My Chevrolet Express van Class B- camper
I have been camping in my 1990 Chevrolet Silverado Blazer 2-door for the last 20 years. When I removed the back seat there was just enough room for a 3/4 sized (Hollywood, as some people called them)...
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The big project that I worked on this fall was a custom made kitchen unit for my camper van to fit the wall and floor contours. I wanted something that would give us the basics for when the weather was bad and we couldn't be outside and not take up much room. I built an L-shaped unit with a sink in the corner. I searched the internet for the smallest sink I could find. I plumbed in two Reliance 2 1/2 gallon water tanks for fresh water and grey water. I built a cedar wood frame and covered it with then paneling to keep the weight down.
Next I wired it for 120 volt outlets, 1 four outlet unit and 1 two outlet unit for charging our cell phones, iPads, cameras, etc. I also wired in a 120 volt thermostat below the four outlet unit that I connected to the bottom two outlet unit and easily reachable from sleeping position in the bed. This is so I could plug in a 120 volt space heater in the van for cold weather and the thermostat would turn it on and off during the night as needed. Also installed a 12 volt outlet on one side. I should have located this 12 volt outlet a couple inches lower because when I open the top door it hits anything plugged into the outlet. Just one of the mistakes I made in its build. I won't mention the others.
The finished installed kitchen unit looks like this and is bolted to the seat brackets on the floor:
The side towards the driver's seat has the switch for the 12 volt water pump and red indicator light along with a connection for TV when we camp at campgrounds that have cable connections. I use the far hook to hand a cloth bag of magazines for reading on trips and the closer hook to hang a plastic bag to collect garbage.
With the doors open you can see the water tanks, the shelf above them for storage of the 120 volt hotplate, the storage spot on the bottom right for storage of our 4-cup coffee maker, and the two other storage spaces for whatever my wife wants to put in it. During fair weather we do all our cooking outside on the campstove and campfire. I love to make coffee over the campfire wih my old dripolator.
I also wired small 12 volt lights into each door so that when you opened the door you can see what is inside.
The last thing I did was install a camper light above the kitchen unit with sticky felt covered metal brackets that simply slide between the trim and the roof liner. Squeezed the wiring behind the trim down to the 12 volt fuse block mounted in the back of the kitchen unit. The 120 volt cable is connected with a twist-lock plug and the kitchen unit is bolted to the floor with clamps to the seat locking connections.
Next posting will be my Porta-potti center console unit.
Next I wired it for 120 volt outlets, 1 four outlet unit and 1 two outlet unit for charging our cell phones, iPads, cameras, etc. I also wired in a 120 volt thermostat below the four outlet unit that I connected to the bottom two outlet unit and easily reachable from sleeping position in the bed. This is so I could plug in a 120 volt space heater in the van for cold weather and the thermostat would turn it on and off during the night as needed. Also installed a 12 volt outlet on one side. I should have located this 12 volt outlet a couple inches lower because when I open the top door it hits anything plugged into the outlet. Just one of the mistakes I made in its build. I won't mention the others.
The finished installed kitchen unit looks like this and is bolted to the seat brackets on the floor:
The side towards the driver's seat has the switch for the 12 volt water pump and red indicator light along with a connection for TV when we camp at campgrounds that have cable connections. I use the far hook to hand a cloth bag of magazines for reading on trips and the closer hook to hang a plastic bag to collect garbage.
With the doors open you can see the water tanks, the shelf above them for storage of the 120 volt hotplate, the storage spot on the bottom right for storage of our 4-cup coffee maker, and the two other storage spaces for whatever my wife wants to put in it. During fair weather we do all our cooking outside on the campstove and campfire. I love to make coffee over the campfire wih my old dripolator.
I also wired small 12 volt lights into each door so that when you opened the door you can see what is inside.
The last thing I did was install a camper light above the kitchen unit with sticky felt covered metal brackets that simply slide between the trim and the roof liner. Squeezed the wiring behind the trim down to the 12 volt fuse block mounted in the back of the kitchen unit. The 120 volt cable is connected with a twist-lock plug and the kitchen unit is bolted to the floor with clamps to the seat locking connections.
Next posting will be my Porta-potti center console unit.
