Hatch-ing a plan ...

While we did use the under-bed area to store some lesser used items last year, it was a bit awkward to lift the bed when we wanted access.  

We belong to a Cub Camper modification group and saw that a few people had fitted an access hatch door to the driver's side of the camper - which gave easier access to the main space beneath the bed.

The hatch door unit was an eBay buy, using a discount voucher.  It arrived promptly and Nick started fitting it.

He used cardboard templates to ensure correct placement - and then cut away the necessary hole using a grinder.

We've been doing a few modifications lately - improving function, without spending too much.  

Aside from the hatch door purchase, all other materials were already here - left over from various other projects.  

The hinges were used as corner supports because they were in the garage, salvaged from the D9 camper's flipover bench prototype.

Once the hatch door was installed, Nick worked on building a plywood partition - to prevent items in the area moving into the pantry / kitchen drawer slide space, or damaging the water pump.

Small brackets hold the partition in place. The whole unit can be removed, if necessary. The last segment of partition can also fold back to allow access to the pump, if needed.

We're so chuffed with Nick's great work! It's awesome!

Custom drawer ...

Lots of modifications were made to the Spacevan last year, preparing for our big trip.  The drawer units worked so well - and we were really pleased with them.

During that process, Nick shortened the former bunk bed base.  At that stage, we decided to keep the diesel heater (installed by a previous owner).

The diesel heater is so very noisy, that we prefer not to use it!  Funny story, our neighbours at Port Augusta used their diesel heater overnight and we could hardly hear it - unlike ours that sounds like a jet plane taking off!

Nick removed the heater, which freed up storage space under Bandit's bed.  

We considered installing a drawer unit there (only a little higher, so Mr Dog would still have his bed) but finding a pre-made option to fit around the wheel arch was tricky.

We'd gone back to Bunnings for a sheet of plywood, to make a drawer - and I saw some metal tool boxes. One of those was just the right size to become a drawer in the space!

The coffin handle is from Nick's Simplicity era!