Vandwelling in a Vintage Van -- Doable?

I currently live and travel full-time in a small RV, but am considering the whacky idea of minimizing even further down to a regular sized van. And since I totally love vintage vans, I thought it would cool to set one up for living in.

Question I have is whether this is practical from a maintenance standpoint. I mean, is it reasonable to think that a decently-restored vintage van wouldn't be a constant headache with miscellaneous maintenance issues? Those of you out there who drive your vintage vans pretty much daily, even if they're in really good shape, do you still find various issues popping up all the time? Or can one reasonably hope to achieve a level of stability with a 40-50 year old van that would make daily use basically as hassle-free as a much newer rig?

In my opinion the vintage vans aren't going to be as reliable or comfortable as newer vehicles unless you spend a lot of time, effort and cash upgrading them.

They are very primitive mechanically, points ignition, relatively poor engine cooling systems, manual drum brakes, mechanical voltage regulators vs solid state, 40+ year old parts, etc.

On the one hand they are simple to work on, if you can get the parts. On the other they aren't as efficient as new components by far. I've spent a pile of money and time so far just performing long neglected maintenance on mine to make it road worthy. I guess long term dependability would really rely on what you started with.

Personally, if I had to live in it and drive it everyday I'd go low profile/urban stealthy and use a full size low-top conversion van or build out the inside of a low-top cargo van.

Vintage vans aren't stealthy, people are attracted to them, they are "crowd pleasers". If I'm sleeping in it I don't want the attention... good, bad of otherwise

Up to you though, they are really fun and I guess it just depends on what your specific needs are.

OK GM01= heres what im doing = I have a 1967 chev 108 - was converted when new to a camper =pop up alunimun conversion. When im thru - This van will have a 383 cube chev 700r4 od trans & origional 373 ratio posi , I will use the origional Stove & sink- and install a nice modern 3 way fridge in it-I have that also. Bed-fold down (table type) and addl bed [pull out for daughter. All the kitchen items /stove ect-will be in rear doors area & will pull out.Like in a old 10ft. campers did .Side door area will have a pull out/ rectractable awning also. I do all work myself & is totally doable as a camper / touring unit. Likely i will have about 4000.00 in updates and all -ready to go. Van was purchased @ a low cost- was all apart for painting -yet still needed some bodywork=no rust!! Its a 3-4 years project =yet when done i do not see any other big cost maintaence items in my lifetime. Yes - its just my rendition of a poormans Winnebago- yet I dont wnat to drop a ton of cash into any used RV that we all know will take great buckets of dollars to keep up & going down the road . It suits me & what my needs are for travel. fishing, hunting & the van/ car meets . You can see my pics in the foto section here -I didnt get much done this year- as other travel & physical operations had to be done. Now getting ready for full time on it next summer here . We only have 4-5?= months of good weather here = if were lucky. Already cold & near freezing @ nites - so =im not under or in the van doing anything!! Ready & waithin for may again!! Happy Vannin & good luck.

Thanks for the insight guys!

Could try this?

I lived in a 69 Chevy Van 108 for about 9 months.

This one.





It was a pretty decent place to sleep, but not particularly setup for long term living. But then, I wasn't living in it by choice. Fortunately I still had my 68 Chevy van that became my 'storage'.