We got a referral from Stephan’s Autohaus in Sacramento to outfit a Westfalia Syncro with all new, custom cabinets. The client, Brendan Couvreux, is a nationally sponsored rock climber and all-around athlete who travels the world looking for challenges and camping along the way with his wife, Chloe, (who is also an accomplished athlete) and 2 kids. The Westy will be their second home.

One of the challenges of this project was fitting in an oversized water heater for an outdoor shower. The client also wanted the cabinets outfitted with a rig for their portable refrigerator instead of a built-in. We ended up retrofitting an existing slide, adapting it to fit the client’s fridge as well as the cabinet space. It locks in place while on the road, and has quick release clips to take it out for their campsite.

After the initial tear-out and cleanup, the first thing we did was panel the sides of the van with 1/8″ ABS. Then we installed the sub-floor and laid a new vinyl floor to match the cabinet finish and built a taller storage/bench seat base with a roomy drawer and an access panel area for the heater.

Next: Designing and building the wardrobe/waterheater cabinet while providing clear access to the water heater from the back as well as the front. Photos 6 & 7. Allowance was made for easy removal of the engine compartment hatch as well.

The beautiful pear finish laminate kitchen cabinets we designed and built would look just fine in any high-end kitchen. Plenty of drawers with pop-out locking knobs; a stainless steel SMEV/Dometic sink/two burner stove top combo with two solid maple counter tops; easily accessible foot pump for the tap; and to top it off a nice long shelf with a custom rail above. We made a special holder for their stainless steel drinking water with a lock-strap to hold it in place.

You can see more at: http://www.aclimbingpartyoffour.com