California Beach 2013: How to remove long thin side cupboard

rfhan · Oct 30, 2016

Have had a bit of an accident in the back of my Beach - a bottle of engine oil has tipped over and deposited most of its contents into the back of the van. Fortunately an old sleeping bag took the brunt of it and we caught it before it spread too far ....

However I need to clean up under the long thin side cupboard on the passenger side (in the rear). It looks as though the cupboard should slide forward in the rail to where the inside attachment can be lifted out of the rail (see photos) and then the whole cupboard slid forward and sideways to remove the rear attachment. However, the cupboard doesn't quite want to slide forward far enough because of the internal plastic trim behind the passenger seat.

Does anybody know whether I just need to persevere or am I barking up completely the wrong tree?!

Also one of the rails has got oil in the bottom of it - is there a way to remove the aluminium and rubber to make cleaning inside the rail easier?

Bramco · Oct 30, 2016

I thought if you got the catches right then it should just lift out. I've had our cupboard out and from memory it just lifted up after I'd unscrewed the catches and then twisted the bottom bit by 90 degrees. Works the same as getting the multiflex board out.

I think in your photo the uncovered section in the rail is there for getting the seat out which I'd assumed had a different type of fastening as it needs to be safe.

rfhan · Oct 30, 2016

That worked a treat, thanks very much Bramco!

GrannyJen · Oct 30, 2016

rfhan said:
That worked a treat, thanks very much Bramco!

What a nice result :thumb

The forum working as it should do....

I hope you get the mess cleaned up and everything restored as it was before

Bramco · Oct 30, 2016

Great to hear that you got it out. Shame I haven't any experience with getting into the rails to clean them.

I say shame. I mean shame for you it would have been a shame for me if I'd have had to do it myself in the past!

Hope you get it all cleaned up quickly. Have you managed to get under the panel at the back of the back of the cupboard? I'd imagine there might be some oil on the floor behind this panel. I haven't a clue how to go about getting that off. Maybe a pallet knife with a cloth wrapped round it or something like that?

Anyway hope it's all back together and clean soon.

rfhan · Oct 30, 2016

Hi Bramco, thanks for your support, the cleanup is progressing well now.

Fortunately, it was only a fairly small amount of oil and the spill was more or less contained between the leftmost and next rail (and that sleeping bag took it on the chin!) It didn't make it to the side panel so I don't need to remove that, although removing the cupboard did expose 4 years worth of sand and general muck!

The decorative (aluminium) part of the rails will prise out with careful use of a screwdriver, I've discovered. That way I've been able to clean between the plastic floor covering and the aluminium - not much got down into the rail itself.

Next time I'll make sure I get a spare oil bottle with a reliable lid, and keep it fixed upright :headbang

Thanks again for your help.

rfhan · Oct 30, 2016

GrannyJen said:
What a nice result

The forum working as it should do....

I hope you get the mess cleaned up and everything restored as it was before

Thanks GrannyJen too

WelshGas · Oct 30, 2016

rfhan said:
Hi Bramco, thanks for your support, the cleanup is progressing well now.

Fortunately, it was only a fairly small amount of oil and the spill was more or less contained between the leftmost and next rail (and that sleeping bag took it on the chin!) It didn't make it to the side panel so I don't need to remove that, although removing the cupboard did expose 4 years worth of sand and general muck!

The decorative (aluminium) part of the rails will prise out with careful use of a screwdriver, I've discovered. That way I've been able to clean between the plastic floor covering and the aluminium - not much got down into the rail itself.

Next time I'll make sure I get a spare oil bottle with a reliable lid, and keep it fixed upright

Thanks again for your help.

A good place to store a Spare Oil bottle is in the Engine Battery compartment.