Bedford CF-UK Message Board Logo [Home] [Search] [FAQ]
Bedford CF-UK Message Board > CF Blog Spot > Building a new kitchen for my van
[Private Message] [Register] [Profile] [Member list] [Log-in]
Who's Online:
There are 0 member(s), and 1 guest(s) online.
 
[Printable Version] [Post Reply]
Author Message
Anon
Deleted
Posts :
Location :
Status    : Offline

Building a new kitchen for my van

As some of you may know, I hated the kitchen which was installed in my van when I bought it. Although functional, the paint flaked like mad and bits of plywood regularly fell off it, doors opened when they felt like it, there was not enough room for water tank and gas bottle, and so on.

I purchased a second hand caravan hob from Pete and Jan at Malvern 09, and have set about (slowly) building a new kitchen around this. The white chipboard has come from various sources and is mostly second hand. Here is the story:

In the workshop I used the dimensions of the hob and sink to knock up a basic frame, taking special care to prevent the chipboard coming in to contact with any hard surfaces. Once complete, this was offered up to the van and a cut out was made around the wheel arch and support bar:



Unfortunately, CFs do not have a flat load bay. The size of the wheel arch means that the bottom shelf is pretty useless. I plan to install the leisure battery and fuse boards here:



Once the cut out was made for the wheel arch the rear of the units need to be trimmed to the profile of the van. Once complete the rear of the units will be concealed by back plates, but this is not reason (for me and my OCD) to scrimp on the finish. An after thought meant that I decided to check the bed can still unfold when the new kitchen is installed:



As you can see, about 15mm from the edge of the unit to the edge of the bed. The cupboard door will take up about 10mm of this, so perfect fit in my opinion! I plan to install a removable table across the side loading door, and anticipate the table will sit in the larger gap when stowed for transport. Here is another pic of the clearance around kitchen and folded-out bed:



The old insulation has been removed (to reveal plenty of surface rust!) and the area has been cleaned up and painted. There is a gap around the wheel arch where thicker, non porous insulation will be installed. Once this is in, the back plates will be fitted to the kitchen units which will conceal the insulation. Photos of this to follow

----------------------

Fri 02 Apr 2010 @ 19:30 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
Anon
Deleted
Posts :
Location :
Status    : Offline

This is not going to be a Day 1, Day 2 etc blog as the work is being done as and when the rest of my life permits me!

Since the last entry, much of the time has been spent repairing the wheel arch so that I can no longer see daylight between the inner and outer skin! Any advice on a suitable non-porous insulation to use between the back of the cupboards and the van body would be welcome.

I have installed an intermediate level shelf - high enough to clear the support bar and wheel arch, but not too high so space is wasted (only the leisure battery and electrics are going to live on the lower level. Above this shelf is a back plate, the second one I made due to inaccurate measuring on my part (measure twice, cut once - or twice in this instance!)



Using the grill pan to determine exactly how much clearance is required for the grill, I have installed a shelf below the hob. Since chipboard is not very resistant to high temperatures I plan to construct a heat shield here. My current thinking is to create a tray (with no sharp angles to trap the grease) using stainless steel. Better ideas are very welcome as I have no experience in this area!



I hit my stride after the last photo, and a lot was done before I remembered to take another photo!

  • Since the base units started life as 1000mm cupboards, the support bar mounting holes are pre drilled 500mm from the middle upright section. Instead of making more work for myself (I have enough already!) I decided to re-use these holes. A quick trim of the middle shelf and a few screws later, the thick support bar is now installed.

  • The waste pipe has now been installed through the floor and loosely connected to the sink ensuring there is a drop along the entire length. I may yet replace the hose as it is looking pretty manky and a new one won't be expensive. I still need a tap to deliver fresh water to the sink.

  • There is a hole in front of the gas bottle to allow access to the tow bar mounting bolt.

  • I installed the cutlery drawer taken from the old kitchen under the grill tray. This is the only part of the old kitchen I like! The front has yet to be painted (royal blue gloss to match the bed) but you get the idea.
    Plan A was to fit the cutlery drawer to the right of the thick bar under the sink, but there is not enough width. Plan B was to install it to the left of the bar, but the sink gets in the way, Plan C was to install it next to the side door of the van, but there is not enough length (and the proposed folding table will obscure it) so Plan D was adopted. Countersunk screws have been used so that the heat shield is not obstructed by screw heads sticking out. There is a concealed handle, so door furniture will not be required.

  • I placed the gas bottle and leisure battery in the frame to get an idea of how much space they take up. Both will be mounted in a tray so they do not slip and so they do not mark the white kitchen units. I need to create brackets to secure both in their new homes.

  • Last but not least (I really was on a roll at this point) I unpacked the doors, attached the hinges and adjusted them to fit the frames. Note the small rubbed down section to the left of the sink - because the top bar is mounted vertically instead of horizontally to avoid fouling the sink.




  • Next steps:

  • source materials for the heat shield

  • plumb the gas system in and test with compressed air (great tip from this site)

  • acquire a tap and water tank (hint!)

  • design storage for the plates, bowls, mugs etc - space permitting they will be stored to the left of the leisure battery in purpose built boxes
  • ----------------------

    Wed 07 Apr 2010 @ 21:37 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Hi

    I bought a tap on ebay, it is worked by a pump action(up and down), very good I have to say. Tubing just sits in water container.


    margaret

    ----------------------

    Wed 07 Apr 2010 @ 22:55 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    if your white faced chipboard has marks or isnt your preferred finish, DC Fix, Fablon or other sticky backed vinyl is a good way of achieving a respectable finish- I really encourage my GCSE DT students to use it instead of paint! Sticks well to contiboard!

    ----------------------

    Thu 08 Apr 2010 @ 19:50 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    stainless steel is v diff to drill through if you are fixing it that way but you might find ally is not onliy lighter but much easier to work with.

    ----------------------

    Thu 08 Apr 2010 @ 19:52 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Looking good Ed can't what to see it
    See you soon

    Tina and Dee

    ----------------------

    Fri 09 Apr 2010 @ 20:15 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Since I have had a lot on recently, the kitchen project has slowed somewhat. The van is stored at my workshop which is 15 miles from my house - preventing me being able to go and do the occasional hour's work in the evenings. Anyway, I had some unexpected time off and spent it doing this:

    In addition to the main kitchen units, I also have a small cupboard that is designed to mount on a kitchen wall. Since my van is a long wheelbase variant, there is an extra bit between the side door and front doors.

    The van used to have some drawers fitted here, but they lasted less than 3 months before being ripped out. The paint would flake constantly and drawers would fall out when turning left. The drawers were so shallow that they could not store anything useful.

    The first picture shows the position of the seat back, fully reclined, and the kitchen unit (complete with temporary corner bracing) to check for space. I must admit that I did not do this when I measured the space, but can get away with it by cutting a piece from the back of the unit.



    Since the unit is being mounted slightly further back than I originally planned, a cardboard template was cut to the profile of the van. Although it looks curved, the edge behind the door seal is made up of two almost straight sections. Measure twice, cut once, and offer the unit up to the space. Given my rather amateur-ish carpentry skills, the cut is actually pretty good. All I needed to do is countersink some holes at the back to allow the rivet heads in the body to be covered.



    The backplate presented a bit of a problem as it is designed to slide along the grooves in the back of the unit. Since one of the grooves was part of the section I just cut off, I had to create a new groove between the metal of the van and the back of the unit. A small vertical cut to the backboard allows it to sit in the grooves all the way around with the exception of the cut-out piece:



    To round off the day I decided to get the door hinges on. Once the necessary adjustments were made, the bed was folded out to check how much room is left. Fortunately, this unit is less deep than the ones further back and there is enough space left to open the door around 30 degrees with the bed unfolded



    These doors will need magnets or some other form of retention fitting to them before I drive anywhere. The intermediate shelving needs to be fitted, and if I can acquire some second hand runners, I may yet install a couple of drawers within the unit (ensuring the runners are angled with the low end towards the outside of the van to prevent them spilling their contents over the van floor!

    ----------------------

    Wed 21 Apr 2010 @ 08:57 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Now the major work is complete, it is time for the fiddly stuff which takes all the time. It's demoralising when you realise that the finishing touches will take just as long as the main event! I'm sure it is character building, so I will push on regardless and be cooking in the van by summer.

    In the old kitchen, the leisure battery sat below the foodstore. Given that the wires to the internal lighting etc are just the right length to reach here, I see no reason to change this. A small bracket screwed through the base of the unit anchors the leisure battery in place.



    Magnetic catches have been installed along the edges of the cabinets to hold the doors shut when driving. A road test across Dartmoor proved that something more substantial is needed. My first though is roller catches, but I welcome any suggestions!



    Following sound advice from members on this site, I decided to pressure test my gas system with compressed air. I hooked up the spare wheel to the gas piping, and when I switched the air supply on I smelt gas. I find this odd when the hob has not been used in months - I would expect all the gas to diffuse away.



    All appears to be well, except for a leak from the valve in the image below. I am still unsure whether this is a problem because when the regulator is fitted between the tyre and pipe work the valve does not leak. The acid test will be to hook up the gas supply in the van, open the valve and vacate the area for a few minutes. If there turns out to be a problem with the hob, I may have wasted a lot of time building kitchen units around it! Fingers crossed when I get around to this test.

    ----------------------

    Tue 27 Apr 2010 @ 09:16 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    One small bit of advice - please do strap that battery down more securely than just relying on friction from a piece of wood...
    In an accident, that battery will become a missile and most likely will penetrate the chipboard cupboard walls and spray acid about the van...

    Even in no accident, it could work loose and slide out when taking a bend......

    Do also ensure that the space it is contained is is ventilated (below) to allow gasses to escape....

    Hope to have helped...
    Carl

    ps - likewise for the gas bottle - the vent hole MUST be in the floor of the cupboard AND through the floor of the van to the outside air... Gas is heavier than air - you DONT want a build up of gas inside the van......

    ----------------------

    Tue 27 Apr 2010 @ 11:56 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Andy Capp wrote:
    One small bit of advice - please do strap that battery down more securely than just relying on friction from a piece of wood...


    Thanks for the tip. Since the photo has been taken, additional bits have been fitted - the battery is secured on the other three sides and across the top. The rear peg is only there to stop it sliding back under acceleration. Trust me, the battery isn't going anywhere in a hurry!

    ----------------------

    Tue 27 Apr 2010 @ 12:52 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Unfortunately I have yet to strike oil in my back garden, so once again work must take priority over the Bedford. With the lighter and sunnier evenings I have been able to sort a number of fiddly jobs. With an upcoming journey to Liverpool towing the Dragon Boat, I want to ensure that things are as comfortable as possible for me.



    My Dad always told me to sort the simple things first, and it is one piece of advice I usually follow. A simple cupboard latch on the front door, and roller catches throughout. This should hopefully hold the doors in place better than those magnetic things!



    Next, on to my ebay bargain of the week. 100 for 99p + postage! I love Plastidomes because they are so easy to put on and give a great finish. All the screw heads visible from the outside will eventually get one of these.



    I bought these step plastics ages ago from a member on this site, and decided to get on with finally fitting them. My non standard seats mean that some cutting and smoothing using an old soldering iron was required. Some of the screw holes in the floor match up with those on the plastic pieces, so 12 x 3/4" screws had to be used to hold these in place



    The rear section is not the original part, which has a semicircular cut-out for the seat belt mounting. Because the mounting gets in the way, I had to remove a section of this plastic piece to get it to fit. As a scrap yard part (I found it on the floor of the breakers and recognised it as a CF part straight away) it is pretty dirty. Any suggestions for a way to make these parts shine again?



    Final job for the day before packing up the tools, refit the wardrobe so I can hang my clothes on their way to Liverpool



    As I am clearing away my stuff, I go to lock the van and find the neighbour's cat sat quite happily in the footwell. Tiggy is a very enquiring cat who will befriend anyone; I am glad he was not locked in the van overnight! Note the Malvern '09 plaque in the front storage tray - I am glad it is only the small non-essential bits that fall off my van

    ----------------------

    Sat 01 May 2010 @ 07:39 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    A few small updates to the kitchen:



    I am pleased to be on the home straight now. First job of the day was to finish installing the doors. The two that are already installed have not needed to be cut from their original 500mm size. The remaining two are both smaller and require cutting down to fit. Here is the first:



    And here is the second:



    The larger cupboard door below the grill is secured with a roller catch, and the smaller cupboard is secured with a bolt. The right-hand door will not have a handle as it is not designed to open regularly. One of the key problems with the original kitchen was that I was unable to access the cupboard with bowls, spoons and breakfast material whilst the bed was unfolded. This will not be a problem with the new kitchen.

    Still to do:

  • Fit the metal heat shield around the grill area

  • Shape a piece of skirting to fit between the sink and the window using a plane. Paint this in royal blue gloss to match the other furniture in the van.

  • Install the cradle for the gas bottle and plumb in the pipe work

  • Fit and wire up the mains electrical socket

  • Make various panels to fit around the kitchen, hiding all the exposed bits of body
  • ----------------------

    Fri 07 May 2010 @ 21:39 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    Another stolen half day on the kitchen. I am spending the weekend on a camp site in Nottingham, and have decided to get the kitchen useable to iron out any issues before further works prevent this.



    The shaping of the metal to act as the heat shield for the grill is going to have to wait for now. I have decided to plumb everything in so that I can boil a kettle and make dinner on site. I am reusing the copper pipe from the original kitchen and only have to make very minor adjustments to make it fit the new kitchen as the gas is in a pretty similar place to before.

    I made a 16mm hole in the back of the kitchen to feed the sealing nut through and covered the mating faces with a little Hylomar to ensure a gas-tight seal. Access from underneath turns out to be a little awkward, so off with the mounting screws and the hob is propped up to allow a 15mm spanner to make quarter turns:



    After fixing the gas pipe to the kitchen units using some wire clips is to connect the gas bottle and check for leaks with the (borrowed) gas detector. After this, I broke for a spot of lunch and left the valve on the gas bottle open with all the doors shut. An hour later and the van does not smell at all gassy. The plumbing gets a clean bill of health, so 10 minutes with the doors open to clear any gas that could have accumulated, then on with the burners and make a test fire. The photo does not show the heat haze very clearly, but everything works as it should:



    Since I had to remove the units from their mountings to fit the copper pipe to the back, I decided to install the insulation around the wheel arch. Using the old insulation as a pattern, cutting the sheet to size was an easy task. A touch of spray adhesive later gives this:



    I am going to leave the 240 volt electrics for now - the old power inlet has gone very brittle in the sun, and I plan to replace it with a black one to complement the black plastic bumpers. Nothing else to do behind the kitchen, so it is back in with the unit (which is getting fairly heavy now!)
    Since I am going away, a few cooking items have been put in the cupboard for a very staged-looking photo:



    I still have no handle on the left most door. I need to acquire longer bolts to reach through the door before i drill any holes. Meanwhile, I will have to prise the door open to get at the burner controls. It would be easier if the roller catch worked a little less well! The leisure battery is not yet wired up either; the cables are there but since no lighting or fridge has been connected yet this can wait a little while. This will be a more basic camping experience than I am used to, but it should be useful to confirm what needs doing to finish off the kitchen.

    ----------------------

    Wed 12 May 2010 @ 22:14 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    great progress with the kitchen looks great

    as for your tread plates being a bit dirty, try just using a nail brush and some washing up liquid, then just dry em and spray with some furniture polish, wee cheap trick i use on really bad interiors when i
    don't wanna sacrifice any of my autoglym chems

    jim

    ----------------------

    Wed 12 May 2010 @ 22:49 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Anon
    Deleted
    Posts :
    Location :
    Status    : Offline

    A bit more progress - work and the other time-consuming things in my life mean that progress is slow...



    Because CFs are not as square as one would think, I have used a piece of pine skirting and a plane to create a small section between the sink/hob and window of the van. Lots and lots of woodshavings later here it is.

    Left side:


    Right side:


    The wood has now been primed and painted in the same gloss used for the bed and wardrobe. Photo to follow

    ----------------------

    Sun 23 May 2010 @ 14:40 Edit this messageQuote this messagePMQuote this message
    Time in GMT
    [Post Reply]
    New posts since your last visit Administrative Functions: Open/Close/Delete Thread / Move Thread
    Old post

    Forum Jump:

    Back to the CF-UK Homepage ][ Email CF-UK

    Powered by FunkBoard vCF0.74c