Gaucho Puzzle - How many cushions??

[dudebb]

We are going tomorrow to get new foam for the gauchos for our 62 Bambi as a part of the rehab and reupholstery. The 72' long straight gaucho along the side wall currently has 3 cushions which include the back bolster that is also used as a section of the bed mattress when the bed is pulled out. I'm trying to figure out why there are 3 cushions. I would think that the seat should be just 1 cushion 32" wide (it is now 2 cushions 22" and 10") and that the back bolster 15" would be used to fill in the "pulled out" space when you want to make it a bed. Does anyone else have 3 cushions and do you know any particular reason there are 3 instead of 2 ?? Any thoughts would be apprciated.

[whitelight]

George - do you have a picture to post of the old cushions?

I don't have a photo handy - we redid our cushions by paring down from 3 to two pieces of foam - the "base", or seat, as you suggest, would be one cushion of 32" deep. The bolster would then be the bed fill piece.

The older style cushions were designed as 3 pieces with the "back" foam piece hinged to the seat. The theory in this design was to keep the back off the wall/resting against a support as well as define the seat depth - problem is, as the foam shrank over the years, the "back" usually would not lean against the back support & tend to collapse.

If you go the route that you are suggesting, I'd figure out a way (velcro, snaps, etc.) to keep the back in place when being used as a settee.

[Ganglin]

Do these pictures from Vintage Airstream help you any....

Vintage Airstream - '62 Bambi

[dudebb]

Hi Whitelight and Ganglin,
Thanks for responding. Yes, the back cushion currently has the two metal loops attached to attach it to the piece of wood that runs on the wall behind the seat. I plan on re-using these (and hoping to find the other pieces that attach to the piece of wood). My current back cushion also has a piece of plywood in the back for support behind the foam which should support it and prevent the foam from collapsing. The Vintage Airstream photos are helpful, thanks for sending them.
I just can't see a good reason to have originally made this a 3 cushion seat / bed.
Thanks again!

[whitelight]

Here's an "after" picture of cushions I did on the 74 31'. The side gaucho seat is one piece of foam. I did leave the thin plywood in the seat back. The aluminum curtain track supports the back. This aluminum track had a 1" vertical insert; I put velcro here & then sewed velcro in the back of the cushion - this really keeps the back in place!

The "original" three piece with the hinged back was supposed to be "easy" to pull down the gaucho to make the bed . . .

good luck with the project George - and go for the two piece look!

[Fyrzowt]

My '72 also has the three piece. The bottom two have wood supports to span the metal slides. I see no reason why you couldn't modify it to a 2 piece cushion. It would be much more comfortable without the crack under your back.
I could send photos tomorrow if it would help. If so, PM me.
Dave

[Silver Threads]

In our 72, When I first tried to figure out how to make a gaucho cover and coudn't, I simply did what you are talking about and just made simple zipper cover for them. The problem came when we tried to sleep on them. My husband kept falling in the cracks. I tried using bungee cords and eveyrhing I could to hold them together but with no avail. I finally ended up figuring the cover out and put them back the way they were meant to be and havent had any more problems. Im not saying you will have this problem, but I would try it out first. The back " banana shaped" cushion on ours is there for the back seat cushion to rest upon when it is couch form, and fills in the back when it is a bed.

[Fyrzowt]

You can't get around having the crack in the middle and falling in as long as the bottom cushion is split. You can make the bottom cushion one piece, or do something similar to me. I put memory foam on top which spans the crack and feels like our Tempurepedic at home. Good luck with it.
Dave