The Drawers
When making these drawers I didn't really have a firm plan in mind, just an end result. No one made anything specifically for my car so I made them myself. There was however, a company not far from home that did custom drawers from timber but they were closed over the christmas break and I was too impatient to wait. In the finish, with all the materials, it cost me about $1200 with about $500 of that going into decent quality latching drawer slides.
I don't remember the exact quantities of anything but there were a few small sheets of cheap chinese 12mm ply from Bunnings. (Small sheets were easier to fit into the car) a couple of metres of black carpet, 2 litres of contact cement, a 6 metre length of 40mm x 40mm Aluminium RHS, and assorted bolts, screws & brackets. I think, from memory, it took me about a week to build the drawers but that was just doing a bit each day. The entire assembly can be removed in about 30 minutes with a little bit of disassembly and by disconnecting & removing the auxilliary battery.
The drawer on the right had to be lower to allow for the fridge to open fully when it was out on it's slide and the drawer on the left had to be shorter, to allow for the battery to sit in front, and it also had to be taller to cover the battery. A section of the top plate is hinged to allow battery access but it is held down by the angle of the back seat backrests so, these must be tilted forward to allow the battery compartment lid to be opened.
The drawer on the left is full of recovery gear and assorted odds & ends and the drawer on the right contains a kitchen, of sorts. See the build photos in the gallery below. More photos to be added if & when I can find them. I did not cover in the gap on either side of the drawers as I decided it was both easier and more practical to leave the sides open to pack certain things down the sides. I might add here that no holes were drilled in the car to mount these drawers. The 4 existing 8mm bolts that held the tie downs in place were utilised for this purpose. I have driven over all manner of terrain and the drawers & fridge have not budged.
Well that's about all I can say about the drawers but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me via the form on the about|contact page, or by leaving a comment on The Blog page but please do so in the appropriate category.
December 21st, 2013 - Update (new)
Originally I made the lid/work surface of the long (kitchen) draw hinged from the right side. You had to lift the lid, get what you wanted and close the lid again to use it as a work surface or cooking platform. The Fridge slides out over this drawer too and the fridge needs to be all the way out on it's slide to open the lid fully and this creates a problem. After you get everything you need out of the drawer and close the lid and then get want you want from the fridge and slide it back in you can then proceed with making your lunch or boiling the billy etc. (See 1st image in gallery)
The problem I mentioned becomes evident when you have the gas cooker sitting on the work surface with the windbreak around it, and what ever else you happen to have out like, cups, plates or what ever and then it hits you.... Damn it, I forgot to get the milk out of the fridge or the cutlery from the draw. Now I have to take everything off the work surface, put it on the floor, get what I need, then put every thing back again. What a pain. I have been thinking about this problem for a while and had half an idea in mind and at the time of writing this, I was 90% of the way through solving the problem.
After looking at other vehicles and also kitchens in camper trailers I found that my idea, and this was actually a mix of other people's ideas along with my own, would solve the problem. Time will tell. Part of the problem was to give me a work surface that would still be attached, and therefore impossible to leave behind, but still allow access to the contents of the drawer and the fridge, and still allow everything to fit in the draw when packed away. I have been editing this page over the last day or two as I have been modifying the drawers.
So how does it work now I hear you thinking? Without going into too much detail about precisely why I did the details of the change the way I did, I basically stiffened the aluminium lid with some ply and made it hinge from the handle end of the drawer. Rather than a solid sheet of ply I cut the centre of it out. This solved two problems. Firstly, it cut down on the weight a little, and secondly, it gave me a recess which still allowed me somewhere to stow my windbreak for the gas cooker.
A removable piece of venetian blind cord was fitted to support the lid at an angle when I only need it open temporarily, and a cut down but still adjustable tent pole is used to support the work surface when opened to a horizontal position. The pole needs to be adjustable because you never know how level the ground will be or what angle the car will end up on. This idea in itself has solved a problem I've had. Hopefully a lot of this will make more sense when you look at the photos below.
I have made these changes as best I could and just made do with what I had as I didn't have the funds to go and buy anything new but, while doing all this I have already determined ways of tidying up these changes and making the work surface more rigid. For one thing, I used the original sheet of aluminium but I plan to get a slightly larger sheet cut with the edges folded to add some stiffness. This will also prevent the lid/work surface from wobbling around when the drawer is closed and eliminate a source of stress on the hinges which already have a bit of play in them.
All these changes took but a few hours spread over a weekend and it has made the whole set up a lot more functional and user friendly. You will note in the last 2 or 3 photos that the car is on a downhill slope on the driveway but because of the alterations, I can now adjust the work surface to suit. I hope I haven't bored you too much and that you have enjoyed the read and the added photos.
I don't remember the exact quantities of anything but there were a few small sheets of cheap chinese 12mm ply from Bunnings. (Small sheets were easier to fit into the car) a couple of metres of black carpet, 2 litres of contact cement, a 6 metre length of 40mm x 40mm Aluminium RHS, and assorted bolts, screws & brackets. I think, from memory, it took me about a week to build the drawers but that was just doing a bit each day. The entire assembly can be removed in about 30 minutes with a little bit of disassembly and by disconnecting & removing the auxilliary battery.
The drawer on the right had to be lower to allow for the fridge to open fully when it was out on it's slide and the drawer on the left had to be shorter, to allow for the battery to sit in front, and it also had to be taller to cover the battery. A section of the top plate is hinged to allow battery access but it is held down by the angle of the back seat backrests so, these must be tilted forward to allow the battery compartment lid to be opened.
The drawer on the left is full of recovery gear and assorted odds & ends and the drawer on the right contains a kitchen, of sorts. See the build photos in the gallery below. More photos to be added if & when I can find them. I did not cover in the gap on either side of the drawers as I decided it was both easier and more practical to leave the sides open to pack certain things down the sides. I might add here that no holes were drilled in the car to mount these drawers. The 4 existing 8mm bolts that held the tie downs in place were utilised for this purpose. I have driven over all manner of terrain and the drawers & fridge have not budged.
Well that's about all I can say about the drawers but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me via the form on the about|contact page, or by leaving a comment on The Blog page but please do so in the appropriate category.
December 21st, 2013 - Update (new)
Originally I made the lid/work surface of the long (kitchen) draw hinged from the right side. You had to lift the lid, get what you wanted and close the lid again to use it as a work surface or cooking platform. The Fridge slides out over this drawer too and the fridge needs to be all the way out on it's slide to open the lid fully and this creates a problem. After you get everything you need out of the drawer and close the lid and then get want you want from the fridge and slide it back in you can then proceed with making your lunch or boiling the billy etc. (See 1st image in gallery)
The problem I mentioned becomes evident when you have the gas cooker sitting on the work surface with the windbreak around it, and what ever else you happen to have out like, cups, plates or what ever and then it hits you.... Damn it, I forgot to get the milk out of the fridge or the cutlery from the draw. Now I have to take everything off the work surface, put it on the floor, get what I need, then put every thing back again. What a pain. I have been thinking about this problem for a while and had half an idea in mind and at the time of writing this, I was 90% of the way through solving the problem.
After looking at other vehicles and also kitchens in camper trailers I found that my idea, and this was actually a mix of other people's ideas along with my own, would solve the problem. Time will tell. Part of the problem was to give me a work surface that would still be attached, and therefore impossible to leave behind, but still allow access to the contents of the drawer and the fridge, and still allow everything to fit in the draw when packed away. I have been editing this page over the last day or two as I have been modifying the drawers.
So how does it work now I hear you thinking? Without going into too much detail about precisely why I did the details of the change the way I did, I basically stiffened the aluminium lid with some ply and made it hinge from the handle end of the drawer. Rather than a solid sheet of ply I cut the centre of it out. This solved two problems. Firstly, it cut down on the weight a little, and secondly, it gave me a recess which still allowed me somewhere to stow my windbreak for the gas cooker.
A removable piece of venetian blind cord was fitted to support the lid at an angle when I only need it open temporarily, and a cut down but still adjustable tent pole is used to support the work surface when opened to a horizontal position. The pole needs to be adjustable because you never know how level the ground will be or what angle the car will end up on. This idea in itself has solved a problem I've had. Hopefully a lot of this will make more sense when you look at the photos below.
I have made these changes as best I could and just made do with what I had as I didn't have the funds to go and buy anything new but, while doing all this I have already determined ways of tidying up these changes and making the work surface more rigid. For one thing, I used the original sheet of aluminium but I plan to get a slightly larger sheet cut with the edges folded to add some stiffness. This will also prevent the lid/work surface from wobbling around when the drawer is closed and eliminate a source of stress on the hinges which already have a bit of play in them.
All these changes took but a few hours spread over a weekend and it has made the whole set up a lot more functional and user friendly. You will note in the last 2 or 3 photos that the car is on a downhill slope on the driveway but because of the alterations, I can now adjust the work surface to suit. I hope I haven't bored you too much and that you have enjoyed the read and the added photos.
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Updates | Mistakes & Regrets | Electrical | Rocksliders | Roof Accessories | The Drawers
All content ©Copyright Stuart Whitehouse 2014 - Unless otherwise stated.
Images on this site may be purchase by using the form on another site here. Simply take note of the image I.D number.
HOME | ABOUT/CONTACT | MY CAR | MODIFICATIONS | TRIPS | GALLERY | BLOG | LINKS
Updates | Mistakes & Regrets | Electrical | Rocksliders | Roof Accessories | The Drawers
All content ©Copyright Stuart Whitehouse 2014 - Unless otherwise stated.
Images on this site may be purchase by using the form on another site here. Simply take note of the image I.D number.