I never realised how much room is under the front of a beetle, I could go a long way with 40L(?) more fuel!
Yesterday I gave up on the front bumper, il let it float around in my mind for a bit longer before buying the metal i need to build it. While that stews ive moved back into the interior. The rear seats were removed as soon as I bought the car, along with the associated belts, and now comes the time to replace them with some storage.
On my previous Subaru I built a big slim drawer that went out the back of the car, while great for fitting loads of stuff and having easy access even with the cargo area full, it raised the floor up too much giving me less headroom for sleeping on top.
In the Prius I decided to go out the side instead, keeping the floor flat from the hatch all the way to the dash when the front seats are reclined fully.
This also leaves enough room for my inverter, solar controller and maybe some extra 12v batteries next to the hybrid battery, bringing some of the weight that was going to be in the spare tyre well much further forward.
Next step is to build a frame to attach it to, and then a new flat floor on top, with a hinged section at the front and rear to allow the seats the full range of movement and access to the rear footwells and spare tyre well.