New member

Sven@Calicamp · Aug 3, 2021

Hello everyone,
being the proud owner of a T6 Ocean for 5 years now, I finally joined the California community (I feel now I should have done this years ago - great forum !).
Our "Cali" is a 150hp TDi 4Motion with DSG gearbox, recently upgraded with an air suspension (+30mm) system, and a self developed field kitchen (we love to cook in the wild). We are very happy to have it as our loyal companion to travel throughout Europe (100k km trouble-free so far), and are hoping to have it alongside for many years to come.
Looking forward to meet you all on a next meet or event !
Regards,
Sven

Graham T · Aug 3, 2021

sapto · Aug 3, 2021

Welcome here! Your kitchen looks ace! I am sure a lot of members are interested to see some details and how you work with it

kurienp · Aug 3, 2021

Sven@Calicamp said:
Hello everyone,
being the proud owner of a T6 Ocean for 5 years now, I finally joined the California community (I feel now I should have done this years ago - great forum !).
Our "Cali" is a 150hp TDi 4Motion with DSG gearbox, recently upgraded with an air suspension (+30mm) system, and a self developed field kitchen (we love to cook in the wild). We are very happy to have it as our loyal companion to travel throughout Europe (100k km trouble-free so far), and are hoping to have it alongside for many years to come.
Looking forward to meet you all on a next meet or event !
Regards,
Sven

View attachment 82469

Welcome on board @Sven@Calicamp . Nice setup there.

The kitchen in the Cali is sufficient for a quick meal, but anything elaborate, we also tend to cook outside ... but your setup is at a different level altogether. Looks good ... and I am sure that you can cook up a meal for a small army on that :thumb

Looks good.

Out of interest, which air suspension did you go for?

Sven@Calicamp · Aug 3, 2021

sapto said:
Welcome here! Your kitchen looks ace! I am sure a lot of members are interested to see some details and how you work with it

Thanks sapto. It took me 3 years and 3 prototypes to finally get it just perfect now. Besides a great access to the storage room inside the big drawer, there's a large working area and a built-in cooking area, in which bbq and gas stove units can be combined up to a total of 3, depending on the menu of the day ;-). We're just back from our "test" holiday, so now it's time to check whether other California enthusiasts would be interested. I'd love to build some more. As soon as we have some sunshine here in Belgium I'll make some more detailed pictures to share...

Sven@Calicamp · Aug 3, 2021

kurienp said:
Welcome on board @Sven@Calicamp . Nice setup there.

The kitchen in the Cali is sufficient for a quick meal, but anything elaborate, we also tend to cook outside ... but your setup is at a different level altogether. Looks good ... and I am sure that you can cook up a meal for a small army on that

Looks good.

Out of interest, which air suspension did you go for?

Thanks kurienp. On the road, our army is limited to just 3 plus our Golden Retriever, but I have to admit that we also put the Calicamp-kitchen into use when we have family and friends for dinner ;-)

We have the VB Air Suspension kit installed, in the +30mm full air version. Not cheap but I think worth the money (off road clearance only when required, great road handling, auto-levelling). Planning to do an extensive Iceland tour you see...

kurienp · Aug 3, 2021

Sven@Calicamp said:
Thanks kurienp. On the road, our army is limited to just 3 plus our Golden Retriever, but I have to admit that we also put the Calicamp-kitchen into use when we have family and friends for dinner ;-)

We have the VB Air Suspension kit installed, in the +30mm full air version. Not cheap but I think worth the money (off road clearance only when required, great road handling, auto-levelling). Planning to do an extensive Iceland tour you see...

View attachment 82478

Awesome. Nice looking van and brilliant pic.

Yes, got VB Air full-air as well and agree, it transforms the handling.

Going off topic now - but what other changes have you done for Iceland? My plan is for 1. the Seikel underbody kit 2. the breather tubes and 3. Tyres (yet to decide which ones) ... but yes, Iceland is on the cards. I guess 2 weeks minimum to enjoy the sights and the place.

Perfectos · Aug 3, 2021

Sven

benmac · Aug 3, 2021

Hey @Sven@Calicamp,

I really like the kitchen set up you have and would be interested to discuss if you are going to build more. Our Beach arrives in Dec/Jan so we have a bit of time and we are mad about cooking so like all the space you have created.
Ben

Sven@Calicamp · Aug 4, 2021

kurienp said:
Awesome. Nice looking van and brilliant pic.

Yes, got VB Air full-air as well and agree, it transforms the handling.

Going off topic now - but what other changes have you done for Iceland? My plan is for 1. the Seikel underbody kit 2. the breather tubes and 3. Tyres (yet to decide which ones) ... but yes, Iceland is on the cards. I guess 2 weeks minimum to enjoy the sights and the place.

Thanks !
Do you also have the +30mm kit from VB, or did you go for the standard height ? Wondering if you had similar installation issues in case of the +30mm...
So you're also planning for Iceland, great ! Seikel is having really good stuff (as I've been told, no experience). But I found the Terranger kit more complete, including water and air heater conversion systems and a higher engine air intake, taking wade depth up to 90 cm. However the compressor of the VB air suspension won't accept that depth I'm afraid...
I have it on order, together with their engine and gearbox underbody protection, but am in a cue for the installation...
Tyres are sorted for me, I have already 5k km on my BF Goodrich AT KO2 mounted on 6 Devonports I found on the secondhand market (2 spares !).

Sven@Calicamp · Aug 4, 2021

benmac said:
Hey @Sven@Calicamp,

I really like the kitchen set up you have and would be interested to discuss if you are going to build more. Our Beach arrives in Dec/Jan so we have a bit of time and we are mad about cooking so like all the space you have created.
Ben

Hi Ben,
great to see that you like the kitchen set up. I'm definitely going to build some more (I have all materials available to build 5 extra), but I'm not sure whether it would fit a Beach very nicely. I have designed my set up for Coast and Ocean configuration. Provided the Beach bed support structure is compatible, it could fit, but leaving some sort of a gap where normally the cupboard is I assume (see picture). The kitchen setup is mounted to the car by using the rear seat floor rails (no drilling to the car !). I assume these floor rails also differ in the Beach compared to Coast and Ocean. I can check all that with my dealer here. If you could provide me with some images how your boot space as you have ordered it would look like, that would help...
But first I will check admin, as I do not want to violate any forum rules regarding product promotion.

benmac · Aug 4, 2021

Hi Sven,
The beach in Portugal has a 3 seat bench at the back unlike the UK models which I think have the 2 seat bench and then the storage beside. I am not sure about the floor rails either.
Lets dicsuss.

Ben

Perfectos · Aug 4, 2021

benmac said:
Hi Sven,
The beach in Portugal has a 3 seat bench at the back unlike the UK models which I think have the 2 seat bench and then the storage beside. I am not sure about the floor rails either.
Lets dicsuss.

Ben

Beach in the U.K. can be 2 or 3 seats rear bench.