Fold out bed in house?!

[djkeev]

So........
color me silly but I have 90 GL with the full width rear seat that folds out to a bed and it has the mattress over the engine area.

Because my Van is a work Van and runs daily at about 5,000 lbs with tools and supplies I have removed the rear seats.
The middle one is gone, Duncan got some of it but the rear is in my basement taking up precious real estate and as we all know, most basements are NOT the driest places to store things. Mine certainly falls into this category though it is under control thanks to the miracle of electronics and being fed into a floor drain.

My "garage" ....... 1960's era concrete block 11' x 22'...... which is pretty much useless for cars let alone a Vanagon!
The ceiling was only 6'10" which added to the useless nature.
I raised the ceiling to 8'6" in the center using collar ties, opening up the space.
Pulled the rotting wooden garage door replacing it with a 3-0 "people" door and a window.
I insulated the walls with Poly-iso sheets glued to the block as well as R-19 in the ceiling and sheetrocked.
In the rear section I framed a closet and a 1/2 Bath as well as installed a floating floor.
The back half has a Pellet Stove and a built in window air conditioner.
This area is my Wife's work area for crafts, sewing, whatever. The front half is similarly insulated but isn't painted nor is there a floating floor in it.

Anyway.......
all that to say that it would be nice to have a guest room.
I don't want a conventional bed, I could get a sofa bed (Ugh!) or a Murphy bed.
But it dawned on me. Why not build a wooden frame for the rear seat mechanism and use the rear seat as a couch. When a bed is needed (rarely) fold out the seat and create some sort of a knock down platform for the rear mattress.

Am I Crazy? Maybe, but it would be nice to get that seat out of the basement!

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[shagginwagon83]

It would be cool to have in the house, but maybe you should consider passing it along to a Vanagon that can use it for it's intended purpose.
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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
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[Wellington]

I do not find the rear seat comfortable for sitting at all, and marginal for sleeping.

[Sodo]

[djkeev]

I forgot to say, this is still my vacation vehicle, tools out! Bed in! Off we go!

I am keeping the rear seat bed and will be using it, doing so just requires a bit of planing and time before any journey begins.

Yes, I agree, a good mattress topper will serve guests as well as us when the bed is traveling in the Van.

And really? Who wants to make guests all that comfortable?
You know the three day thing about fish and guests.........

Dave
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[vanagonjr]

[the joker]

I had planned to install the almost entire bottom sleeping /cabinets units, in a spare media/ guest room tucked into a half wall closet area, but sold it

Did dream about gutting a full westy , mounting up as a tree house or on stilts with a wrap around porch

I once saw a cabin cruiser , set in the ground at waterline level some where I was a little boy then, everyone that would know where that was is dead bummer

[Glenn]

$85 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Convertible-Folding-Adjusta...3&th=1

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74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
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[djkeev]

[Glenn]

[Gizmoman]

Dave,
I think your idea is great! Now it will have three purposes Post some pics of how you set it up.
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[DuncanS]

[Abscate]

[steve244]

I approve this idea, but only if you cut off the rear of the van to house it like this guy did:

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[danfromsyr]

dave
my personal take is YES
you're crazy for dragging that GL rear seat/bed around anywhere but in the back of a van..

as for the rear seat and occasional need for a rear bed in a van..
my father used his as a work van.. I took a westy rear seat/bench and stripped the cushions off it so it was just a plywood bench..
*it still allowed use as a seat on rare occasion. or to secure tiered rear cargo
*it folded flat to better support long stuff like lumber and ply/pipe goods
*it held more permanent stuff securely in the underneath chest.. could even add a lock.. to secure your power toos etc..
* and nothing to move/install when taking a vacation other than loading in a mattress pad or inflatable mattress and hit the road..

in fact I have a GL bench/seat up here in upstate NY (no rear pad though) if anyone wants the weight and burden of the folding 3rd row seat.
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[DuncanS]

Humble opinion. As we get older, the idea of lugging a rear seat out of the basement to stick in the T3 seems like an overwhelming chore. Since you don't need the seat 95%of the time in the car and apparently only might need it 3% of the time in the basement, I guess I would cannibalize the cushions and make a simple lightweight ply base to support them for the camping. The heavy steel, I'd chuck or save because you can never tell when .............. I really like my system which carries the ply in the car all the time and only needs the cushion to make it a bed or seat. Since it is two part and folds against the sloping firewall, it takes up almost no cube for cargo hauling. You could then have something in the basement which the mattress could go on and thus have the emergency bed there as well.

In other words, use a mattress as the dual location base item, not the OG GL seat.

Duncan

[djkeev]

[danfromsyr]

a westy bench without the padding is still a safe DOT seat and far far more usable than a GL bench or no bench..
you can remake the westy base to fit full width with new 3/4in plywood as well.
you still retain the rear OE seatbelts, just leave them tucked underneath when not needed..
seating can be 'cushioned with patio cushions.. well this is what we used in dad's for a grab and go pseudo comfort.

in mine I was/am planning to have the rear cushions fitted out like boat cushions that then go on with a snap on the fabric tag/flap.
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[DuncanS]

This seems like a really good way to go. The question is for the hauling 95% mode, this would be in the way. Instead of using the Z bed hinges or whatever they are in these photos, I'd try to make something that would create the same effect, but fold like mine in the sketch so it takes up no room for the work van mode. The hinges would be different from what I have, but I don't see this as a problem at all.

I am pretty sure you have eliminated the rear heater and so all you have to do is move the ECU. This was pretty simple. There is a pretty good sized hole with a rubber boot which makes up the difference for the ECU cable to go through the fire wall. If you pull out the rubber boot, the ECU plug can be passed through the slanted firewall into the engine bay by the tranny. A new hole was then drilled the same size as close to the side as I could get it and reinstalled the cable and the boot there. The ECU now lives in the side panel just under the Mack Sails sticker. The old hole was covered with two pieces of tin and bolts with goo to keep it from rusting or leaking. I used scraps of stainless for the "bread" of the sandwich.

Duncan

[danfromsyr]

duncan the seat/bench folds out flat.. doesn't need to make a stop board up front like pic2

as Dave mentioned he on occasion has a passenger back there.
I wouldn't recommend they use a DIY seat for passenger use.
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