Hi John,
Thank you for the photos, that will be most appreciated.
Yes, we're using a bulkhead bar, rather than the MUD one, although I think theirs looks nicer
You're absolutely right about using the plastic containers. My wife has been doing that for some time now...
LOL- my height reference is the portable loo
I would have dreaded that milk disaster. That was a tough lesson.
Oh ! You've got the hydronic. Good ! So, the cab's heater fan is enough for the rest of the vehicle ? That might save me a lot of plumbing. We're even looking at a second A/C fitted to the rear from an early Discovery. Agreed about the engine preheat ! ! ! Very glad you like the Eberspacher/Espar. I have been looking at both brands and like the one you've got for the ability to compensate for altitude. That you've gotten 15 years+ service is very nice to know.
Agreed! Where to fit it ? Thank you for the suggestion. We'll have to see where everything else fits when the time comes.
Here you go Frank.
This is the box fitted to the rear of the bulkhead, with two lids. The lower one is lockable and the upper one is hinged (piano hinge) further back from the lower lid's hinge. Basically when top lid is down it is unobtrusive and flat. But when lifted and hinged back, leaning against the slightly tilted front seat backs, it becomes a back rest, making a really comfy seating area.
All of this internal build is fabricated around these storage boxes.
There are three sizes, the two larger ones being the same height. What I did was put a sheet of closed-cell foam insulation over the whole of the rear floor (left it loose) and fitted a sheet of 1/4 inch ply on top. That gave me a fixed point to work from, onto which I put the plastic boxes. They protruded up several inches higher than the extended wheel arches you get in a hard-top 110. So I put ply liners on both sides up to the level of the top of the boxes, plus an inch or so. Then I fabricated a set of three slip-in platform pieces made of 1/2 inch ply which were very bendy, but my design included a few strips of thin pine glued and screwed underneath the ply to strengthen it, but crucially acting as packers to allow the ply to actually rest on the storage boxes underneath. The boxes then become an integral support.
The reason for the pine strips is because the idea was that the boxes could be slid out without lifting the wooden panels, and with two different sizes of box this was the only way to achieve it, with the pine giving a regular surface underneath to allow the boxes to slide along. (if that makes sense!)
Here's one of the ply panels out of the van. It's lying face down - ie you are looking at the wood and boxes inverted.
When the boxes are fitted longways they support the ply on the pine straps. But the clever bit is that the gaps between the pine is made to fit the boxes when they are turned through 45 degrees at which point the boxes actually slot into the gaps and become a table out on the ground. The additional thin ply piece fitted into the lids of the plastic boxes act as both flat surfaces to slip against the ply panel above and act as seat bases and so its simply a case of taking my thermarest sleeping mat and fitting it into the chair kit and turning the sleeping mat and storage box into a chair that is very comfy and supportive. The great thing about thermarest chairs is you can use them inside the van in even the tightest of builds.
Rebated edges allow each ply panels to interlock, and the last panel is hinged across its width so that it can be in place (effectively filling the entire rear area with a platform, but the hinged bit allows you to lift the end section and climb in, take your boots off in the gap at the end, drop the end hinged section and the boots are underneath out of the way. Of course this whole thing requires careful planning and measuring but if you get it right you have a system that easily lifts out when not required but when fitted is flexible, functional and with a very modest weight penalty. A couple of big lash-down straps over the whole thing keep it down when driving.
I no longer use this system, but it served me well for a decade. I've retained the dimensions of most of it - my fridge is fitted to suit the box heights as you can see here meaning that I can slide the fridge out and it easily clears the storage boxes.
Two of these big boxes easily fit side by side across the width, and are tied down with cargo hooks and straps. They can be pulled out and just fit underneath the rear of the van out of the way when parked up, and will serve as a step into the van when I get the awning fabric all sorted and the rear end is enclosed. I try to make everything do at least two things, three if possible.
The other advantage to this build was that because the plastic boxes' height dictated a side that was a few inches higher than the actual wheel arch, it simply required a long hinged lid fitting on each side to turn that recess into a long storage area. I still have it underneath the new build - here's the plastic boxes in situ:
And when it's slid out the gap underneath is perfect to fit electrical spares, tools, small nicknacks and whatever else you need available but out of the way. The storage box slides neatly over the top of this lot and keeps it in and prevents it wandering. Basically my boxes serve three functions: storage box, internal or external seat base, and lid for the stuff stored below.
The Eberspacher is fitted on the right side of the engine bay (looking to rear). It's the black lump to the right of the turbo with the pipes coming out towards the camera. Its mounted on the steel plate you can just see protruding up to its right.
I originally installed it when I had the old 19J TD engine and was well away from the engine, However the 200Tdi I now have is a lot closer to the Eberspacher. I really need to pull it out and bend the steel support a few inches away from the turbo. Anyway it gives you some idea of the size relative to the engine. Its got a 4Kw output which is a lot in a small space. Mine used to shovel out heat in epic quantities but since I had the galvy chassis fitted its gotten a bit lame - I'm pretty sure the cables are badly adjusted on the heater (I know the matrix is ok because I renewed it several years ago) and the heater output is not as good as it was when running off the engine (it used to burn my feet!) so I'm going to renew both cables and adjust to original spec asap.
