Kitchen Shelf

[Calimili]

I have been playing with the Idea of a kitchen shelf for a while, I could do with a bit of extra space to put things while stationary. Saw some pics some people here have bought them. But not really sure 100%, and a full size one is 130€ and more.
The cheap bastard within me got the better of me, went to the hardware store and bought a 300mm x 1000mm 0,8mm thick aluminium panel for 12.77€ . 12.77€ !!!!
Then with my "professional equipment" (see pics below) made a couple of bends, cut a 2cmx2cm piece at the top to fit around the strut of the bed upstairs and with unusually very few curse words...voila'! 30mins Job!
Super easy. 8,5 cm from the top of the bed/ceiling, 15cm wide , 98cm long. Basically from the wardrobe up to just before the sink.
Only left to put some protection on the edge just to be 100% sure.

 

[DevillBelgium]

I have been playing with the Idea of a kitchen shelf for a while, I could do with a bit of extra space to put things while stationary. Saw some pics some people here have bought them. But not really sure 100%, and a full size one is 130€ and more.
The cheap bastard within me got the better of me, went to the hardware store and bought a 300mm x 1000mm 0,8mm thick aluminium panel for 12.77€ . 12.77€ !!!!
Then with my "professional equipment" (see pics below) made a couple of bends, cut a 2cmx2cm piece at the top to fit around the strut of the bed upstairs and with unusually very few curse words...voila'! 30mins Job!
Super easy. 8,5 cm from the top of the bed/ceiling, 15cm wide , 98cm long. Basically from the wardrobe up to just before the sink.
Only left to put some protection on the edge just to be 100% sure.

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Looks like you a very good job. Like you said it is only usefull for when you are stationary.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Indeed a nice DIY-job! Impressive that you did it without professional tools. Another possibility would have been to figure out what dimensions you wanted and let a aluminiumshop make it to your desired size. It's what I did. Made a model (which you can freely download here) and just asked the aluminium shop to make it. The whole thing cost me 55 pounds. Added some anti slip mat and you can perfectly leave stuff up there while driving, no problem. You can find the full DIY-explanation in English here.

 

[Calimili]

Indeed a nice DIY-job! Impressive that you did it without professional tools. Another possibility would have been to figure out what dimensions you wanted and let a aluminiumshop make it to your desired size. It's what I did. Made a model (which you can freely download here) and just asked the aluminium shop to make it. The whole thing cost me 55 pounds. Added some anti slip mat and you can perfectly leave stuff up there while driving, no problem. You can find the full DIY-explanation in English here.

you are certainly correct. May I offer a suggestion/improvement ? from your design, you must have glued the 5cm wide part to the frame of the cali. if you had instead added another 1,5 to 2cm to the 5cm part and bent it upwards to go inside the frame (the aluminium part where the gas strut of the bed is attached to) , allowing for an open 2x2cm hole to go around the gas strut attachment, you wouldn't need to glue anything, not it could slide forward .
Also 2mm is much stronger than mine 0,8mm, but heavier, more expensive and may leave a mark on the under side of the bed. Since you are not putting massive weights on such a small rack, but more likely small items, I've found 0,8mm to be sufficient. And i think there's no way I could have bent buy hand such a large (1m wide) piece of 2mm alu.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

@Calimili , @ThomasHJ Love these shelf ideas, I'm working on melding together the designs to produce the ultimate thingy holder. Thank you.

 

[marchugo]

I've already melded designs together here:

Pushing the envelope - stretching Cali's room to te limit

Hi, As I was reorganizing our Cali today for the 8th time in eight years, I realized how many small adjustments the bus has gathered in time - call it minor repairs. Improvements in creating extra room in our little fourwheeled hotel room are by definition always minor. I thought, maybe it's...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

 

[marchugo]

And a photo of the bending:




Marc.

 

[Calimili]

I've already melded designs together here:

Pushing the envelope - stretching Cali's room to te limit

Hi, As I was reorganizing our Cali today for the 8th time in eight years, I realized how many small adjustments the bus has gathered in time - call it minor repairs. Improvements in creating extra room in our little fourwheeled hotel room are by definition always minor. I thought, maybe it's...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

This again requires gluing the piece to the Cali. And it must be a very strong glue/high quality or it will detach in summer because of the heat. i wanted something that i can remove and return the Cali in original condition easily.
You did a nice job anyway!

 

[ThomasHJ]

This again requires gluing the piece to the Cali. And it must be a very strong glue/high quality or it will detach in summer because of the heat. i wanted something that i can remove and return the Cali in original condition easily.
You did a nice job anyway!

I used Tesa Powerbond Ultrastrong. Which is essentially, very strong tape and this works brilliantly.
It can hold up to 100KG/m or 10KG/10cm. The shelve is steady in place and has been for a few years now. It hold's everything we ever felt the need to put up there. Don't forget that the shelev slildes under/behind an existing art of the van and when the top bed is down, the full weight of the bed helps some more.

I used Tesa Powerbond especially because I didn't want to make any lasting alterations to the Cali.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I used Tesa Powerbond especially because I didn't want to make any lasting alterations to the Cali.

Tesa Powerbond is a very good product, I've used it for various things. Removing it after several months is a bit of a job, it sticks very firmly, but still quite possible to remove cleanly.

 

[Calimili]

I used Tesa Powerbond Ultrastrong. Which is essentially, very strong tape and this works brilliantly.
It can hold up to 100KG/m or 10KG/10cm. The shelve is steady in place and has been for a few years now. It hold's everything we ever felt the need to put up there. Don't forget that the shelev slildes under/behind an existing art of the van and when the top bed is down, the full weight of the bed helps some more.

I used Tesa Powerbond especially because I didn't want to make any lasting alterations to the Cali.

Well, now I've lernt what Tesa Powerbond Ultrastrong is and that it can be removed clean albeit with a bit of work. I still do prefer a mechanical attachment without glue if possible, so I can quickly remove, modify, etc. Without the edge lip I could fit the washing bowl which proved to be a game changer in term of space gained on the kitchen unit.

 

[Velma's Dad]

...Without the edge lip I could fit the washing bowl which proved to be a game changer in term of space gained on the kitchen unit.

We've had the "bought" add-on shelf (can't remember who makes it) for years and it's extremely useful just for popping things on and off both during the day and in the evening. Even with the roof down you can still use it for phones etc. Made or bought, a genuinely useful Cali accessory.

 

[marchugo]

Tesa Powerbond is a very good product, I've used it for various things. Removing it after several months is a bit of a job, it sticks very firmly, but still quite possible to remove cleanly.

The Tesa tape is now holding our Cali kitchen shelf since 2016; we had 42 degrees Celsius and 12 Celsius freezing.
Important is to clean both areas where the tape is applied from any fat, with alcohol.

Regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.