Sink drain and kitchen drawer upgrade

[Sodo]

Here's the project.
Many have done this but here's my story.
The sink trap takes up a lot of drawer space and is unnecessary if you have no graywater tank.
If you have a graywater tank,, and empty it every weekend, the trap is not necessary.
Here's the drain that I bought: $21 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FPEDEW

This is how the '90 Westy trap comes apart.

I didn't like the way the drain was shaped. So I flattened it to fit better.
A CV joint cage is the right diameter.
I pressed it into some thin carpet to concave the rim just a little.
I used Permatex Ultra Gray sealant (It's a tough silicone).

The old trap .vs. new drain.
On my '90, the drain hose fits the new drain real tight.
I had to put grease on it to slip it on.

Next project is to enlarge the drawer and delete the "U".
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Californio]

Totally logical. You have to wonder why, given all their Teutonic engineering proficiency, the Westfalia folks put in that unnecessary drain fitting to begin with.

I wonder if a new drawer couldn't be made a bit deeper as well as U-free.

Enterprising kit-makers should be all over this.
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1987 Syncro Westy/2.0L Tiico

[Sodo]

Yes I bet a lot of people would buy a kit of "enlarged drawer plus drain".
It drains like a sumb*tch now, you can swish food particles down the drainpipe which is now downhill all the way.
Interestingly I found nothing - zero food particles, nor sand, caught in my drain trap.

But a kit would have to be a complete drawer, including the drawer-front. Perhaps robbing the original drawer latch to installinto the new drawer.

[jimf909]

As usual, well done. Are those LED lights inside the cabinet? I love it.

Is the top pic before and the bottom pic after? Is the top pic fully tightened? I guess both have a moat that needs attention to cleaning. My experience is that the moat collects deposits from the last bit of water sitting there as it evaporates.

Looking forward to the drawer mod. A two level drawer is appealing.
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- Jim

[MarkWard]

I don't think I uploaded a picture, but I ran the sink hose behind the rear panel and put a 90 bulkhead through the metal floor under the false floor. Really opens the area for kitchen stuff.
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☮️

[Sodo]

[Sodo]

While I wait for drawer inspiration to coalesce...
I thought it might be prudent to move the sink drain.
Then the drawer can be designed around the drain.

Studying the options I spied a hole leftover from the propane fridge....

Note the space available adjacent of the drawer.
The stove-propane pipe clears the drawer.

I’m thinking I can use a smaller pipe than that fat 29mm.
I have 17mm (~5/ black garden irrigation pipe.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Timwhy]

[Sodo]

Timwhy this drain mod is lookin good!
The main benefit is more space in the bottom floor of the cabinet.
Up at the drawer, it's like this:

Here's Terry's drawer mod to accommodate this same drain.
He built a new bigger drawer.

Need to go to the store and find a step-down adapter.

Hoping it won't clog at the stepdown.
The smaller pipe is a little bigger than the drain-strainer holes.
And it's all easy access if it did plug.

3/4" step-drill did the deed for the new drain pipe !
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Timwhy]

[DeLvxe]

Moving the drain will give you some more room, but it isn’t necessary. I achieved 90% of the same benefit by installing an “L” fitting in the floor and running the drain hose roughly horizontally.

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1991 manual camper with EJ25

[MsTaboo]

Yep, that's basically what I did with the drain, in addition I remade the shelf to maximize every square inch.

Back in 2011 I tried just removing the drawer and making an additional shelf which gave more room but less convenience.

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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
Help the fight against Truth Decay.
Defend democracy, support Ukraine.

[jimf909]

[Sodo]

It's more than the drain hose, it's deleting that riser-shelf of wasted space on the cabinet floor.

Which gracefully donated it's organs to the floor plug.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[DeLvxe]

[Sodo]

For the always-increasing-project pile.....you know who you are....
Here's the details of my project in one pic for your files.

Enlarging the silverware drawer has been on my list for a long time, but I hadn't thought about moving the drain outlet....
until going under the van.....
and noticing that un-occupied propane hole.

Thanks for all who inspired this,
and those who will improve upon it, good on ya!

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Enlarging the propane hole to 3/4"

Here's the "before" pics.

And here's the pic 'yall wanted to see.

==================

Next phase is the drawer enlargement.

Delvxe built his own drawer but he says a pre-made wooden drawer box of this size can be had for about $35 + $20 shipping.

I have a tablesaw and a router, I'll build one, and include my dimensions.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Sodo]

Built the drawer today. All done on the table saw.

Dowels replaced with screw-heads potted in glue.
I wonder how long it will take to dry in the dowel holes.

Drawer mostly done.
I have to cutout the back a little to clear the new low-profile drain.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Honuak]

Sodo
Can you share a link to that Amazon drain?
I'm about to start this project. I love the idea of a real drawer.
SAMBA!

[jimf909]

Nice writeup for folks who hate to see good space go unused.

I'm sure you considered many options for securing the Westy drawer face to the Sodo drawer but cam locks are one way to make it easily reversable and eliminate the glue-up. Thanks, IKEA.

https://www.amazon.com/furniture-cam-locks/s?k=furniture+cam+locks

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- Jim

[Sodo]