Date:         Fri, 6 Sep 1996 17:44:28 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SyncroHead@aol.com
Subject:      Camping stuff I built for my Vanagon (non-Westy)

Hi Vanagonheads!

I thought I'd take a few minutes and tell you all of a couple of usefull
camping accessories that I built for my non-Westy Vanagons.

Both my Vanagons have the rear-facing removable "jump-seats" behind the
driver's and front passenger's seats.  The 88 Wolfsburg came from the factory
this way and I converted the 87 Syncro to this type of seating.

The two items I built are an Icebox/Cupboard/TV stand and a Sink/Cupboard and
both mount in place of the rear-facing seats when I outfit the van for
camping or a trip instead of maximum passenger seating.

For both units I used a VW seat mounting bracket from a factory rear-facing
seat.  It's a bit of a story how I came upon these parts, but if you don't
have one, something similar could be fabricated.  I doubt they could be
purchased for a reasonable price.

Icebox / Cupboard / TV stand:
This unit mounts behind the driver's seat and both the cupboard and the
icebox open toward the passenger side into the center aisle area.  The whole
unit is 31" tall x 19.5" wide x 20"deep.  I bought a mountable icebox from
JCWhitney (#18xx6735N) and built the enclosure to fit its dimensions.  The
icebox holds 2.3 cubic feet, cost about $50 on sale and is 21.25" tall x
18.5" wide x 16.5"deep.  I built the unit out of 1/2" birch plywood and
mounted the icebox in the bottom 2/3.  The door hinges are on the side
nearest the front of the van.  The upper 1/3 of the box is the cupboard area
which measures 1.7 cubic feet. The cupboard door has articulated hinges
inside at the bottom of the door so they don't show while the door is closed.
 The hinges are also spring loaded and keep the door shut while traveling.
Since the door swings down & stops at a 90deg angle, the inside of the door
acts like a breadboard for food preparation.  Through the top of the
enclosure I drilled some holes to be able to mount a 13" color TV (powered
through an inverter) and camcorder for the kids to watch on trips (I don't
install the TV for camping).  I play 8mm movies for the kids directly from
the camcorder and it's a real blessing to help keep the kids tame on long
trips.  I covered the outside of the unit in light gray formica which makes
it look almost like something Westfalia made (Hmmm?  maybe I should make a
"Westphalia" logo for it?).  The interior of the cupboard is painted in
"pewter" color spray paint which remarkably matches the formica color very
well.  Inside both the icebox and the cupboard I use small spring loaded
curtail rods to help keep things in place.  I'm considering adding a 12VDC
cooling device to turn the icebox into a refrigerator.

Sink / Cupboard unit:
This unit mounts behind the front passenger's seat and the cupboard doors
open toward the rear side into the center aisle area.  The unit is 31" tall x
20" wide x 13" deep and you stand facing the front of the van to use the
sink.  Well, actually my kids do.  I usually am standing outside the van when
I use the sink.  It's handily by the sliding door.  I bought a stainless
steel sink that I found in a junkyard in a 70's VW Westy.  [As a side note,
when I brought the sink up to the pay counter at the pick-yer-part junkyard,
the clerk asked someone "in authority" there how much to charge.  The
response "Uh, oilpan, two bucks".]   Inside the cupboard are two 2.5 gallon
plastic water tanks, one for fresh water and one for the "gray" water.  They
are easily removed and replaced for filling and dumping.  The tanks take up
about 1/2 of the cupboard space.  The total cupboard volume measures 2.6
cubic feet.  Also in the cupboard is a 12VDC water pump (from JCWhitney
(#15xx8445B) for about $13. on sale) and clear plastic tubing for plumbing.
 To power the pump I wired in a "coily" type cord with a cigarette lighter
plug.  I've added 3 cigarette lighter sockets near the passenger seat, so
there's a convenient place to plug it in.  For the faucet I used a really
nice faucet from SHURflo (#94-009) that I got at Camping World for about $25
(I just looked in their catalog and didn't see this faucet though).  The
faucet acts as both a pump switch (4 Amps at 12VDC) and a flow control valve.
 When you first begin to turn the faucet's knob, the valve is cracked open a
bit and the switch brings on the pump.  Rotating the knob further opens the
valve further and allows control over the flow rate.  The faucet is white
plastic and the spout both rotates and adjusts up and down.  Rotating it to
face upward makes it into a nice drinking fountain.  I really like this
faucet.  Beside the faucet I've installed a countertop mounted soap dispenser
bought from a local home supply store for about $12.  Like the other unit
this one constructed from 1/2" birch plywood and is finished externally with
gray formica and internally with matching paint.  The doors have hidden
latches to keep them from swinging open.  I wanted to use the latches used in
Westy cupboards, but they were too costly.  I'm thinking of making a
custom-fitted breadboard to cover the sink.

One of the real beauties of these units is the ability to be removed and
replaced with seats in about 1 minute each.  Just like VW's original seats,
all it takes is the lift of one knob and out they come!

Jim Davis
87 GL Syncro
88 GL Wolfsburg