Club 80-90 Forums

There is a space below the rear shelving cupboard of my Westy California, other than the obvious need to remove the engine cover, were there any accessories, such as tools, that fitted into this space?

Cheers,

Rob

I dont think this space was used for anything - there are quite a few little dead spaces around the westy interior which are handy little storage spaces:

One long shelf above the rear door - I keep walking poles in there (handy as I need one to prop up the door cos of the bike rack)

A small shelf above the rear cupboard - I use this for straps and bungee cords we use to tie the bikes on the rack

The space under the same cupboard - I keep a few old rags and a pair of thick gardening gloves in there (the gloves are handy if you need to fiddle under the bonnet etc when its not quite cool

By far the handiest space in our van IMHO is the long shelf above the cooker etc - all manner of small things like head torches, chargers, sweeping brush go in that

All that storage use sounds very familiar roj62, substitute the walking poles for a golfing brolly & you could be talking about my van!!!!

Rob

its funny we parked next to another high top Atlantic in a car park in Harris and the women had a big discussion about what they used each cupboard for while me and the other bloke talked about bodywork, engines, gearboxes etc

When the wife came back all she said was 'she was weird - she keeps her plates in the top cupboard'. 2 days later shes re-arrranging the storage!

roj62 wrote: By far the handiest space in our van IMHO is the long shelf above the cooker etc - all manner of small things like head torches, chargers, sweeping brush go in that

Ah yes, the clutter gutter. Very handy - its amazing how many bits and bobs you can stash out of the way up there...

Our van came with the wheel changing tools, warning triangle and two mozzie screens for the front doors in this rear shelf thingy. You can put your hand up and take down the jack handle from your bed,( if you sleep with your head to the back) handy when you hear a noise outside in the middle of the night, and cant find your teddy........!
Nigel in Cavan

Would be interested to know what you keep in the two (lift up lid) cupboards under the rear table?? it's a real pain when the table is in position and you realise you'll have to move it to get at something..........

Cups, bowls and plates in the shallow one to the left - big set of coleman pots from JK, teapot, espresso maker and toastie maker in the big one - also a cool silicon bag from lakeland that you can use to boil veg and pasta inside and don't need a strainer.

on a slightly different matter - we have what appears to be the original first aid kit under the back seat.

First time we needed to use it I opened it up and all the plasters were perished and it was full of large bandages with writing in German. We packed all that stuff in a box at home as a museum piece and replaced them with some basic stuff from Boots along with some antiseptic cream, saline, antihistamine cream etc

Anyone got any tips for must haves in the FAB?

My daughter came off her bike last week on a campsite and needed to go to the local docs to get 4 stitches in her knee - luckily we had enough stuff in the kit to at least clean the wound up a bit and stop the blood enough to get her to a docs but I'm sure there are things we should have

the space under the wardrobe in the boot is just big enough for a set of sockets and a set of boules

i use the flat cupboards under the table for 1) the front curtains/ flyscreens and electricity cable and 2) our non perishable food.

cupboard above the rear seats is for toys for the kids and washing kit.

i keep the warning triangle/first aid kit bulbs and tabard to the rear of the bits and bobs tray - the front is for clingfilm/foil and torches and matches etc.

Another cubbyhole i have found is next to the battery in the engine bay - on a diesel anyway. Anyone fitted kit in their (would be good to put the trolley jack in if it would go).

In my van (diesel JX) the area to the right of the battery houses the diesel night heater (Webasto). Not sure if that space is big enough for a trolley jack, worth a try though, just mske sure it's secured in position!

Rob

Check out http://www.thesamba.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and have a look in the forums, under 'Vanagon', The americans are obsessed with all things Vanagon, and particularly Westies..

I've wasted many an evening reading threads such as this on storage and the like It's fascinating what ideas other people come up with!

We use our little space under the rear wardrobe for a tool roll. I've made a mod on my rear table so I can lift it up high enough to open the cupboard lids underneath. We store cooking pots and other kitchen stuff in them.

With 6yr old twins on board most of the time, they have a half of the top cupboard each for all their colouring stuff, books and spare clothes etc.

As we tend to use our van more for family days out and picnics etc, we have a seperate camping box with the 240v cable, pegs, mallet, loo chemicals and other camping stuff in it that we keep in the garage, and just pack in the back when we go on a camping trip. No point carrying it in the van all year round when it"s only used for 3 or 4 weeks a year!