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Underbed storage area

Great job.

How easy is it to slide out the boxes either side of the gas bottle box? Or is the plan to lift these out?

The gas box needs to come out before removing the large crates. Once the gas box is out, removing the crates is easy: slide sideways then pull out. The 28mm dowel grab handle is a sawn down broomstick handle. I drilled a 6mm deep 28mm diameter hole into the 12mm plywood for the grab handle, and screwed it so it is really securely held in place.

Lifting out from above will not be possible. The crates are 540mm deep at the base, and the gap between the MF board and seat back is 380mm.

Here's another picture of the crates and trays, showing the grab handles more clearly.
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I like your design. As previously discussed, that area between the Multiflex and the rear of the bench seat is awkward when touring and the bench is positioned ready to drop into bed mode.

Looking at it, all four trays could also be made from folded aluminum sheet. Three components 1. Base and both sides, 2 and 3 both ends either riveted or MIG welded in place. I might even have a go myself to use in conjuction with an 800mm pull out tray.

My next plan is to cut a 1500 x 370 board from 18mm MDF. This will sit on the trays, perfectly (haha) level with the multiflex board. This will create a level surface 1500 x 970 mm, expandable to 1500 x 1120mm by leaving small gaps, just big enough for two boys to use as a bed without lowering the bench seat. (Yes, I know 112cm is very narrow for a double bed, but they are only little boys.) It would be complex to make aluminium crates and trays capable of taking the load for use as a bed.

The 1500 x 370mm board will have folding legs, and can be used as a kitchen work bench.

If not required at all, with the trays removed, it can sit on the two large crates and the big bed made up.


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Will they be on a sliding rack...?
 
So accessing these crates is gonna be a big PITA...???

It is an awkward area of the boot. The area under the multiflex needs to be mostly clear to pull out the crates, but when camping we only have two child car seats there, so not really a problem.

Our priority, with four of us, is capacity, not ease of access. We now have a huge capacity, and I wish we had them before our year’s trip around Europe. Storing all our winter clothes during the summer months in one crate behind the bench seat which doesn’t need disturbing to make the bed would have been so useful.


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So accessing these crates is gonna be a big PITA...???

Anything packed in this area is a PITA to access!

Looks a good solution to maximising the available space while still been able to get it out when you need it. Couple of times this week I’ve misplaced an essential item in this black hole that’s required some digging to retrieve.
This can also result in the multiflex board release being knocked and two hours later you find the bed collapsing in the middle as the little flap has dropped!
 
Got the multiflex extension or kitchen work table cut today from 18mm ply. In fact, I got two cut: 1500 x 380 mm and 1500 x 450 mm. This gives a fixed rear bed size of 150 x 96 cm or 150 x 103 cm. I’ll try the two boys out on it tomorrow.

I’ve ordered four folding legs for one of the MF extension/worktop tables. The board fits snugly on top of the two trays, but with the legs correctly attached it will be held securely in place with the legs tucked neatly within the tray cavities. The board sits 1 - 2 mm lower than the top of the MF, but once the trays and board are varnished this small drop should be even smaller.

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Crates to pack under the multiflex and multiflex extension.
From top to bottom:
Two 540 x 480 plywood crates
Two 750 x 380 plywood trays
Four muji drawers
Gas box for two 907 bottles
Double gas burner and grill

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Under the MF extension
Two varnished crates supporting two unfinished trays, with a gap between the crates for the gas box.

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The two trays seen from above between the bench seat and multiflex. The bench seat is positioned so if dropped it will make the standard bed without the bench needing to be moved fore or aft.

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The MF extension in position.

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The boot fully packed with everything seen in the first photo.


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Wow a good solution to a particular problem nice one...:thumb
I've just finished attaching the legs to the workbench/multiflex extension.
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I cut five centimetres off each leg, so the kitchen workbench is exactly the same height as the California picnic table. The workbench feels a little unstable, but I don't think it will easily be knocked over.


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The legs fold very flat and more by luck than judgement fit perfectly inside the cavity of the two trays. What is judgement rather than luck is the table top is now secure resting on top of the trays, and there is little chance of partial collapse with someone sleeping above.

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Plenty of room for two boys on the folded mattress.
 
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That is absolutely brilliant I bet the two boys love it in the back by themselves.

Could I ask you are they MUJl Storage drawers, if so could you tell me what size they are or any reference number thanks in advance.
Gary.
 
That is absolutely brilliant I bet the two boys love it in the back by themselves.

Could I ask you are they MUJl Storage drawers, if so could you tell me what size they are or any reference number thanks in advance.
Gary.
The MUJI drawers are my best Beach buy. They fit perfectly after a few under multiflex handles are removed.

Two 44 x 55 x 24
One 44 x 55 x 18
One 44 x 55 x 30

The space under the multiflex is 48.2 cm. The rails are 7mm high, but as the MUJI stack the height of two boxes is 47.5 cm so they fit, just!


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First serious setback on this project. The folding table is far too unstable to have any useful purpose.

The temporary solution is to rest the 45cm width multiflex extension on the trays and MUJI drawers.
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Not ideal, but stable and has the feel of a kitchen worktop. It will go nicely in the G3 residence (our Thule safari room). We will still need to take another table as the van's picnic table is not sufficiently large for four to eat comfortably.
 
After travelling 350 miles last night through France and getting to a campsite at 10.30, I really couldn't be bothered to unload the van of 3 kids bikes and all our camping gear and luggage to make the bed up so I thought I'd try the back seat rest in the folded flat forward position. Took 10 mins to move carseats and luggage about and then laid the foam mattress topper over the seat and the multiflex and as I'm short, laid sideways in the back with one of my daughters. My partner slept upstairs with our 4 and 12 years old. It was the best night sleep I've had in the van so far!!

Would definitely be ok for two boys to sleep comfortably downstairs occasionally without having to rearrange the whole van.
 
After travelling 350 miles last night through France and getting to a campsite at 10.30, I really couldn't be bothered to unload the van of 3 kids bikes and all our camping gear and luggage to make the bed up so I thought I'd try the back seat rest in the folded flat forward position. Took 10 mins to move carseats and luggage about and then laid the foam mattress topper over the seat and the multiflex and as I'm short, laid sideways in the back with one of my daughters. My partner slept upstairs with our 4 and 12 years old. It was the best night sleep I've had in the van so far!!

Would definitely be ok for two boys to sleep comfortably downstairs occasionally without having to rearrange the whole van.
Do I understand this correctly: you slept longways on the bench seat in table mode and multiflex, bed size about 150 x 120, with the mattress on top? I can see how that would work, but was unaware that the bench seat in table mode was the same height as the multiflex.
 
Table Mode? Lost me with that one

If you fold the seat backrest forward the rear of the seat, with Isofix top tethers upwards, does level up and align with the top of multiflex. I didn't notice a height difference anyway!

I'm sure this set-up would of been easier to set-up with a van full of gear, whilst you were on your travels.

We use some plastic boxes for storage behind the front seats during our trips to France, got me wondering if some bespoke ply boxes could be made to extend the bed forward of the rear seat. Also, If designed well, these boxes could be stacked up to make a small pod unit.
 
Table Mode? Lost me with that one

If you fold the seat backrest forward the rear of the seat, with Isofix top tethers upwards, does level up and align with the top of multiflex. I didn't notice a height difference anyway!

I'm sure this set-up would of been easier to set-up with a van full of gear, whilst you were on your travels.

We use some plastic boxes for storage behind the front seats during our trips to France, got me wondering if some bespoke ply boxes could be made to extend the bed forward of the rear seat. Also, If designed well, these boxes could be stacked up to make a small pod unit.

I've always thought of the Bench seat having three modes: table (bench seat folded forward), bench (bench seat in normal seating position) and bed (bench seat folded back). I don't know where the term "table mode" made it into my brain.

Both Clare and I have slept on the bench seat in bench mode a few times with the child seats stuffed into the front passenger footwell, and the other adult plus two boys in the roof. I'm a large 6' so it's not very comfortable. Perhaps table mode would have been better, but we had luggage piled to the ceiling above the multiflex. But now we can have a fixed 150 x 100 double on the multiflex and multiflex extension for two boys, child seats can remain in place, and clare and I upstairs. We also know how to pack and what we do not need to pack, and I reckon all our luggage for a two week holiday, except residence room, will fit under the multiflex, multiflex extension and in our window bags. Arrival at parking spot at 10pm and departure at 8am should be dead easy - haha. Perhaps we will trial it for the first time at the Dorset Club Meet at the end of September.
 
First night out with the underbed crates and multiflex extension.

Setting up camp was dead easy.
- after the topper was on, roof popped and awning room was set up, put the MUJI drawers in the awning room
- upper bedding upstairs
- multiflex extension tilted and bits for the weekend extracted from the trays
- design of the crates makes pulling out things like fleeces easy
- child seats removed and placed under the multiflex
All done. Fixed 150x100cm bed above the multiflex and multiflex extension. Saloon in cabin area. Kitchen in awning room. 120x200 bed upstairs.

Delighted at how easy it all is for a night away.


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First night out with the underbed crates and multiflex extension.

Setting up camp was dead easy.
- after the topper was on, roof popped and awning room was set up, put the MUJI drawers in the awning room
- upper bedding upstairs
- multiflex extension tilted and bits for the weekend extracted from the trays
- design of the crates makes pulling out things like fleeces easy
- child seats removed and placed under the multiflex
All done. Fixed 150x100cm bed above the multiflex and multiflex extension. Saloon in cabin area. Kitchen in awning room. 120x200 bed upstairs.

Delighted at how easy it all is for a night away.


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Pictures please of your awning room.
 
Read all this @Amarillo and very very impressed. Some great joinery and design there. Not got my cali yet, but the space you have maximised but i can imagine that being a great bonus with 2 kids (and all they thibgs they need. My 5 year daughter wants to take 5 teddies everywhere!!
 
Read all this @Amarillo and very very impressed. Some great joinery and design there. Not got my cali yet, but the space you have maximised but i can imagine that being a great bonus with 2 kids (and all they thibgs they need. My 5 year daughter wants to take 5 teddies everywhere!!
We are delighted with it. Highly versatile- just like a Beach should be, and makes short trips and overnight stops so easy.

We are now at Norman’s Bay Campsite near Eastbourne. The only things packed above the Multiflex were:
Mattress
G3 awning room panels
Bedding


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The gas box is not sealed, but it is about 3" taller than the 907 bottle and has a simple lift off lid. What, if any, effect that will have on any escaping butane is something I have limited knowledge, but I hope that most of any escaping butane would confine itself to the box. The box was ridiculously expensive, and for that price I expected a sealed box.

It would depend on the size of the leak. As you've mentioned, the box is mainly designed to act as a bund to contain any escaping heavier than air Butane gas. It's too late now but as far as that function is concerned any large box that will hold water would do exactly the same job and at a fraction of the cost! A Eurocrate or Really Useful Box perhaps. Hopefully if there were to be a leak of this kind you would smell the stenching agent in the gas and remove the box and vent it safely outside of the van. However, if the leak were larger and lay undiscovered which is unlikely, then eventually it would almost certainly overflow past the unsealed lid just like a bath where the taps have been left running. Under these circumstances it would mean your vehicle would have a box full of butane gas vapour and a highly flammable gas/air mix cloud developing at low level inside your van. Not a good situation to be in.

I'm not familiar with the specific applications for which these boxes are designed or their test critia but if as the link says, "Our unique gas cylinder lockers are constructed from fire retardant GRP using Class 1 resin and exceed the BS 476-20 standard for fire safety", then logically that would be to provide a degree of protection from an external fire source. I really don't know how effective they are at preventing the cylinders from becoming compromised under these circumstances. However, any protection offered in a fire situation might reduce the likelyhood of injury or worse to fire fighters attempting to extinguish the incident.

On a slightly different note, If you have gas cylinders in your Cali then it's a very good idea to give the Emergency Services a warning. Display a LPG Gas label on the boot.
They will be on the look out for gas cylinders in a vehicle that is obviously a campervan but might overlook a vehicle that doesn't have the usual campervan kitchen features e.g a Cali Beach.

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Getting back on topic, IMO the benefits of this gas box to the occupants of the vehicle are debatable. If I were trapped in a vehicle that was on fire (a very rare occurance), then I for one would be thankfull that the gas cylinders were contained in a fire resistant box. However under all other circumstances the best thing to do would be to take very big steps well away from the vehicle and then call the Fire Service.

To add a little perspective, here is a Youtube clip of a prize idiot throwing a Campingaz C205 GLS cartridge onto a fire. DON'T try this at home.


That Campingaz cartridge contained 190 gramms of Butane. A full Campingaz 907 that most of us use contains 2.7 kgs of Butane. That's over fourteen times as much gas!

IMO the best way to ensure that there are no leaks on your 907 when you stow it is to always transport it separately, disconnected from the appliance and to do a quick leak test with a washing up liquid and water mix after first screwing the seal back on tightly. If all is well then you shouldn't have any problems. If you have a SE/Ocean then I stand to be corrected but I believe any leaking gas is vented to open air from the bottom of the water jacket container. When I had an SE I always disconnected at the cylinder and checked that the seal was really tight before driving away.

So on balance, I think that your box is a useful safety accessory to have as it could reduce risk in the event of a small leak and it affords some protection in the event of an external fire. Also you have it positioned in about the best position in the van to afford maximum safety to the occupants in a collision. The heavy cylinders can't fly about in a crash and they are as about as far away from any deformation of the bodywork in the event of a crash.
 
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So on balance, I think that your box is a useful safety accessory to have as it could reduce risk in the event of a small leak and it affords some protection in the event of an external fire. Also you have it positioned in about the best position in the van to afford maximum safety to the occupants in a collision. The heavy cylinders can't fly about in a crash and they are as about as far away from any deformation of the bodywork in the event of a crash.
It is pure luck that it is in the safest position in the van - it is not something I had considered at all...

The main purpose of the box was to make unstackable 907 bottles stackable with various articles of luggage.above The issue I then had was extraction of the gas bottles: everything had to be unpacked before unpacking the gas box. I now have a packing regime where the stackable gas box is at the bottom of the luggage, in what should be the most inaccessible part of the boot, but is readily extractable because nothing is stacked above.
 
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Kitchen table

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Lower parcel shelf (resting on the wheel arch trim)

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VW Comfort Mattress support

The bench can be lowered into the bed with the table in-situ. Once the bench has been lowered for the bed the table cannot be removed, but anything stored below it can be slid out.
 
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