Storage pod on multiflex board

[owen_h]

Been busy with the power tools again making an additional storage box for my Beach.
Its really for use when camping to store bedding in and also to provide additional work surface area. I now need to get a smaller cushion made to replace the existing full width one. Not sure what if anything to do about a door for it. Options are a) leave as an opening b) tambour door c) elastic mesh to half height.
[album]1341[/album]
[album]1340[/album]

 

[Meoncoast]

Nice job fits in well

 

[James]

That looks very very professional. Deeply
Impressed.

James

 

[Pollychops]

A very good item to compliment your kitchen pod.I would leave it open for easy access.

 

[owen_h]

Thanks for the kind comments. Leaving open is what I will do for the moment I think. See how I get on with it in use.

 

[Barefoot62]

I think they look great, just wish I had the time,skill and patients to make something similar myself :cool

Alasdair

 

[Monkeytree]

Look very professional, actually look better than the professional ones!

How do you finish it, is it painted or laminated?

 

[owen_h]

Look very professional, actually look better than the professional ones!

How do you finish it, is it painted or laminated?

The ply comes laminated both sides. Its lightweight Poplar ply made by a company called Vorhingher. Available in a variety of finishes/colours and their titanium finish is a great match for the Beach trim. Where I have differed from what most of the converters do is by edgebanding the edges with 1mm pvc. I prefer this to the more normal knock on T trim as it gives a cleaner look. Have had to use the T trim on the internal cutouts though as the company I've used to do the edgebanding cant do internal edges. They wont do curved edges for me now either so some of the edges I've had to do by hand.

 

[James]

I think it looks great, I'd happily pay you for that kind of look. I know there is a kitchen and storage unit that sits under the board of the three seater, when you see the cost, to have the skills to do it yourself is invaluable.

Fancy making me a unit? Lol.

James

 

[Goldie]

Owen,

Looks really good. Do you screw it down / bolt it to the multiflex board to keep it in place?

Is it just two of you using the Cali so you you can leave downstairs in Lounge /Diner config and sleep upstairs as your units reduce the bed to full fat Cali size?

Can you access the area under the fridge from the boot? I'm think of creating similar unit and leaving back open so awning could be slid underneath.

My Cali is currently in Singapore and another month before we are reunited in NZ. I have my router, templates and all the kit onboard to make a kitchen unit so the plan is to make some MDF units as templates and then make final units when Vohringer board arrives with rest of house shipment.

If okay with you I may PM you with a few questions.

Andy

 

[owen_h]

James,

I'd love to say I could make you a unit but unless they kick me out of my current job I just wont have the time. I know what you mean about the costs of available units. When i costed the materials and external services used for mine I still came to around £600 though. Admittedly I bought some things I then didn't use and also had some spare ply and fixings at the end of the process. The Vorhinger board is £120 a sheet and you need 2 sheets + some for the worktop.

Andy

hope your enjoying New Zealand and looking forward to getting reunited with your Beach.
Yes the units do reduce the downstairs bed to SE Cali size but as its generally 1 or sometimes 2 of of us thats not a problem. If I use the upstairs or downstairs bed is more down to temperature (or if Ive broken some ribs and couldnt climb upstairs :crazy ).
To fix the box to the multiflex boards I used Insert nuts on the board and joint connector bolts:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/joint-connect ... f-50/72465
http://www.screwfix.com/p/insert-nut-ty ... f-50/59937

The area under the fridge I access from within the pod rather than the boot. A bit like the existing VW storage box there is an open area to the rear. I have also mounted my 240v consumer unit here which I access from the boot. I dont see any reason why you coulndt leave the back of the pod open though and have a long through loading area.
No problem with answering any queries. Perhaps I should put some sort of a document together.

Owen

 

[owen_h]

Bit of an update to this post as Nick at Comfortz Leisure has made me a new cushion to fit on the multiflex board. Thanks Nick its a great fit, colour match & quality :clap :clap

[album]1494[/album]

I was camping in the van last BH weekend and the new arrangement worked out well. Kept the bedding in the box and the extra worktop area was very useful.
Also very useful was the roof topper (again from Comfortz ). Van warm and dry despite it raining for most of the weekend. It did dry up enough to take this pic though.

[album]1495[/album]

 

[Max-Felix]

Hi Owen, new here and I'm sorry to bump up an old topic but I have been searching like crazy for info on retrofitting a full kitchen pod to a 2 seater beach and this topic and your main kitchen pod one below have been extremely helpful.

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/kitchen-pod-almost-complete.4130/

However, there are no photos now and I wondered if it would be possible to see these somehow?

Many thanks,

Max

 

[owen_h]

Hi Max,

the pics were in an album which disappeared when the forum changed over to a new format.
I still have them on my computer at home and will try and re-post. Either that or take some new ones. Also got a dimensional drawing somewhere which another forum user asked for.
Hopefully will get a few pics posted initially to give an overview. Off to France to use the pod V early Saturday though so full set might be delayed by a fortnight.

Owen

 

[Max-Felix]

Thanks Owen, very kind. No hurry for me as I have until next Spring to find a Beach. Easier said than done of course but better in the quiet season that early summer of course.

 

[owen_h]

I bought mine in the middle of winter and picked it up with an inch of snow on the roads. Rather nervous 1st drive home.
Got a few new pics of the pod to get you thinking:


Owen

 

[Max-Felix]

Thanks very much Owen, that is a huge help and a truly superb job you have done there.

I particularly like the colour coding, these very grey VW's need a little jazzing up!

It's a shame VW don't offer a unit like this - the 2 seater Beach with wide double bed is almost perfect in your configuration, very much like our old Leisuredrive Daytime which we owned in the mid-90's and lived in for up to 6 months at a time. Having a shorter low level 'kitchen' ending at the seat back makes so much more sense thereby leaving a panoramic view all round with full windows and a wider bed section at the head/shoulders where you need it most. All that is sacrificed is the 'wardrobe' which is never that much use anyway.

I notice like the Maxcamp units you have left the Waeco 'open'. Is there a possibility to have it lower and therfore have a hinged continuation of worktop over it? Also is it possible to box it in completely (with ventilation of course) or is it too deep (from the seat edge to van side)?

I would probably approach one of the more flexible converters to build for me but would consider having a go. I imagine shaping the rear especially behind the passenger seat is tricky as the built in storage panels taper inwards here? Did you leave the back open so this storage can still be reached?

 

[owen_h]

Hi Max,
thanks for the kind comments. I wanted to get a bit of colour into the design so picked up the blue from the seat trim. Blue surround to the rear box cutout would have been nice but couldnt find anyone doing the edging in the right colour. Took a while to find the strap to hold the Waeco in blue as well.
On the Waeco its not possible to drop it much more than I have it. Perhaps by about a cm but much more and the platform it sits on will foul the side trim & cup holder on that side. Side to side there is not much more clearance either so boxing it it (at least with the 15mm board) would be a very tight squeeze. The ply is/might be available in 6mm thickness which should just about fit if you really wanted it covered. Or have to go with a smaller coolbox.The Waeco unit I've got has I think been discontinued and the replacement looks squarer than mine. Got mine on eBay and it was make by Waeco for Bentley. Presumably they envisioned it being used at Ascot or Henley regatta rather than a campsite.
Couple of other advantages in not having a wardrobe are better over the shoulder visibility when driving and more surface space. Was it some of the Torbay conversions on T4s that didn't have a rear wardrobe as well?
I'll post some pics taken during construction which give a clearer idea of the area under the coolbox and how its shaped. There is less available space there than you would think. Ive used some for the 240v & 12v distribution and some for storage accessed via a hatch (just visable to the left of the small tupperware box in the 5th picture.
To make a similar unit I was quoted (by 2 different converters) around £2000. This didn't include the coolbox either. If you did want to have a go at making one yourself it would be worth meeting up and I can explain in more detail what I did and changes I would make.

 

[Max-Felix]

Thanks Owen, appreciate that very much. Those quotes are pretty high when considering some of the off the peg pods available, loads out there but I've linked a few below - of course anything custom bumps it up.

It might be possible to use a pre-made one and mod it of course, lots cheaper and simpler on eBay but these below looked interesting.

http://evomotiondesign.co.uk/product-category/kitchen-pods/

http://evomotiondesign.co.uk/conversions/vw-t5-diy-kits/

https://tranzwagon.co.uk/product-category/conversion-kits/

http://clearcutconversions.co.uk/product-category/modular-units-pods/units-without-appliances/

http://www.camperpamper.com/products/complete-kitchen-pods/

I may well have a go but will consider it carefully as like you I suspect I'm a bit OCD/perfectionist about these things and one dodgy edge/poor cut would *&$£ me off every time I saw it!

Still not 100% sure on a T5 Beach as I (even with the man maths) cannot get my head round the costs of the damn things, my T3 we bought in '94 was a brand new conversion on a four year old van at £8.5K.

I may even think about a post 2000 Westy California T4 as I had a T3 Westy and they are something else...will see what the market brings in the next six months.

What is imperative is the slidey seat as I was amazed how much this changes the use of the 'van. First viewed the California at SMG last week and was mighty impressed - just the cost of course.....

 

[SlidePods]

£2000 does seem pretty expencieve for this style of kitchen. If there is enough interest I would more than happily design and build this type of pod for beach owners. If we could get say 4 or 5 people who all want them I would be able to do a cracking group buy discount on them too. I must say Owen_h you have made a lovely job of yours. What size waste and fresh water tanks did you manage to fit in it?

 

[owen_h]

I suspect a lot of the £2000 quote was me paying for their development as I wanted more than a simple box. There is quite a lot of useful storage in the side trim of a Beach that I didn’t want to lose it. It was the high quotes and me not being 100% certain what I wanted/what would work that led to me deciding first to make an MDF mock up and then the real thing.

I really enjoyed the process of making the pod and learning new skills. There were a few key tools I bought to make it much easier and more precise. Bit OCD / perfectionist myself according to a personality profile I had to do for a position at work.

I had real issues in reconciling the price of campervans as well. Originally I was looking at van conversions but by the time I’d priced in a good roof, sliding seat etc etc it was getting close to (secondhand) Beach prices. Found an ex demo in the end and amazed myself by actually making a decision. The prices certainly don’t seem to have gone down much in the 3 years since then, for interest I priced up a roughly equivalent T6 and it came to around £45k list! This is way more than I paid. Friend of mine used to have a T4 Cali ‘Biker’. He had it for 5 years and sold it for £200 more than he paid. The left hand drive became too much of an issue in the end as his children grew up and it needed to be used more and more as a daily driver. Great build quality and nicely thought out.

+ SlidePods
The fresh water is 25litre. I had one of these from camping days http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0084EMKWU/?tag=eliteelect-21

I removed the tap bit and fitted a submersible pump connected to an adapted shower head that you can just about see clipped on the right hand side of the pod.

I don’t have a built in grey water tank or indeed a built in sink. Find that sinks in vans are usually pretty pointless. I keep a washing up bowl in the top right section of the pod so can do the washing up outside or more usually at the campsite sink. Also almost always got a collapsible bucket outside to throw any grey water into.

 

[MattBW]

This one appeals to me most, fit some rail connectors and could be dropped in and out easily.

https://tranzwagon.co.uk/shop/mini-compact-curve-tambour/

 

[SlidePods]

I'm really very impressed owen_h, Its rare to see original design DIY furniture in a van that looks as good as yours. Hi MattBW had a good look at the tranzwagon unit, It looks good. I have seen units like these in the past made by converters for caravelles. The wife and I have been banding around the idea of designing and offering a "slidepod lite" model. Obviously we love our slidepod products and truely believe that they are the ultimate camper pod to get the best from a T5 based camper however we do realise that with prices starting from £1750 they are a premium product which will not be for everyone. With this in mind we are thinking of designing a pod to go inside a beach or caravelle that can be removed and used as a stand alone unit in a driveaway awning. just out of interest what would you want from a pod like this?? how many burnenr? sink? how much fresh water? waste water? fold out table? etc etc be good to hear peoples opinions on this

 

[MattBW]

My experience of my fully converted t25 is that I don't use the sink even though it's there. I suspect i would probably just want somewhere to store the gas bottle and probably a double burner if there is room.

Can't speak for anyone else though.

 

[Max-Felix]

Hi SlidePods, I guess we are all different in our needs but having lived in a camper non-stop round Europe for six months I know what I'd want/need.

Basically a copy of the classic Westfalia three cupboard unit but maybe with slidey doors not hinged for access.

So, fridge (top loading, space permitting) on left, cooker and sink on right.

But with the independent flush fitting Smev type hob and sink (not combined) so good use of worktop space independent of use of appliances.

Or even more simple just a Smev sink and then the option to simply pop a stored cartridge cooker on top of the worktop or take outside.

Underneath fresh/waste cans in simple 10litre plastic jerry cans. At least one drawer. Table rail to take the VW table.

Access through the cupboard to the original VW trim panel storage.

Semi-permanent connection using standard VW rail fittings.

A quick connect fused multiplug to connect to the leisure battery directly for fridge efficiency.

That's it really - clean, simple (!)