Info on split middle seat/bed for Big Emma Rebuild?

[andrewtf]

Not necessarily relevant to this question, but for those of you that have followed, we have Big Emma back from Belize and she is safely settled in our driveway in Illinois. That was a somewhat frustrating process that I will let the travelers tell when they are ready. At any rate, pretty much none of Big Emma's beautiful interior is salvageable, so we'll be starting over. The upside to this process is that after about a year and a half of living in the bus Emma and Sven know what works and what doesn't and what needs to be modified for convenience.

One of the potential changes is to make the bed slightly larger (and more rectangular). We are toying with the idea of a split middle bench seat. I am looking for a little information on this type of seat - specifically the hinge mechanisms. I have seen it on Riviera's but I cannot find any real information on this setup.

Here is a photo of what we are thinking - borrowed from the Gallery (thanks Tcash)

I am hoping that someone can point me in the proper direction. Mostly, does this need 4 hinges? If we have to have a set of hinges that bisect the storage area below, it may be a deal breaker for this idea.

I'm sure we'll keep a record and provide updates of our rebuild as we progress.

Thanks - Andrew
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' - Travel Beast
'77 Riviera - 'Murphy' - Daily driver in nice weather
'78 Westy - New to the family
'63 Austin Healey - sitting alone in a museum

[danfromsyr]

to have a dual split rear bed/bench yes you would need 4 of the seat brackets.
and that will use up any usable under seat storage..

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4650724

[Xevin]

Andrew, I have this couch/futon thing. It has hinges that might work for your application. When you pull the back part of the futon forward it releases the latch to fold flat into a bed. Pull the back up again and it's locks up to form the couch. If Interested I can email you some pics. Or shoot me your phone # again and I'll send you a video. This thing was a temporary bed and was only $170 at Walmart. You could cut one up and modify to work as you'd like. Then recover with material. There probably similar futon setups you could modify as well
Found it.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Morgan-Faux-L...isitor_id=
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Keep on Busin'

[Xevin]

I should add. I realize the bed needs to go forward a bit when you retract the back. I've got a few ideas on that. Just a bit more info then I want to explain using my iPhone right now.
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Keep on Busin'

[SGKent]

it is not a Z-bed. This is a Z-bed. It converts a standard rear bus seat to a bed. The other ones are sometimes called that but they are not. Kind of like the difference between a purebred dog and a pooch. They are both loveable and family pets, but only one comes with AKC papers.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2100259



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George Carlin:
"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it."

Skills@EuroCarsPlus:
"never time to do it right but always time to do it twice"

[alman72]

there should be a z bed education thread. not that it will be read by folks.... anyway SGkent, in the OG posters defense, he never called it a z bed. It was labeled as such in a pic lifted from the gallery. I know you did not say he called it one, just wanted to give OP props for not falling into the misnomer westy bed/ z bed trap.
PS -I am a sticker for the proper terminology on these things too. makes searching so much easier when crap is called what it is.

[andrewtf]

Thanks for the replies.

Xevin - I think you r concept is good - but I would worry too much about safety in that sort of retrofit. Especially since we'd have to add something to allow the seat to slide forward to make it into a bed. After all - this is my daughter we're talking about.

SGKent - The hinges we currently have are rock and roll hinges... not that we couldn't replace those with something else.

Having just a wider bed without a divided back is not necessarily a bad thing. We just want to explore all the options.

Thanks again
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' - Travel Beast
'77 Riviera - 'Murphy' - Daily driver in nice weather
'78 Westy - New to the family
'63 Austin Healey - sitting alone in a museum

[vwwestyman]

What about something like two cut down westy beds right next to each other? Then you could end up with two smaller boxes side by side underneath.

Those hinges are just screwed to sheets of plywood, so no reason you couldn't do something like that.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Xevin]