Simple sleeping/storage platform

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my kit is a self inflating double mattress which is open cell foam and outside is wipe clean- open valve and leave to inflate, close valve and if you want extra comfort fold in half.

Three seasons sleeping bag and I want to get ex MOD arctic bag

slept like a baby in -2 degrees centigrade in a car, a cattle Manger last week as well.
 
I normally use a Lilo when camping in the tent, but for inside the Disco I thought it'd be a faff blowing it up and fettling it ready for bed .. this takes no messing and won't puncture!

I also have a double size air bed which is 50" wide and I used to blow it up with a wee electric pump plugged into the fag lighter socket. That worked well enough, but for this conversion I want to make a seating area as well as a sleeping area which is where I am getting so many different ideas, add storage into the equation and it's bewildering me trying to decide how I want to do it. The cost isn't important, but I am trying for maximum flexibility.

At the moment I am thinking of a fixed seating bench which will double as a narrow sleeping platform with a little storage compartment and/or drawer below, but with the possibility of extending it to the maximum available width of 50", either hinged or sliding. Length will be max'ed out at about 6'.
 
my kit is a self inflating double mattress which is open cell foam and outside is wipe clean- open valve and leave to inflate, close valve and if you want extra comfort fold in half.

Three seasons sleeping bag and I want to get ex MOD arctic bag

slept like a baby in -2 degrees centigrade in a car, a cattle Manger last week as well.

Thanks Fanny, you have answered something I was wondering about, I wasn't sure if folding an inflated self-inflating mat was viable, because that would make it soo much easier to work around.
 
Yeah, mine was really just thrown together to see feasibility and it just evolved at no cost! I will buy better ply so the platform is level all over eventually, but now I'm thinking of how to decently fix the tops to the frames, maybe coach bolts and wing nuts for simplicity. Won't need many 'cos the frames will already be tied down reasonably solidly. It all fits quite quite nicely so won't move too much sideways and won't move at all fore and aft.

The top seems like it'll work for a cooking area too, even if it's raining, though I also carry a nylon tarp to rig up, and the front bit behind the drivers seat could easily work as a table when seated in the rear passengers seat.

I thinking, and hoping, it'll work well .. ;)

Now if someone wants to donate two 4' x 2' sheets of 9mm ply ... ;)
 
wooden blocks glued/screwed to underside of ply so they can't move or coach bolts that drop into holes in the frame.

I bought a sheet of 9mm MDF for my noo bed £16 from B&Q that'll give you 8no. 2ftx2ft squares. and B&Q will cut it up for you. :D just remember sheets are 1220mm x2440mm so need em cutting 610mm x 610mm to get em all equal sizes..
 
wooden blocks glued/screwed to underside of ply so they can't move or coach bolts that drop into holes in the frame.

I bought a sheet of 9mm MDF for my noo bed £16 from B&Q that'll give you 8no. 2ftx2ft squares. and B&Q will cut it up for you. :D just remember sheets are 1220mm x2440mm so need em cutting 610mm x 610mm to get em all equal sizes..

Yep wooden blocks same size as frame and positioned to fit tight inside the frames to prevent lateral movement then with an added bit which can swivel 90° to "lock" them in when needed.

I just ordered my mat from Amazon and will build my bed to suit, now that I know the self-inflatables can be folded.
 
Just been out and simply drilled 7mm straight through, M6 coach bolts through wood and table frames, m6 nuts on the bottom and job's a good 'un .. ;)
 
That really is looking good Paul ... I'd do away with that step though, you'll find it will be a pain in the neck, literally. Weld a couple of the off-cuts back on or get a replacement in the summer :).


Good call .. I tried it out last night, ****in' down outside and reasonably cold so _exactly_ like so many wild camping trips!

It works really well, but that step is a nightmare maker ... I'll definitely be getting it levelled out before I need to sleep in it ... ;)

However, it did work reasonably well with the sleeping bag positioned either way round, so head near the back or the front works just as well.
 
I only knew from experience with what looked like a minor inconvenience being a nightmare when trying to sleep on it, sod's law it ALWAYS lands exactly where you don't want it to be. :)
 
Re-done it all with 2 4x2 9mm ply sheets yesterday .. way comfier to sleep on and being ply has a little more give and bounce than the MDF I'd previously used. ;)

No pics yet, thinking about painting, or sealing it somehow but I ain't a joiner, so if anyone has any reasonable ideas what to use for a reasonable and resilient finish, I'd be grateful .. ;)
 
Personally (I'm not fussy) I would have simply stained it (I do in fact have a tin of wood stain which was meant to do just that, but never got used) and if I really wanted a nicer finish, I'd apply several coats of clear varnish after the stain, give each coat a little rub with fine sandpaper before applying next coat.

Alternatively, get some faux leather look vinyl and cover it with that, or just about any material of your choice.
 
Personally (I'm not fussy) I would have simply stained it (I do in fact have a tin of wood stain which was meant to do just that, but never got used) and if I really wanted a nicer finish, I'd apply several coats of clear varnish after the stain, give each coat a little rub with fine sandpaper before applying next coat.

Alternatively, get some faux leather look vinyl and cover it with that, or just about any material of your choice.

Heh, I have a small offcut of nylon carpet in the back of school that's been there years, that'd glue onto it I reckon, thanks for the idea! ;)
 
I slept in mine on many an occasion. If you have the seat frames from a three door disco you get more room to stretch out.

 
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