Making storage more betterer


This one is a bit of a work in progress in the sense that I am just lumping stuff in here rather that writing new blog entries every time I make a small change to the storage in the van. None of it is that exciting but it should make the van more liveable.

Strong hooks

Starting off strong, these folding aluminium hooks can hold two sets of racing leathers without folding the wrong way. Cheap too. I have them dotted all over the van for motorcycle leathers and soggy walking kit alike.
I could well be tempted into buying more as they are pretty good and those stick on plastic ones are crap even for the lightest of things.
Lots of capacity when folded out

Not a complete eye sore when folded either.

Shelves

I don't like rattles and this van is like a maraca. I have been dampening out noises with rubber anti slip mats however and they are very effective.
Grey storage boxes have also proven to be useful to make more use of the space available. These were cheap items from the factory shop but look pretty tidy. smallers ones are also in use fo sauces, tea/coffee etc.
Pant wettingly exciting.

Cutlery divider

If you weren't already unconscious from all the excitement, I also needed a cutlery divider.
Oddly I struggled o find one and worse still none really fit the drawer very well.
So I custom designed and 3D printed one, as you do. Took bloody ags but looks class! Well as class as a cutlery divider can do that is. Here is a link to the .STL for all of the component parts to design your own.
A days worth of printing to get this lot done. 5 points if you can spot the bits I didn't use.

Taking shape

Finished with minimal gaps

Door struts

The doors are surprisingly heavy on the cupboards and predominantly open upwards. This is a bit of a pain for my diminutive girlfriend and I am not a huge fan of being reduced to single handed searching for that thing I can't find but need right now.
The answer could be latches, or lock out arms, or gas struts. You already know what I went with.
These are very cheap on ebay if you search about, with the added bonus of being easy to fit.
The shape of the cupboard cutouts do not lend themselves to fitting these things so a hole saw and files were extensively used on top corners. Where leather trim was, I pulled this out of the way first then recovered once sufficient clearance was made.
One gas strut per smaller door and two for the large ones was the way I went. The cupboard doors above the sofa do need two struts but the others were perfect. The range of movement of the doors has been slightly reduced, which is a small price t pay as they now hold themselves open nicely. A fairly simple mod once you get the setup right, just follow the instructions that come with them and you shouldn't ass it up.
There is some adjustment so positioning isn't 100% critical

Nice

2 can even handle the heavy front door

Oddly some fit fine without fowling the corners.

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