Modifying the bed layout in our 67 Overlander

[SilverNat]

Hey guys!

My boyfriend and I have recently purchased a '67 Overlander that we plan to renovate and live in full time.

After we got the thing home, we realized that the two beds between the kitchen and bathroom that we thought folded out into full-size beds did no such thing. I would really like to remove one of the twins and modify the other one so that it could be a day bed/couch kind of thing during the day, and fold out into what would equal a full-size mattress at night.

Have any of you done this? If so, what type of material did you use for the mattress? I'd like it to be pretty substantial and comfortable since we'll be sleeping on it every night. Also, we are throwing around the idea of using heavy duty drawer sliders or something similar for the sliding mechanism.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

[kylewbenson]

Our 66 Overlander came with a full sized bed, and the company that makes the sliding mechanism in it is still around. I can't remember what they're called, but a little searching should find them.

We bought a full sized memory foam bed (8" thick) and cut it using an electric carving knife (much easier than you'd think) and are upholstering it with some duck cloth like material and 1/2" plywood as the bottom structure.

Here's a blog post that has some pictures:
Kyle and Claire: Thank Goodness for Family!

And this is the bed and carving knife:
Amazon.com: LUCID by LinenSpa 8" Memory Foam Firm Viscoelastic Mattress 20-Year Warranty, Full: Home & Kitchen
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s01_i00

[SilverNat]

That is very, very helpful! Thanks! I was thinking of doing something like this but, today, I saw this post on tiny house blog and it's got me thinking...

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-furnis...ll-mattresses/

I think these are really pretty (important, right?) and would work well with a convertible bed. I have some apprehension about cutting a mattress like you guys did in that I feel like the break in the mattress might cause some discomfort long term. Have you experienced this?

[kylewbenson]

No discomfort so far, but we're still pretty new to it. We had it upholstered so that the two swing on a fabric hinge that keeps them together.

That bed idea is interesting. Not for me, but looks comfortable!

[Hell Cat]

we are in the same boat, wondering how we will configure our 67.

[kylewbenson]

Hopefully these images show up. This is my first time posting from the app. This is what the final product looks like. We ended up needing to take out that shelf, I'm sad to say. But it's been worth it for eliminating that third piece of bed.

[SilverNat]

Thanks for the pictures! I feel like this is probably going to be the route we end up taking. I found a site with some heavy duty bottom mount drawer sliders that will work well for this - I think.

[kylewbenson]

Having just replaced the sliders on ours, I highly recommend the sliders they sell on the airstream website. They were really easy to install. They're really solid, though I'm sure any hardwood sliders will do just fine.

https://store.airstream.com/product_...roducts_id=402