First of all, a van conversion is something I'm really into myself. Been watching a ton of videos like that on youtube. Maybe you should take pictures from doing the conversion and write about it!
Second, I hope the bad experience doesn't ruin your upcoming roadtrip. Learn from the experience, move on and enjoy converting the van! Make it a beauty :)
Thanks! Yeah I've seen a few videos as well and it's great to hear people like you who are into it. And I do plan to write about it. My conversion will be super simple and minimalist because I'm not all that handy, but will be fun. And yeah I think just fixing the mechanical issues will just delay things, but otherwise I agree I'll just move on and enjoy the journey!