Wet-room finish
Patch the interior wall behind the branch-damage body repair
Velit heater installation

There’s more than one way to do this

Pick your
Benji adventure.

Maybe this is your next filmed transformation.
Maybe you’d rather own the project.
We’re open to either conversation.

01 / Collaborate

Finish it. Film it.
Help sell it.

Let’s explore a profit-share partnership to complete the build, document the process and prepare Benji for sale. We’d agree on the scope, costs and how any profit from the sale is shared before work begins.

Talk about a partnership

02 / Make it yours

Your van.
Your very own project.

Prefer to take the project on outright? We’re open to a purchase conversation with someone who wants to finish the van their way, with the current condition and repair needs on the table.

Talk about a purchase

The practical bits

Getting to
know Benji.

Vehicle: 2018 Ford Transit 350HD
Body: Extended · High roof
Engine: 3.5L EcoBoost twin-turbo V6
Mileage: Approximately 70,000 miles
Location: Western Massachusetts · ZIP 01257
Build status: Unfinished DIY conversion

No grand pitch needed

Got a soft spot
for a good project?

Tell us what you see in Benji, where you’re based, and whether a collaboration or purchase interests you. A link to something you’ve built would be lovely, too.

Say hello to Cristina [email protected]

Oh, hi.Meet Benji.

A little unfinished.A lot to imagine.

A little look around.

Made with love.And a lot of sawdust.

He comes withquite a bit.

01Power & charging

02Climate & connectivity

03Water & wet room

04Kitchen & living

05Roof & exterior

06Lighting

07Ready to install

A few thingsto get into.

Pick yourBenji adventure.

Finish it. Film it.Help sell it.

Your van.Your very own project.

Getting toknow Benji.

Got a soft spotfor a good project?