# Camper Van Conversion Repair for San Clemente Owners

> Camper van conversion repair at OCRV Center covers chassis body and structural work plus conversion scope: cabinetry, insulation, wall panels, roof penetrations, solar, lithium banks and water systems. We value and document the two separately so a claim reflects both. All work is in shop in Yorba Linda.

**Type:** Vehicle type  
**Canonical:** https://ocrv.pro/what-we-fix/vans-and-camper-vans/camper-van-conversions  
**Updated:** 2026-07-29

## Summary

A conversion has two values: the chassis and the build. We document and repair both separately, from Winnebago Revel to owner-built rigs. Claims hinge on that split.

A camper van conversion is two vehicles sharing one set of wheels. Underneath is a Sprinter, Transit, ProMaster or Savana with published structural specifications, defined sectioning locations and a factory corrosion protection scheme. On top of that is a build: framing, insulation, wall and ceiling panels, cabinetry, a bed platform, a galley, water tanks, a lithium bank, an inverter, roof penetrations and often a pop top or a raised roof. The two were engineered by different people, and nobody ever wrote a single document describing them as one object.

That split is the most important thing to understand about repairing one. A rear corner impact on a Winnebago Revel is a body repair on the chassis and a demolition and rebuild job on the conversion, and the two have almost nothing in common in terms of labor type, parts sourcing or documentation. We see Revels, Storyteller Overland builds, Outside Van builds, Sportsmobile pop tops and a steady stream of owner built rigs from San Clemente, Dana Point and Capistrano Beach. Every one of them gets estimated as two scopes stacked on one work order.

The shop is at 23281 La Palma Ave in Yorba Linda, about 45 minutes from San Clemente on the I-5 or the 73. Everything happens in shop in our 35,000 square foot facility. We do not run mobile or roadside service, because conversion work involves opening walls, disconnecting high current cable and rebuilding sealant systems, none of which can be done correctly in a parking lot.

## Chassis Scope and Conversion Scope Are Two Separate Valuations

Here is the practical version. The chassis has a market value that any adjuster can look up in seconds, and it has published repair procedures that produce defensible labor hours. The conversion has neither. A build that cost $95,000 at a professional shop, or $38,000 in materials and two years of weekends for an owner build, does not appear in any valuation guide. If nobody puts a number on it and backs that number with paper, the claim gets settled against the bare chassis and the owner absorbs the rest.

So we write two scopes. The chassis scope is conventional collision work: measurement against factory specification, panel replacement at published sectioning locations, corrosion treatment, refinish and calibration of any driver assistance content that was disturbed. The conversion scope is an itemized rebuild: linear feet of cabinetry, square feet of wall and ceiling panel, insulation type and depth, the exact battery and inverter model, the plumbing runs, the roof fan and solar mounting. Each line carries a labor figure and a parts figure.

The reason this matters on a total loss decision is arithmetic. A van with a $42,000 chassis value and a $70,000 build is a very different total loss conversation than a $42,000 cargo van. Getting the build documented before an adjuster forms an opinion is the difference between a repair authorization and a settlement offer that does not come close. We do that documentation as part of teardown, not as an afterthought.

- **Chassis valuation:** Year, model, wheelbase, roof height and mileage produce a number an adjuster can verify in minutes. This is the part of the claim that almost never gets argued about.
- **Conversion valuation:** Build receipts, shop invoices, a component list and photographs establish what the interior is worth. Without that file the build is invisible to the claim and gets valued at zero.
- **Two labor types on one order:** Chassis work bills as body and paint at $210 per hour. Conversion electrical, plumbing and appliance work bills as mechanical and electrical at $260 per hour. Mixing them into one blended figure hides scope.
- **Documented before disassembly:** Measured photographs of every wall panel, cabinet run, wire route and tank position are taken before anything is cut, because the build cannot be described accurately once it is in pieces.

## Factory Builds, Shop Builds and Owner Builds Fail Differently

A Winnebago Revel or a Storyteller Overland is a production build. Panels are cut on a pattern, fasteners land in the same places on every unit, and the wire loom follows a documented route. That predictability is worth real money on a repair, because we can plan disassembly sequence in advance and we can often source a replacement panel or cabinet face rather than fabricating one. Production builds also tend to have proper structural attachment into the van body ribs rather than into thin skin.

An Outside Van or Sportsmobile build sits a step further toward custom. The construction quality is generally high, the attachment is deliberate, but the layout is specific to that customer, so replacement parts are made rather than ordered. On these we fabricate to pattern from the removed piece and from our pre teardown photographs. A Sportsmobile pop top adds one more consideration: the roof was cut and a lifting structure was bonded and fastened into the opening, so any collision anywhere near the roof line becomes a structural question about that opening.

Owner builds are the widest range we see, from work that is better than production to work that is genuinely unsafe. The common failure patterns are fasteners driven into sheet metal instead of into structure, cabinet loads carried by adhesive alone, roof penetrations sealed with the wrong product, undersized wire on high current runs and battery banks mounted without restraint. When we open an owner built van after an impact, we report what we find in writing. We will rebuild it correctly, and we will not reinstall a battery bank that has no mechanical restraint.

- **Production builds:** Revel, Storyteller and similar units have repeatable panel patterns and documented wire routes, which shortens disassembly planning and makes some replacement parts orderable rather than fabricated.
- **Custom shop builds:** Outside Van and Sportsmobile layouts are one-off. Replacement panels and cabinet faces get fabricated to pattern from the removed part plus measured photographs taken before teardown.
- **Pop top and raised roof openings:** Cutting the factory roof removes a stressed panel. The lifting frame or fiberglass high top becomes the structure, so any damage near the roof line is a structural inspection, not a trim job.
- **Owner built attachment quality:** Cabinets and beds fastened into skin rather than into body ribs tear out under impact load. We reattach into structure and document what the original attachment actually was.

## Roof Penetrations, Solar and the Leaks That Follow

A converted van roof is a field of holes. A fan, a vent, solar panel feet, a cable gland, an antenna, sometimes an air conditioner or a roof rack with eight or twelve mounting points. Every one of those is a hole in the only surface that gets rained on and baked in full sun all day. Southern California is harder on roof sealant than people expect, because the failure mode here is not freeze and thaw, it is ultraviolet breakdown and thermal cycling that shrinks and cracks a bead over three or four summers.

When a leak shows up in a conversion, it almost never shows up under the hole that caused it. Water enters at a solar foot, runs along the inside of a roof rib, and appears at a ceiling panel seam six feet away or soaks into the top of a cabinet. Insulation makes it worse by holding the water against the metal, which is how a slow leak becomes rust on the inside of a roof panel. We find the actual entry point by water testing zone by zone with the ceiling panels down rather than by resealing everything and hoping.

Correct repair means removing the fixture, cleaning the substrate back to bare and sound material, treating any corrosion under the flange, using a butyl or lap sealant appropriate to the metal and the fixture rather than whatever tube was on the shelf, and mechanically fastening into structure where the original build did not. Then the ceiling and any wet insulation come out and get replaced. Drying a soaked insulation batt in place is not a repair.

## Lithium Banks, Propane and Water Inside a Collision Zone

Conversion vans carry energy density that a cargo van does not. A 400 to 800 amp hour lithium bank with a 3,000 watt inverter has cable runs that can deliver enormous current into a short, and those cables often run under the floor or along a wall cavity that is exactly where collision damage lands. Before any cutting, grinding or welding happens on a conversion, we isolate the bank at the battery, verify with a meter that the bus is dead, and photograph the cable route so it goes back the way it came.

After an impact we inspect the whole high current path rather than just the visible portion. That means looking for chafe at every pass-through, checking that lugs are still tight and not deformed, confirming that fuses and class T breakers are intact and correctly sized, and verifying that the bank restraint has not been distorted. A battery box that shifted in an impact is a finding that goes in the report whether or not it is part of the claim.

Propane and water get the same treatment. A propane locker with a hard line running to a cooktop or heater gets pressure tested after any structural work near the run. Fresh and grey tanks hang on brackets that are often the first thing to fail in a rear or underside impact, and a cracked tank drains into the floor cavity and stays there. Where a heater or generator has a through-floor exhaust, we inspect the flange and the surrounding floor before anything gets closed up.

- **High current isolation before hot work:** The lithium bank is disconnected at the battery and verified dead with a meter before any grinding, welding or cutting begins. The cable route is photographed so it is restored exactly.
- **Cable chafe and lug condition:** Every pass-through, grommet and lug in the high current path is inspected after an impact. Deformed lugs and chafed insulation are reported in writing even when they sit outside the claim scope.
- **Battery and tank restraint:** Banks and water tanks need mechanical restraint into structure. Impact frequently distorts a bracket that was already marginal, and that finding goes in the report every time.
- **Propane line pressure testing:** Hard lines to a cooktop, furnace or water heater get pressure tested after structural work anywhere near the run, before interior panels are reinstalled and access is lost.

## What Camper Van Conversion Repair Costs

Body and paint labor is posted at $210 per hour, mechanical and electrical at $260 per hour and diagnostics at $285 per hour with a one hour minimum that is credited against an authorized repair. Detail is $95 per hour. Paint supplies run $55 per paint hour, body supplies $5 per body hour, and there is a $45 flat hazmat charge when chemicals, refrigerant or propane are involved. Parts carry 100 percent markup at or under $100 and 35 percent over $100. Jobs over $2,000 take a 50 percent deposit at authorization.

In practice a conversion repair estimate has a chassis half and a conversion half, and the conversion half is usually the larger one. Moderate rear corner damage on a professionally built van commonly lands between $14,000 and $38,000 once the interior rebuild is honest about what has to come out to reach the damage. A pop top that took a hit runs $1,800 to $14,000 depending on whether the lifting frame moved. Small water intrusion repairs at a roof penetration are far cheaper, typically $650 to $4,200.

Calendar time is driven by two things: the chassis parts clock and the fabrication time on custom interior pieces. We front load the work that is under our control, which means teardown, measurement, documentation and the supplement all happen in the first week rather than the fourth. You get a written completion date at authorization and a revised one in writing whenever it moves.

## Pricing

| Line item | Range | Hours |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Conversion van collision and refinish | $1,500 to $45,000+ | 6 to 210 |
| Conversion teardown, documentation and rebuild | $2,500 to $30,000+ | 12 to 140 |
| Pop top or raised roof repair | $1,800 to $14,000+ | 8 to 65 |
| Roof penetration reseal and solar remount | $650 to $4,200 | 3 to 18 |
| Cabinetry and interior panel rebuild | $1,200 to $18,000+ | 6 to 90 |
| Diagnostics and driver assistance recalibration | $285 to $2,850 | 1 to 10 |

## Process

1. **Intake and build inventory** (Day 1). We photograph the exterior, the interior and every system location, then build a component list covering battery bank, inverter, tanks, appliances, solar and roof fixtures. Build receipts are collected if you have them.
2. **Teardown and structural measurement** (Days 2 to 5). The conversion is disassembled back to bare metal in the damage zone with every removed piece labeled. The body is then measured against factory specification and the door apertures are checked.
3. **Two-scope estimate and supplement** (Days 5 to 8). Chassis and conversion scopes are written separately with photographs attached, then submitted to your carrier. Parts and custom material are ordered the day authorization lands.
4. **Chassis repair and refinish** (Weeks 2 to 5). Structure is pulled to specification, panels are replaced with the specified joint method, corrosion protection is restored in the factory pattern, and refinish is sprayed to a spectrophotometer match.
5. **Conversion rebuild and verification** (Weeks 4 to 8). Insulation, panels and cabinetry go back with attachment into structure. Electrical, plumbing and propane are tested, roof fixtures are resealed, and the van gets a zone by zone water test before pickup.

## What is included

- Measured photographic documentation of the full conversion before any disassembly
- Separate written chassis scope and conversion scope on the same estimate
- Structural measurement of the van body against factory specification
- Panel repair and replacement at published sectioning locations
- High current bank isolation, cable path inspection and restraint verification
- Roof penetration removal, substrate treatment and correct resealing
- Cabinetry, wall panel and insulation rebuild with fabrication to pattern
- Post repair scan, driver assistance recalibration and documented water test

## Questions

### How do I keep my conversion from being valued as a bare cargo van?

Paper. Build invoices, a component list with model numbers, and photographs of the finished interior establish that the build exists and what it cost. We add measured teardown photographs and an itemized rebuild scope to that file before your adjuster forms an opinion, which is when the number is easiest to move.

### Will you work on a van I built myself?

Yes, and a good share of our conversion work is owner built. We report what we find in writing, including attachment that went into sheet metal instead of structure and battery banks without mechanical restraint. We rebuild to a standard that holds up, and we tell you plainly where the original build needs to change.

### There is a wet ceiling panel but the roof looks fine. Where is the leak?

Almost certainly a fixture flange rather than a hole in the panel. Water enters at a solar foot, fan flange or cable gland, then runs along a roof rib and shows up several feet away. We drop the ceiling and water test zone by zone to find the entry point instead of resealing the whole roof and guessing.

### Do you disconnect the lithium bank before working on the van?

Always, before any cutting, grinding or welding. The bank is isolated at the battery and verified dead with a meter, and the cable route is photographed first so it is restored exactly. We also inspect the full high current path for chafe and deformed lugs afterward and put those findings in the file.

## Related

- https://ocrv.pro/what-we-fix/vans-and-camper-vans/sprinter-vans
- https://ocrv.pro/what-we-fix/vans-and-camper-vans/cargo-and-high-cube-vans
- https://ocrv.pro/what-we-fix/rvs-and-motorhomes/class-b-camper-vans
- https://ocrv.pro/claims/documenting-modified-vehicles
- https://ocrv.pro/repairs/solar-and-power-systems
- https://ocrv.pro/camper-repair
- https://ocrv.pro/what-we-fix/vans-and-camper-vans