Finished some changes in the GC 600

Eber123 · Aug 12, 2022

Hello,

I used the nice weather to do some work on the camper. There were a few things I wanted to "improve", at least it was the idea. We will use those changes for a while and if they are good we leave it, if not we change it back.

I did my best to ensure that the camper can be brought back in the original state. Have I said that there are 2x exceptions which I will point out later. Of course I bought parts from companies which I will mention as well, but that doesn't mean I want to advertise for them.

Let's start with two pictures of the camper as it is at the moment:

In a different post I mentioned the additional storage space. I just wanted to use this post also to add some pictures. It is installed for a week or so and works well. Let's see if the installation will survive the camper lifestyle:

Here is a picture just from the front. The door is locked with 2x VW push buttons and a magnet:

I specifically put the a 10 cm high board in front of the shelve which should work as another barrier.

This extra storage suppose to be for food. At the moment I believe it is big enough.

Here is a picture from the back. The door to the fuse cabinet does still fully open:

I wanted to close the gap beside the new storage cabinet, which was possible because I had a wee bit of timber left (ok it doesn't look to well from the boot, but it is ok from the living area:

I wanted to use the space under the outside shower for storage. My aim was to create this with things I can find in the garage I didn't want to go ahead and spend more many. In the boxes we store shoes, rainjackets etc.

I used the airline stripe to fix a iron rod which hold the two boxes:

I believe I may only attache 10x pictures. So I will post this and will continue on a second entry in this post.

Eberhard

Eber123 · Aug 12, 2022

Hello,

Let me continue:

Some time ago I put in some shelving in the left cabinet in the garage. This is one place that I put screws in the VW timber. But it gives me so much more space. At the moment I store there: 1.) BBQ, 2.) Cable, 3.) camping gear, 4.) freshwater hose and adapter.

Camping chairs

For years now I thought that the original VW chairs are actually ok. But this summer we spend an afternoon in very hot weather on a french aire and at this point I thought they where a little bit uncomfortable.
So we looked for chairs which might be a bit more comfortable but still will fit into the original VW holders.
This wasn't easy, but at the end we found some chairs from Decathlon which looked interesting. So we went to Decathlon and checked if they would fit. They do and they don't.

If you are very protective of your Grand California please stop reading from here. In order to get it fit we needed to cut the VW pouch / holder. Let me explain:

The right side is fine:

All this fits into the VW pouch:

The chair looks like this:

In comparison the new chairs are so much more comfortable. The back is tilting and the feed get on the little blue stool.

But let's talk about the left side. Because of the different VW furniture layout the VW pouch is different and the new chair won't fit. So we decided to cut the VW pouch to create room for the chair to slide down a bit:

I hope this all make sense.

Now the new chair, the food stool and the table will fit exactly into the changed VW pouch and the door will close nicely (there is about 1 cm room left).

At the moment these are all my changes that I wanted to implement. Other things I want to change need to be done by companies, which is difficult to find in ROI. Those changes are:

1.) Get a bicycle holder installed for 2x ebikes
2.) Get the Maxview Roam installed
3.) LED Lazer lights (not necessary but I think they look so cool)
4.) Original spare wheel holder

With my VW dealer I have one issue open which is the issue with the Truma heating switching off. I will put more pressure on my VW dealer next week.

That is all I have done. I though I share that with other Grand California owners.

Happy Grand California,
Eberhard

dennfo · Aug 12, 2022

Love your posts @Eber123 - they were really helpful before we got our GC600 and are still and always interesting to see what others are doing. I have two projects underway at the moment. (1) is to put a Tambour sliding door on the rear cupboard. I’m waiting for some additional fittings but I think that will work really well. I’m always in and out of that rear cupboard and it’s a pain when there’s stuff in the garage when the existing door doesn’t open. (2) - we like the size of the table when we’re using it as a table but we want a bit more room as well, so I’m making a drop leaf. Hopefully it should turn out well. . We’ll be in Ireland soon so look out for us on the road

.

Topsy · Sep 25, 2022

Eber123 said:
Hello,

Let me continue:

Some time ago I put in some shelving in the left cabinet in the garage. This is one place that I put screws in the VW timber. But it gives me so much more space. At the moment I store there: 1.) BBQ, 2.) Cable, 3.) camping gear, 4.) freshwater hose and adapter.

View attachment 97689

Camping chairs

For years now I thought that the original VW chairs are actually ok. But this summer we spend an afternoon in very hot weather on a french aire and at this point I thought they where a little bit uncomfortable.
So we looked for chairs which might be a bit more comfortable but still will fit into the original VW holders.
This wasn't easy, but at the end we found some chairs from Decathlon which looked interesting. So we went to Decathlon and checked if they would fit. They do and they don't.

If you are very protective of your Grand California please stop reading from here. In order to get it fit we needed to cut the VW pouch / holder. Let me explain:

The right side is fine:

View attachment 97690
All this fits into the VW pouch:
View attachment 97691

The chair looks like this:
View attachment 97692

In comparison the new chairs are so much more comfortable. The back is tilting and the feed get on the little blue stool.

But let's talk about the left side. Because of the different VW furniture layout the VW pouch is different and the new chair won't fit. So we decided to cut the VW pouch to create room for the chair to slide down a bit:

View attachment 97693

View attachment 97694

I hope this all make sense.

Now the new chair, the food stool and the table will fit exactly into the changed VW pouch and the door will close nicely (there is about 1 cm room left).

At the moment these are all my changes that I wanted to implement. Other things I want to change need to be done by companies, which is difficult to find in ROI. Those changes are:

1.) Get a bicycle holder installed for 2x ebikes
2.) Get the Maxview Roam installed
3.) LED Lazer lights (not necessary but I think they look so cool)
4.) Original spare wheel holder

With my VW dealer I have one issue open which is the issue with the Truma heating switching off. I will put more pressure on my VW dealer next week.

That is all I have done. I though I share that with other Grand California owners.

Happy Grand California,
Eberhard

Hi Eberhard,
Having seen your chairs I have bought some of them from Decathlon. They do a grey version which suits my Indium Grey van. They are slightly heavier (about 1 Kg) as they are made from steel rather than aluminium. Thank you for showing them. They are fantastic and far better then the VW original ones. Very comfortable and well made.
I am frightened of cutting the pouch on the left hand door so he new chair fits. Before I proceed can you confirm exactly where you cut. What stops the chair and table falling through the bottom?
Thanks.

Eber123 · Sep 25, 2022

Topsy said:
Hi Eberhard,
Having seen your chairs I have bought some of them from Decathlon. They do a grey version which suits my Indium Grey van. They are slightly heavier (about 1 Kg) as they are made from steel rather than aluminium. Thank you for showing them. They are fantastic and far better then the VW original ones. Very comfortable and well made.
I am frightened of cutting the pouch on the left hand door so he new chair fits. Before I proceed can you confirm exactly where you cut. What stops the chair and table falling through the bottom?
Thanks.

Hello @Topsy,

If it is not raining later in the afternoon I will take some pictures and try to explain what we did. If the weather doesn't permit this I will try to get this done on Monday.

Regards,
Eberhard

Eber123 · Sep 25, 2022

Hello @Topsy,

I just nipped out to take some pictures of the chair pouches on the back door of the camper.

Just an overview of the back doors:
|
\/

Here is an overview of the left door (there was no issues with the right door):
|
\/

Now it get's a wee bit complicated t show. Using the existing VW chair pouch the chair of the left door is a wee bit to high and the door won't close. In order to get it a little bit down we decided to cut the first inside pouch:
|
\/

Here are some pictures taken from above:
|
\/

The table has it's own brackets (metal):
|
\/

Another view, one pair of legs are in the pouch and the other pair of legs our now in the "cutted section":
|
\/

There is even some room for a footstool. But because the pouch was cutted to make room for the pair of legs for the chair, the footstool has to be fixed to the chair:
|
\/

The setup is tied - and to put the chair back into the pouch is slower because I have to check that the pair of legs go into their place. Put it works:
|
\/

It takes a wee bit longer to put everything back in place, but now we have two comfortable chairs, which are bigger than the original VW chairs, but still store the chairs in the same place and therefore not taking away storage space inside the camper.

Before I did this I spoke to my wife, because if it wouldn't turn out as planned we need to replace the VW chair pouch. I have no idea how much it costs, but I assume up to EUR 150 (VW is never cheap). So we gave it a try and it worked out.

Regards,
Eberhard

Eber123 · Sep 25, 2022

Hello,

I just finished a small shelf for the upper cupboard over the sink:

I just used a small bit of timer, glued in the upper dividing walls and used two double sided tape to fix the shelf at the back of the cupboard.
To provide a bit more strength I added a small bit of timber to support the shelf.

Now there is room for more small bits and pieces which are not heavy.

Regards,
Eberhard

Topsy · Sep 25, 2022

Eber123 said:
Hello @Topsy,

I just nipped out to take some pictures of the chair pouches on the back door of the camper.

Just an overview of the back doors:
|
\/

View attachment 99778

Here is an overview of the left door (there was no issues with the right door):
|
\/

View attachment 99779

Now it get's a wee bit complicated t show. Using the existing VW chair pouch the chair of the left door is a wee bit to high and the door won't close. In order to get it a little bit down we decided to cut the first inside pouch:
|
\/

View attachment 99780

Here are some pictures taken from above:
|
\/

View attachment 99781
View attachment 99782

The table has it's own brackets (metal):
|
\/

View attachment 99783

Another view, one pair of legs are in the pouch and the other pair of legs our now in the "cutted section":
|
\/
View attachment 99784

View attachment 99785

There is even some room for a footstool. But because the pouch was cutted to make room for the pair of legs for the chair, the footstool has to be fixed to the chair:
|
\/

View attachment 99786

The setup is tied - and to put the chair back into the pouch is slower because I have to check that the pair of legs go into their place. Put it works:
|
\/

View attachment 99787

It takes a wee bit longer to put everything back in place, but now we have two comfortable chairs, which are bigger than the original VW chairs, but still store the chairs in the same place and therefore not taking away storage space inside the camper.

Before I did this I spoke to my wife, because if it wouldn't turn out as planned we need to replace the VW chair pouch. I have no idea how much it costs, but I assume up to EUR 150 (VW is never cheap). So we gave it a try and it worked out.

Regards,
Eberhard

Hi Eberhard,
Thanks for your excellent photographs and explanation.

Nobard 33 French · Sep 30, 2024

Eber123 said:
Hello,

I just finished a small shelf for the upper cupboard over the sink:

View attachment 99790
View attachment 99791
View attachment 99792

I just used a small bit of timer, glued in the upper dividing walls and used two double sided tape to fix the shelf at the back of the cupboard.
To provide a bit more strength I added a small bit of timber to support the shelf.

Now there is room for more small bits and pieces which are not heavy.

Regards,
Eberhard

Hi Eberhard

Nobard 33 French · Sep 30, 2024

Hi Eberharh
What material did you use to make these shelves?
You made a ledge?
Regards
Phil

Eber123 · Sep 30, 2024

Hello @Nobard 33 French ,

Just a bit of 6 mm plywood and a short round timber in the middle.

I glued the dividers to the middle shelf and, at the beginning, used double sided tape to fix it to the back of the cupboard.

A few weeks ago the shelf, which I fixed with double sided tape, came off. I still was very pleased with the shelf so I took everything out, cleaned it, put it back (with double sided tape) and used 3x small screws to give extrag strenght.

Now I can't see that it will fall off again, even if we drive on dirt roads.

Regards,
Eberhard