Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 10:40:54 -0800
Reply-To: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Announcement: the BZ Shelf
In-Reply-To: <477CFCD8.7050005@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Cool. Good to know. And nice work.
And reassuring to know that when modified, I could park my bowling
ball up top! --- ;^)
Neil.
On Jan 3, 2008 7:18 AM, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> Nope -- no tilt when loaded. It's remarkably stable. I have no concerns
> hoisting boxes of groceries up there.
>
> I split a couple little chunks of PVC pipe and snapped them around the
> crossarm close to where they connect to the upright members as spacers to
> overcome a slight tendency for the shelf to tilt into the living area.
> Without them, a bowling ball -- for example -- would want to roll off and
> onto one's head with the sound of two coconuts striking together.
>
> Now the shelf slightly leans toward the front of the van. I'll take a
> snapshot of the modification and add it to the wiki page.
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
>
> On 1/2/2008 10:34 PM neil N wrote:
>
> > Great job Mike and Tom!
> >
> > I recall the thread about this one.
> >
> > So it doesn't tilt when deployed and loaded? --- :^)
> >
> > Good on ya guys. Nice to see the K.I.S.S. principal in action!
> >
> > Neil.
> >
> > On Jan 2, 2008 5:40 PM, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Back in August or so Mrs Squirrel and I became frustrated with having to
> >> deal with boxes of groceries and stuff which were constantly underfoot
> >> when camping in places where the local critters were eying our comestibles
> >> with considerable interest. I wondered whether it might be possible to
> >> hang a shelf in the otherwise unused overhead space at the front of the
> >> raised poptop and posted a proposal involving chains and skyhooks and
> >> stuff, an idea that was doomed to never work.
> >>
> >> Several folks suggested better ways to go about it, but nothing seemed
> >> very easy to me. Then Tom Buese, who was apparently looking for an excuse
> >> to avoid doing real work, popped up with a design for a shelf which mounts
> >> easily on the poptop's crossarm with a couple of hardware store U-bolts,
> >> holds a surprising amount of stuff when deployed, and folds flat against
> >> the roof when the top is down. He put together a prototype and emailed a
> >> dimensioned drawing of his idea to me. I banged a version together in a
> >> couple of hours without hardly any significant loss of blood and mounted
> >> it up. After a test on a short camping trip, it has become a permanent
> >> addition to our Westy. Best thing I've ever done -- besides marrying Mrs
> >> Squirrel, I'd say.
> >>
> >> After the Vanagon Wiki went "live" this year I suggested to Tom that we
> >> could post a how-to article about his "BZ Shelf" but it took him a bit of
> >> time to take the pictures and refine the drawing. But finally, after
> >> considerable nagging on my part, I got him to post the stuff to me so I
> >> could write the article.
> >>
> >> If you're like me, able to use a reciprocating saw without hardly ever
> >> cutting off a finger, own a Westy, and find yourself sometime wishing you
> >> had a darn place to put pots and pans and coolers and stuff that seem to
> >> crowd your floor when camping, do yourself a favor and build a BZ Shelf. I
> >> reckon you'll be glad you did.
> >>
> >> So here it is, with Tom's permission: photos and plans at
> >> http://vanagonwiki.net/index.php/Buese_Shelf
> >>
> >> --
> >> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> >> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> >> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> >> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> >> KG6RCR
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
Engine swap beginings: http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
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