Extra storage for pvc vans

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Had some free time today- who doesn't-  and turned my mind to the fact that the Warwick xl lacks the sheer volume of space that our previous Kemerton had- by far! The Kemerton had the space heater fitted under the cab step but Warwick has it  below the wardrobe so I removed the sticky covers hiding screws and unscrewed the 4 screws holding the step to the fibreglass upstand.  There is a perfectly useable area below the step from the vent outlet in the middle to the  sliding door. 
          I marked up the step hatch without removing the Sargent unit fixed behind driver seat as it is on long enough leads to allow work to progress. Next up was the moment of truth , I used a mini circular saw (Skil saw) to cut into the step and a careful plunge cut across the hinge side parallel to passenger seat rear. Next up was  bit of a clean up and application of some matching edging before screwing and glueing in some reinforcement timber around the hole. A left over piece of piano hinge from previous project forms a nice opening hatch. I may line the inside with some carpet to avoid things rattling about but already have a few cheap mini baskets sized to fit the area perfectly.
           All in took a couple of hours and cost next to nothing. As new hatch normally lives below the carpet may give a slightly more secure hole to store valuables etc or just a good area to store spares and tools etc. A small hand saw or jigsaw would do the cutting just as well. I ran out of edging so this will wait till we return to normality.....  Surprised A/s don't exploit this area  but then they are not known for forward thinking.....Ps  may also be a mod for other models of pvc apart from 6 meter Kemerton for reasons stated above.

Great idea Kaspian,

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Let's say it's a refinement of a removable hatch for shoes Stew. I think this retirement lark , lockdown  and auld age is starting to get to me...   

Fantastic job kaspian.

As you say, it cost next to nothing so no reason A/S couldn’t have done the same.

kaspian wrote:Let's say it's a refinement of a removable hatch for shoes Stew. I think this retirement lark , lockdown  and auld age is starting to get to me...   

In the end it was used for storing beer ! 

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]a good upgrade, K.

with the 'step' in the Sevel vans, its a natural place to use the change in height for storage...some have been doing it for years...
depends how seriously the design brief incorporates 'storage' as a key element.
to do it properly takes plenty of thought, skilled design and an willingness to take the cost...
when you look now at elevating beds in PVCs to reveal 'scooter garages' below, its clear that great strides are being taken to squeeze every cubic centimetre from the van's volume...

I might have a look at the space available in the Symbol, as that has a similar small step which they run a heating duct through.  I dare say with a bit of jiggery-pokery a nice space could be made, as mentioned might make a good 'secure' area as it's under carper and not an obvious place to look.

Hi Chris, I like that underfloor storage area in the front dinette area which lends itself to a large volume space but the rear of that van is too utilitarian for my taste, more like a poorly  converted ambulance! 

Stew , you've just burst the English stereotypical view of Scots !  That space is NOWHERE near large enough to store beer!! 

kaspian wrote:Hi Chris, I like that underfloor storage area in the front dinette area which lends itself to a large volume space but the rear of that van is too utilitarian for my taste, more like a poorly  converted ambulance! 

Stew , you've just burst the English stereotypical view of Scots !  That space is NOWHERE near large enough to store beer!! 

That’s the reason I changed vans 

Greyhound wrote:I might have a look at the space available in the Symbol, as that has a similar small step which they run a heating duct through.  I dare say with a bit of jiggery-pokery a nice space could be made, as mentioned might make a good 'secure' area as it's under carper and not an obvious place to look.

Off out to investigate myself in a bit Greyhound.

On a different note (you may have already considered this), if you find the small wine cupboard at the front the single rear seat a pretty useless space, it’s a very simple job to remove the back board. This makes accessing the whole under seating area so much easier.

Ah, K, you mean 'clean, modern. lines'

the drop down bed is from an Adria, so certainly a 'departure' from a typical AS interior (no bad thing....). 
i certainly wasnt advocating anyone chop their pride and joy to bits for a bit more space, merely to show that storage (like other aspects of the van, insulation for example) has be designed in and not thought about after production is complete.

Greyhound.... Not the biggest space in the Symbol but certainly one I will be exploiting.
My router packed up recently so I’m maybe thinking of fitting some kind of simple ‘off the shelf’ access hatch instead of the impressive jobs on the thread.

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Thanks for posting that Dbvwt, good to see if the space is usable before I start.

Looks reasonable to be fair, not the biggest as you say, but certainly enough for some tools/cable/beer :)

Definitely a usable space. I’m going to use it for those items that I’ve never needed in years of camping but are essential to have in the van just in case, freeing up other space.
To be honest the 5 screws and the panel took literally 2 minutes to take out, storing never used essentials in there without an access panel would work for me.
Trouble is... I love a project, got a feeling I’ll be chopping up the van again very soon 

:) Yeah I think I'll be trying to get a nice little hatch put in there.

By the way I did the mod with the wine bottle storage quite early on too, like you say, makes accessing that area under the seat so much easier.

I’ve done 2 camper self builds, first on a Vivaro that ended up great but being a complete novice I made many design mistakes.
The second was on a VW T5 which from a design point of view, I took on board every one of those mistakes I made and designed a layout that was pretty much perfect and worked for the 5 years I owned it.

I suppose my point being, if someone like me can see and improve a design then why on earth can’t A/S???

Go on Dbvwt get the chainsaw out! You know it  makes sense!

bolero boy wrote:Ah, K, you mean 'clean, modern. lines'

the drop down bed is from an Adria, so certainly a 'departure' from a typical AS interior (no bad thing....). 
i certainly wasnt advocating anyone chop their pride and joy to bits for a bit more space, merely to show that storage (like other aspects of the van, insulation for example) has be designed in and not thought about after production is complete.

  Agree 100% just lazy unimaginative design by A/s who are more interested in the grannies heilan ' hame look, I believe 2021 Van's are coming with a choice of  a wood burner or an Aga and fake brass oil lamps!  BUT ,   ......that Adria still has the strobe lights on the roof and a tie down system on the floor to secure  a stretcher no matter how they dress it up in 'lifestyle'  

kaspian wrote:Go on Dbvwt get the chainsaw out! You know it  makes sense!

In my shopping basket kaspian 

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Just what you need for plunge cuts and it will leave a good running clearance for the hatch! Seriously a fine bladed hand saw or if  careful to keep a straight edge a jigsaw would do. The board cuts easily. I have also used my Worx mini circular saw and it made a flawless cut without breakout of the edges. They are really  handy tools but the gearboxes are  made of chocolate....

Thanks for the tips.

I think my router just needs the brushes removed/cleaned and I’m sure my new Dremel might also work well with the correct bit.
Jigsaw.....you haven’t seen my straight lines recently with that!!

Ideally you want a thin kerf blade which removes a minimum of material to form the cut. I think a Dremel might be as useful as a chocolate teapot in this instance but a simple Japanese pull saw or a fine cut blade is all that is needed (think hacksaw blade)

I stumbled across those Japanese saws when investigating saws for another project recently, I’d never heard of them before, very impressive.

Not to take away from Kaspian’s fantastic hinged door, when I done the mod on the Fairford, I cut it with a regular fine bladed wood saw. It cut easy and didn’t chip.
I screwed (then glued when it was correct) a piece of 1” x 1/8” strip underneath the hatch to stop it sliding off.
I also added another table mount to the fixed section, with large penny washers underneath - this gave us another place for a coffee table.
I used a short length of sticky backed mini trunking at the back of the ‘kick plate’ to keep the lighting wires out of the way.
The final part of the mod was the coffee table itself. I removed the circular leg mount and repositioned it off centre (I was able to pick up a couple of the existing holes) and re-screwed it.
This allowed the table top to be turned in a different orientation, as required.

hi Kaspian, another very good mod too Warwick xl.
just out of interest while you were " on your hands and knees" down that area of the van and exposed the step caverty. ( I can't visit my van at the moment) I've seen on other XL's and ours, autosleeper cut the original Peugeot floor soundproofing just next to the fire extinguisher mount, leaving an inch gap by four inches long. 
without the autosleeper top carpets fitted this looks very odd and crude.
Do you know or can you see why they had to do it?
and also is yours the same?
thanks