Way to go guys! Nice job with the design Tom and thanks for the Wiki Rocky. Any trouble getting in and out of the upper berth with the shelf there? I can't really see how much of the access slot the BZ covers. Thanks again, Jake 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 >
-- Jake 1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" Crescent Beach, BC www.crescentbeachguitar.com http://subyjake.googlepages.com/ |
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