How we dressed up Betsy

[Romke]

Betsy is our new Beach. We've had her since October last year and have tried various ways to store our stuff in her, in a practical way. The big bottleneck has always been the Multiflex board so we decided to take it out completely and start with a blank canvas. Here's the result:

We started with a base unit, anchored at seven points in the floor rails, using standard VW T-bolts. On top of that we bolted a storage unit made of 10mm and 15mm marine ply. This unit holds two "towers" of industrial crates in various sizes, mounted on runners to turn them into drawers.

Each drawer has a specific purpose. One for cooking equipment (gas bottle and Intellichef), one for pots, pans, plates and food, one for cutlery and cooking tools, one for miscellaneous items (spare gas, extension lead, lantern, etc.), and one for spare sheets, towels, etc.

The remaining space (on the left) is our wine bar!


The base level has a crate for dog food and a pull-out table for cooking


The top of the storage unit is 15cm deeper than the original Multiflex board. This extends our bed to a full 200cm, and creates additional space behind the bench. The sides of the board have hinges, giving access to the space above the wheel arches. (We store shoes on one side and our Cali Topper on the other). On top of this board we store our mattress, clothes and bedding. In the space behind the bench we keep our Popaloo and awning sides.



We travel with two Golden Retrievers. During the journey they live on the floor in front of the bench. At night one of them sleeps in the footwell, the other on the front seats. We made a "bridge" between the seats to have a continuous sleeping area.


We carry two jerrycans of 5 liters for our drinking water. They fit perfectly in the door pockets.


The living area: we have a Waeco CDF-25 fridge which is big enough for two 1.5 liter water bottles and food for two to three days. The space between the fridge and LH seat is used to store our level ramps and hook-up cable. The Brandrup bags behind the RH seat are our entertainment centre: computer, Kindles, DVDs, cables, batteries, etc. The pockets in the side of the van hold all our breakfast necessities: kettle, coffee, tea, mugs, etc.


Oops! Too many pictures. Part 2 to follow

 

[calikev]

Excellent work

 

[Romke]

How we dressed up Betsy, Part 2

Here is our best invention yet:

This board (10mm ply) creates a false ceiling above the cabin, with space for clothes and everything else that needs a home when we make up the bed.

We're really happy with this arrangement and hope it inspires somebody else!

 

[Hotel California]

Nice , job
They sell custom made units like that , only thing , it coast about 3000euro so you did some nice savings i guess!

I just exposed the inside of my SE yesterday in this topic http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/inside-the-hotel-california-for-your-eyes-only.9776/

 

[snowy55]

Looks very well thought out and executed.
My only negative is the water containers in the door pockets.
My last T5 suffered with the well documented door sag, which causes the rear lower corner of the door to touch the body causing a rust patch,so keep a very close eye on it.

 

[Romke]

Nice , job
They sell custom made units like that , only thing , it coast about 3000euro so you did some nice savings i guess!

I just exposed the inside of my SE yesterday in this topic http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/inside-the-hotel-california-for-your-eyes-only.9776/

I think we spent between 300 and 400 euros

 

[Meoncoast]

Fantastic work, last weekend away I was looking at the idea of an over cab shelf

 

[Bramco]

Nice one Romke. I've bookmarked this post for future reference!

 

[owen_h]

Excellent job

 

[Romke]

Looks very well thought out and executed.
My only negative is the water containers in the door pockets.
My last T5 suffered with the well documented door sag, which causes the rear lower corner of the door to touch the body causing a rust patch,so keep a very close eye on it.

Thanks for the hint. We'll keep our eyes open!

 

[hubert72]

Very well done, some great ideas, thanks for sharing.

 

[Hotel California]

Think the beach owners have a perfect example ho to modificate they'r booth...
It does look nice , just the wooden plank/ shelf in the top ...with the bed lowerd how do you acces the upper bed. You need to remove the shelf , no ?

 

[Looby]

I think the bridge between the front seats is just what my husband needs to make for our old golden retriever when we're using the downstairs bed. Many thanks for your excellent post

 

[motacyclist]

Great job, you should go on Dragon's Den with those ideas

 

[larrylamb]

Great ideas, love the pull out drawers/ storage especially the wine rack - well done

 

[Romke]

Think the beach owners have a perfect example ho to modificate they'r booth...
It does look nice , just the wooden plank/ shelf in the top ...with the bed lowerd how do you acces the upper bed. You need to remove the shelf , no ?

We always sleep downstairs

 

[IanE]

Inspiring stuff - maybe you should be commissioned to come up with similar great ideas for the SE! ☺

 

[storma63]

Some brilliant ideas, well done! Where did you get the floor rail clamps from?

 

[Romke]

Where did you get the floor rail clamps from?

Ebay Germany: http://goo.gl/WoYhhw

 

[stevieb]

Well done brilliantly thought through...

 

[Goldie]

Some really good ideas there. Just finishing my kitchen pod prototype (MDF) but already thinking about creating double hinging multi-flex board and the roof parcel shelf.

Can you store the shelf in the roof area under the mattress?

Andy

 

[Romke]

Can you store the shelf in the roof area under the mattress?
Andy

I daren't. The shelf is only 10mm but I'm afraid to damage the roof. Or am I being paranoid?

 

[Goldie]

I daren't. The shelf is only 10mm but I'm afraid to damage the roof. Or am I being paranoid?

Probably paranoid as I stored the safety net up there until I realised that carrying it around was a waste of time as I would never use it.

If you put it under the mattress in the middle longways I would have thought it okay. No sharp edges and 10mm is minimal. The mattress should compress rather than the roof and I can't believe tolerances are that tight. There again the roof is the 'Achilles Heel' of the Cali, yet mine is approaching three years old and I haven't had the the problem yet (touching wood!).

Andy

 

[Hotel California]

Also think that shelf can easyly be stored under or on the matras if it's olnly 10mm plywood.
I got a thin sleeping bag and sometimes leave it on the matrras , locating it in the midlle realy flat...
Just try out , close the roof and check if the ouside edge of the elevating roof is on it's normal place and does not have any opening between the roof and the van , then it should be ok , matras is a bit compresseble...
If you don't feel comforteble with it , just don't do it , prob will worry you to much!

 

[Waldo]

amazing! my 2 cents: I store the hookup cable next to the main battery, there's enough space for a 15 m cable, adapters and window cleaning product. And that's where I have to connect it to the Maxxcamp cable anyway.