Sliding door stow away table

Inspired by the Avalanche Surf Bus I wanted to design and build my own stow away table, but attach it to the sliding door instead. I have been working on this for a little while, and whilst it is almost there I will need to rethink my design.

I already have one table which serves the back seats. This one stows away behind the rear frame of the Rib Seats and therefore blocks the frame off when you open the boot.

The stow away table attaches to a swing leg, which itself is stowed down the side of the Rib Seats, and this is to provide a table for the front seats.

I constructed a panel, with a cut-out for the bracket on the back of the table, for the sliding door. This allows the table to fit as flush as possible, but the sliding still does quite fully open without the table rubbing against the wheel arch.

For the table do I:

- use 6mm ply rather than the 9mm I am currently using?
- use aluminium (or similar) which would be thinner

Both these options would pose a new issue of how to attach the swing leg table bracket to the back of the table without bolting right through the table.

Watch this space.

Power steering pump disaster

Having already cut my timings pretty fine to reach Holyhead and catch the ferry to Dublin for a short trip I was a little disconcerted when I started to hear a whirring sound as I was driving along. I first noticed it when I wound my window down - about the first time all winter.

At first I thought it was the kind of sound the wheels make on some roads, but it was soon apparent that it was the van. I pulled over within 1/2 mile and popped the bonnet to see mineral oil spewing out of the breather hole of the power steering reservoir. I knew my chances of catching the ferry were slim, especially when I realised I had no mobile reception. I jumped back in the van and decided to drive a little further. Although the reception didn't improve and the whirring had turned into a drone, I found one of those little orange SOS phone boxes. Luckily I am an AA member and got through.

After an hours wait, and a brief bit of reception to enable me to delay my ferry crossing (Direct Ferries were really helpful and ended up putting my booking back three times for only a small surcharge) the AA turned up and towed me to Craven Motors in Llandudno Junction. They allowed me to kip in the van on their forecourt overnight (we didn't arrive there until almost 6pm) and promised to look at the van in the morning. Anyway, to cut a long story shorter, the upshot was the pump shaft had literally snapped to the amazement of the garage folk - hence the over pressurised oil. £650(!) and two days later it all seems to be hunky dory again.

The garage rang the VW helpline to ask if they should be looking for any other fault considering the forces that must have taken place. Apparently no. They have sold a few pumps and so it may be a fault that the T5s have.

I read on the T4 forum that if this oil drains into the boots of the steering rack then you are looking at having to replace that too. Fingers crossed.

Eberspacher and central locking

I had the Eberspacher D2 heater fitted a few weeks ago and its fab. My only gripe is that even though it is fitted under the chassis, beneath the drivers seat, you can still hear the pump 'ticking'. But it's a small cost for toasty warmth.

I ask the fitters (Derby Auto Electrics) to leave the hot air vent dangling out the back of the drivers seat so I could build a shelf in which to mount the vent. I did this today at the same time I fixed the central locking fault which affects loads of T5s. The T4 Forum has a great thread on this.

Anyway, as the driver's seat was out I built a small shelf between the fridge and drivers seat.

Photo (left) shows it looking back with the driver's seat out. You can also see my 'fix' of the central locking cable. It is the cable wrepped in the shiny black insulation tape just where the two air vents come through the floor.

The second photo shows the vent as you look through the side door. The shelf will be used to store one of the tables, plus trays etc.

The veneer chipped off the wood a little bit so its not perfect, but generally I am happy with it.

I'd always balked at the price people were charging to install the electrics in vans, but after spending 2 solid days doing this very thing, with my step dad, I can appreciate why now. Even more so when you have narrow cupboards to contend with.

Saying all that everything is now up and running exactly as we planned. The charger/distribution unit, inverter and double socket and hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe behind a little access door, along with my hook up cable.

Quite a bit of the electric equipment came off display boards from boat shows, via ebay. I saved about 80% on RRP this way, and being suitable for marine applications, means its more than suitable for the van. The splash proof switch may be a bit excessive (although the kids do make a mess at breakfast) but I have to say alot of the switches on offer aren't very aesthetic. I like the design of ours.

The two cigar lighter sockets were in the van when I bought it, so they get re-used. The switch was from Wilko's!

I think my favourite thing is the battery monitor. It tells you what % the battery is charged at, and also how many amps its using, or if its charging then at what rate. At the moment only the leisure battery is connected, but I'll add the starter battery too. The monitor sits above the fridge so you can open the slide door and check capacity

I've put the switch for the main lights beside the sliding door on the left. This means I can tuck my hand in to the left and switch it on when coming into the van, and at night its within reach, without having to move when in bed.
I 've put 4 LEDs in the roof and another into the pop top, which can only be switched on if the main switch panel is one. This stops the kids turning the light on unless we want them too - ahh the power!

I will soon add a light over the worktop, which can also be used for ambient lighting in the evening.