Today I began building the rear overhead cabinet. It is 19" deep x 70" across and 11" high in the center; these are maximum dimensions, decreasing as you head to the corners.
There will be 3 openings in the front. The center opening is 7x31 inches. The two side compartments openings are 5x11". Compartment doors will have gas cylinders for support. The center section is designed to hold our electric blanket, a comforter/bedspread and our sheets.....and they do fit.
The front and bottom are made of 1/4" birch faced plywood that will be clear urethaned.
This is a rather simple unit to make. My approach is to rest the cabinet on the top edges of the side and rear
windows. I began with pieces of 1/2" x 1/4" aluminum angle to broaden these edges. I drilled holes in one side of the angle matching the holes in the window frame. I did this for the rear window and the side
windows. Removed the screws from the top of the window frames and using the same screws, screwed on the angle.
The bottom of the cabinet will rest on these aluminum rails. Holes have also been drilled in the other edge of the angle to allow screwing up through the rail into the bottom of the overhead cabinet.
Getting the curve for the bottom piece and the front panel is the toughest part. My technique is to cut a 1x3 and pressure fit it between the side walls at the right height. This piece is parallel to the rear window and 18" from the window at each end.
I mark the top surface of the 1x3 at inch intervals and measure the distance to the wall, marketing it on the 1x3. I than take the 1x3 and lay it out on an 18" wide of plywood and cut the curve.
I removed the rivets that hold the rear curtain rod. I filled the end four holes and kept the center holes open. I may use these with a bolt to connect to a rear stiffener. The stiffener will be glued and screwed to the bottom panel.
Two additional stiffeners will be added to the bottom panel, one in the corner and one in the center. These stiffeners will provide mounting points for our TV. We use a single point hook to hang our TV, I will show it at a later date. At night we usually have our TV in the corner of the bed; during the day it is typically over the table.
Fastening points. The bottom is attached to all three
windows thru the now painted black aluminum angle. It is attached to the rear of the trailer thru the center mounting point of the curtain rod holders. It will be attached to the roof thru a piece attached to the rivet holes used to mount the
light at the front of the overhead cabinet. This
light will be removed and
lights installed on the bottom of the cabinet.
I'll show it later but the rear and side windows are not at the same level. I run a 1x3 from the kitchen cabinets under the bottom front corner of the rear overhead. The 1x3 rests on the side window's added aluminum rail. This wooden piece will eventually be screwed to the kitchen cabinet and the rear overhead cabinet. This piece of wood will also support a U- shaped open cabinet, these little storage spots, one on each side, will be about 4"x24".
Tommorrow I'll urethane the cabinet and begin assembly.
1992 Scamp Side bath
Bean
Its a bit like Joy's postings! Great ideas and work but it makes me start to think I can do it - how hard can it be! Not!
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