Kitchen - early stages

Ok, after a long time saving and collecting bits of kit for the next stage of the van conversion its time for an update....

I've got most of the bits I need:

Smev combi hob/sink
Ikea Factum cabinets/doors/panels
Steel enclosure for gas locker
Zig CF8 distribution/charger unit
20L water bottle
submersible pump
waste/water pipes
gas vent

I've started working on my soon to be in laws drive which is great (Thanks Max and Carol!).

The first stage was to build the Ikea units and try them sitting in the van.
I deliberately ordered the smev with the hob to the right so I don't toast my headrest!
I'd seen lots on the forums about people using ikea factum kitchen wall cabinets in T5s and can confirm that two of the 50 x 70cm units side by side fits perfectly behind the drivers seat and just in front of the angled metal bit by the wheel arch. I bought gloss grey doors and a matching side panel so the white won't be seen once the unit is finished.



I still need to get a worktop for the pod. It seems hard to buy any under 3m in length so I'm going to try to get an off-cut from a local kitchen fitters.
Cutting the aperture for the sink is going to be challenging. The Smev booklet does include a technical drawing of the hole shape required. I'll definitely be trying this a few times in cardboard, then hardboard till I'm sure the shape is right.



The next thing I needed to sort out was where to drill holes through the van floor. This had been stressing me out for a while, but I'm glad to say I'm happier now.
I need 2 holes in total, 1 for the sink waste, 1 for the gas lockers drop-out vent.

The first stage was to have a look under the van where my unit will. I wanted to be sure I wasn't going to drill into anything important underneath (cheese straws and bowl of nuts are optional!)


Underneath the van there are several plastic 'plates' that cover up the chassis. You need a sprocket set to remove the hex bolts. Here's the panel I removed:

Once this was gone it was easy to see the structure of the vans belly.
Under the drivers side there are several areas that its possible to drill through...I tried to capture these in a photo:



The red ring shows the underside of the lashing point's bolt behind the driver seat.
You can clearly see the sections without cross pieces that are drill-able.
Having confirmed that this was indeed the lashing point bolt, I had a point to start measuring from.
I measured the clearance from the bolt on the underside like so:


Then I took these measurements and transferred them to the inside of the vans floor, marking out 'safe-zones' where I could drill through:


The final job was to drill a pilot hole to test out the measurements. I was very pleased to see the hole's placement inside the van matched the underside perfectly.

Hopefully this helps someone to do the same as I had trouble finding many step by step instructions online.

Rob