I decided to not go with THQ fridge. The opening both ways and fully removable action is cool but wouldn't have worked for my set up - the fridge needs to be inset into the cupboard flush to the threshold to allow the cupboard door to close and latch with room on both left and right sides (for the THQ fridge) and I only have a gap available on one side, so the fridge door would only open one way anyway as only one side would have a gap for the heel.. THQ were helpful to a point but when I drilled into all the elements of my issue I got the impression they were getting frustrated as their technician dismissed the issue and said there fridge will fit fine, it'll open fine despite the limited gap and the flush fit will be fine, that bar at the back wouldn't be an issue... I didn't believe them and didn't want to order another fridge and have to return that one as well. They even said they'd never seen a setup like this one before... I have seen it on Dan Chambers channel but not in any detail and he's gone quiet now (poor lad)
So,
I have pushed the button on this 400mm depth fridge. Can't find any reviews but a fair few outlets sell them so fingers crossed.
A small 12v campervan fridge for campervan conversions and van builders. Slimline 12v Compressor Fridge offering cooling to -18c
clearcutconversions.co.uk
A shorter depth obviously means lots of room at the rear to have ventilation (I'll drill out vents in the cupboard both top and bottom to aid the flow). This will also allow me to reinstate the wall panel behind the cupboard and all the fluff insulation as well (glad I didn't cut out for the fridge back to slot in yet).
The width of the fridge vs the width of the cupboard means I will have a 20mm gap on the hinge side for the heel of the door to swing into.
To open it past this angle to aid shelf removal etc, I had thought I could take the cupboard door off as it has quick release style hinges that will allow a further 10/20 deg but these will be inaccessible obviously - it wouldn't stop me unscrewing the door from the hinges. Will know for definite if this speculation has any merit when the fridge is in. If I am mistaken and the fridge door won't allow me to remove the freezer compartment then... well it's 4 screws holding the fridge in, I can always pop them out and shufty the unit out a little ways to allow increased door opening and freezer removal if I ever choose to remove it.
As far as flush fit cupboard units go, I would advise against self converters going down this route, I did not want to cut out the side impact bar at all and I am 100% positive that a fridge with a true depth of 500mm would absolutely not have fit into a recess hampered by a 40mm metal protrusion.
Thanks be to all of you for advice and warnings of door protrusion issues and the like.
I'll send photos and post a little vid at some point to show how amazingly simple I found this whole process... guffaw!