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Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:55 am

I think this is one of my favorites:
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/about-nacho/installing-custom-cabinets-in-nacho-vanagon/

Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:36 pm

I think some of us, ...well at least me..., thought the cabinet weight was more - like a few hundred pounds. I thought a Westy weight was 600 pounds more than a standard van - but perhaps I am "weigh" off here. :lol:

Of course there the propane tank, stove unit, sink, water tank, etc that we can consider constant for now.

I wouldn't go crazy to remove 50 pounds, but if building cabinets anyways, I would would evaluate lighter options. Not saying I would blindly follow them, but I would close my eyes to them either.

But hey, I got a Westfalia Weekender, what would I know!

Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:31 pm

randywebb wrote:

I would not use FG tho to save wt. - instead I would get my hands on some hexcell material; it gets cheaper all the time, or you can go dumpster diving behind Boeing...

X2

I have a bunch of this as shelving in the garage, ex-747 flooring.

It's used for the floorboards in most large aircraft, super light and strong, usually about 1/4" or 5/8" thick.
The downside of working it is you have to seal up the edges where you cut it or it tends to start delaminating.
Joining panels is problematic too, you can't really use screws, unless you pot in metal grommets & use L-brackets.
The weight savings would be impressive, but a lot of effort.
Epoxy, Bondo, etc. can be used to seal up the edges

Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:24 pm

hans j wrote: I think this is one of my favorites:
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/about-nacho/installing-custom-cabinets-in-nacho-vanagon/

Any more pics like this? That is really impressive looking! I'm digging the wood and stainless steel!

Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:27 pm

curtains will catch fire from the stove...

Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:07 pm

good observation!

Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:43 pm

[quote="kuleinc"] hans j wrote: I think this is one of my favorites:
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/about-nacho/installing-custom-cabinets-in-nacho-vanagon/

Any more pics like this? That is really impressive looking! I'm digging the wood and stainless steel!

All I have seen are the ones in the link. I hope they will be posting more on their trip!

Definitely a good catch with the curtains. I would like to have some sort of backsplash that maybe doubles as more surface if folded down over the stove. But none the less, it's so pretty I would be scared to camp in it; it's art.

Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:38 pm

randywebb wrote: curtains will catch fire from the stove...

Also, from pics, it looks like you would not be able to open one or two of the three slide out vertical cabinets when the lower bed is extended, I could be wrong, pics can be misleading.

I would eliminate cabinet overhead over the bed, I bang my head in that place one too many times when getting off bed

Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:22 am

Not to keep picking on Nacho but even though the look of his interior is very nice I too would criticize the above points and add the fact that those are one of the worst door/drawer handle choices since it is far to easy to catch something on in such a confined area.

I know because I had the same ones in my van and ripped a pair of pants on them.

Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:31 am

Currently in the middle of putting cabinets in my passenger syncro. I started this way since I have no plans to come up to full westy weight. No propane, no water tanks, no sink, no stove. I prefer to cook and do dishes outside. Staying hardtop as well, and keeping the queen sized bed. So slightly shorter cabinets along the driver's wall. But what I've done is put in a shelf behind the rear seat, at the height of the top of the seat back. For sleeping, it's head forward, feet under the shelf. Fantastic addition as long as you don't mind giving up the back window. All my tools are on the hatch side of the shelf, right above the engine! This layout definitely isn't for everyone, but right now I'm really liking it :)

Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:35 pm

I've incorporated a few of the awesome ideas in this thread to my sketch.

The three cabinets under the kitchen surface are porta potty, fridge and a slide out drawer similar to the Nacho

room for the half pint micro behind the driver, and a step above it for getting upstairs.

Full size bed at the back and a roll out cover for the rear area similar to what you find in most modern station wagons / estate cars.

The placement of the shelving at the back is a little of due to some oddness in the sketchup model I found

thoughts?

Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:40 pm

randywebb wrote: curtains will catch fire from the stove...

If you read the blog or even some of the other post here, they are aware of this and have taken preventative measures.

Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:12 pm

here's a picture gallery of all the English converters interiors (and others)

http://www.camperinterior.webfotos.co.uk/

Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:15 pm

oops double post

Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:21 pm

Nacho has one pretty darn nice interior. If they wanted to, they could probably sell it as a kit and make a few bucks to help fund their travels.

Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:11 pm

I love that euro site, many design/concepts from the older models, could easily be updated to the vanagon and even added onto that for additional functionality.

Alot of great ideas over in europe.. what were they thinking not importing those to the states. ugh!

For this Vanagon platform, there are so many check and balance items to think about when increasing functionality, trying to keep the weight down.

I hope to get to work on my interior, soon as tax return frees up funds for me to finish all that.

Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:13 pm

Just to clarify, it matters greatly whether we are discussing a hard top interior as the OP has, or a westy interior. Might be good to have a thread for each as not only is the floor plan different for a westy, but even the ceiling and ceiling height.

Looking forward to some cool ideas as I am also about this. My added challenge is to put two small bunks above the Z bed so our kids can also sleep in our tintop.

DougM

Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:46 pm

IdahoDoug wrote: Just to clarify, it matters greatly whether we are discussing a hard top interior as the OP has, or a westy interior. Might be good to have a thread for each as not only is the floor plan different for a westy, but even the ceiling and ceiling height.

Looking forward to some cool ideas as I am also about this. My added challenge is to put two small bunks above the Z bed so our kids can also sleep in our tintop.

DougM

Are you familiar with the front stretcher hammock for kids? Perfect for hard tops,
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=381648&highlight=childs+hammock+front

Fri Jan 06, 2012 6:41 pm

heres mine basic but all works perfect for two tintop panel van

Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:02 pm

gary1998 wrote: heres mine basic but all works perfect for two tintop panel van

Basic and simple can be good - I like it. 8)