Note: Will be out of town April 14-19th. Will answer questions but cannot show the van in person then.
This build is a "Sleeper" stealth van engineered for long-term off-grid utility. I am a robotics engineer from the Bay specializing in electromechanical design. I tend to build one-off projects of different things. I have a decent amount of wood framing background from when I was younger. Nothing in this van is 100% perfect, but try to maintain a unique design combined with professional electrical work. I live near Japan town in San Jose, and no one has ever flagged my van for anything, and I park it on the street. I have also stealthed around the Bay and never gotten any knock. Clean title and smog in hand.
The van was very well maintained. I originally got it from Santa Clara County School District. It was used as a maintenance van. I'm not 100% sure on the original owners, but Santa Clara County had it for 12 years and put on about 2,000 miles a year. My dad is also a mechanic, so we kept the vehicle to the highest standards. The van drives like an SUV and was very particular about the weight distribution. I try to maintain the majority of the weight over the rear axles, with the batteries down low next to the wheel wells. I also kept the kitchen on the passenger side, as the Chevy Expresses tend to lean more toward the driver's side due to the gas tank. Everything is pretty heavy. I wanted the build to be very sturdy. I traded sturdiness for a little less gas mileage.
MPG: 12mpg
1. Electrical System
Designed for 120% load overhead with professional-grade cable management. Massive battery bank for long stretches without sun.
Battery Bank: 560Ah LiFePO4 Lithium (2x 280Ah high-capacity cells)
Solar panels: 400W (2x 200W)
Monitoring/Control: Professional perforated backplane panel with full cable-run management.
Solar Charge Controller: Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/35 (Bluetooth enabled)
AC Charging: Victron Blue Smart Charger 12/30 (Shore power/120V to 12V)
Inverter: 1500W Voltworks Pure Sine Wave
Safety/Distribution: Heavy-duty busbars
Blue Sea Systems ST Blade Fuse Block
Dedicated emergency kill-switch and high-amperage breakers
2. Mechanical & Chassis
Maintained by a professional mechanic for high-torque towing and mountain pass reliability.
Engine: 4.8L V8
Towing: 10,000 lb capacity setup with hauling mode. Recently towed a Ford Ranchero, plus the carriage, roughly 8,000 lb from Sonora to San Jose through the mountains. Handled it no problem.
Tools: Comes with a spare tire, a jack, and a spare tire release.
Fire Extinguisher: Included
Backup Camera and Apple CarPlay
Freshly Smogged (3/13/2026 - California compliant)
Recent Maintenance:
Exterior paint refresh as needed, trying to get rid of the Chevy peeling paint.
Freshly turned front brakes (Pads at 90% front/60% back)
Throttle position sensor replaced
Front sway bar bushings replaced
Heat shields retightened
Current Issue:
Very faint sound on the muffler for about half a second when accelerating from stop (20% of the time). You probably will not notice it unless I point it out with no radio and the windows down, but just for full transparency. The passenger side mufflers baffle is not 100% seated correctly. The baffle is used to reduce noise ironically. Feel free to ask a mechanic about it. But, it didn't make sense to replace a whole muffler for a piece that is not critical to function and will not caused any issues in the future.
3. Interior & Living Strategy
High-contrast modern aesthetic designed for "tall-person" ergonomics and stealth. I am 6'5, so I could not sleep in a bed that was going side to side, so I had to make a bed going along the base of the van. The bed itself is a nine-inch twin bed with a headboard that is super comfortable. I wanted to note that most of the surfaces are drill-able. I will have a detailed map of what you can drill and what you shouldn't drill. I originally made this to eventually sell, so I didn't want to drill too much into certain areas, specifically the countertops and things like that. This would allow the person I sell it to to be able to customize it even further.
Trim: "Ultra-White" Architectural L-trim and Crown Molding
Bed: North-South custom Twin Platform (Fixed-height for under-bed storage/safe integration)
Kitchen: Full-extension fridge/freezer slide Alpicool 41 quarts (access from inside/outside)
Storage: Half of the bed is storage underneath that you access from inside. The other half is a four-foot cubby that goes from the back side of the bed. There is also storage above the 4 ft. cubby, as you can see from the pictures.
Safety: Bolted-in steel security safe at the base of the bed, underneath the monitor. This is a full-size hotel safe and can easily fit full MacBooks and cameras and such.
Sink: There is a sink with a three-gallon gray wall tank. I didn't actually install a faucet. I usually just use water from a bottle.
Fan: Maxxair Fan 10 Speed Inhale/exhale
Insulation: Havelock Insulation (Floor, Walls, Ceiling)
Outlets: 2 Outlets for 120V with usb (one on pillar and one below monitor). The inverter also has an extra plug in the back.
Entertainment: Heavy-duty swivel-arm monitor mount. This mount is meant to go almost everywhere. You can watch it from outside the van or from inside the van. I originally planned to make the passenger seat a swivel, but never got around to it. The arm is supposed to be able to turn the monitor for the passenger if they wanted to work out of that.
4. Exterior & Stealth
Roof Rack: Custom black heavy-duty industrial roof rack. The goal of the roof rack was to remain as functional as possible while still having solar panels. The left side of the roof rack is completely usable, and the front right side is completely usable. However, you will be giving up solar power, depending on what you need it for.
Solar Integration: Solar panels are flush-mounted as the "floor" of the rack, making them relatively invisible from street level.
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Feel free to contact for more information. I'm generally pretty available to show the van when I'm home.
