As it stands, I drink enough already. Two tone?  Ha!  My liver would
fall out.       ;^)

Great thought; that scheme does look awesome. On that note.....

I almost went with a travel theme fabric but it would have ended up
with printing-artwork sideways and possibly given the bed that
pre-teen child look. There was also a blue/brown/? stripe theme and I
almost went bold with that, but am super glad I didn't.

I bought 4" foam. In part, b/c I measured incorrectly.

I had a choice between firm and not so firm (clerk provided numbers I
just don't recall them right now) Basically each was a 2 lb foam.
Tough choice. Less firm: nicer to lie on but my butt *almost* hit wood
sitting on it. (of note, my former bed height was level with storage
bins. That + rear table mod allowed me to stretch out legs under
table) Firmer; no bottoming out but for sleeping? Time will tell. I
also bought an egg carton (one side) 2" foam but may not use it in
light of 1" difference between Z bed and engine lid. (lid built to 4"
high old bed) Would rather put a 1" piece of something over lid and
just use the Z bed.

My engine lid tub doesn't allow for a rear foam piece. The 4" foam has
changed all that somewhat. This was a bit of a mistake on my part
(should be 3" foam?)

Neil.

On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 12:26 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> - how did you arrive at the firmness level? You said something about "sitting firmness", right?
>
> And will you get some of the same foam for rest of bed (and cover that too)?
>
> The braces that I have a hazy memory of are triangular bent bits. If you had them then I'd guess you would have seen them or at least seen holes for the bolts.
>
> Now don't take this as a criticism, and god knows how easy it is to comment on what could have been, but did you consider sewing up a 2 tone cover? ie a different material in wide stripe, sort of where you sit.
>
> I've been talking to my wife about this idea, discussion heads into "french seams" and other arcane (to me) sewing terms.
>
> cheers
>
> alistair
>
> On 2013-03-17, at 11:57 AM, neil n wrote:
>
>> Thanks Alistair. You're too kind!
>>
>> The job has some flaws, but hopefully, all the corners will "stay
>> put". Real world test imminent.
>>
>> re: metal braces at seat bottom. I'll check my '88. None are present
>> on my '81 .... unless I"m misunderstanding what you meant.
>>
>> Your insights are much appreciated. My latch mechanism is done. i.e I
>> never knew a Westy had this feature until it kind of worked one day.
>> One day.  ;)   I won't bother trying to re-do that part.
>>
>> I'm loath to unscrew the bed again, but will if need be. And re:
>> threaded plate metal under foam on backrest. Those holes seem like
>> something that could easily be stripped. One image intended to show
>> brand of recent tool purchase Pro.Point Bought this for an upcoming
>> canvas replacement but was useful for the back rest bolts. As you
>> know, a 1/4" drive + socket + bit works, but the Pro.Point type tool
>> is a lower profile, has ratchet + handle twist feature, and bit holder
>> is sufficiently magnetic.
>>
>> Neil.
>>
>>
>

--
Neil n

65 kb image Myford Ready For Assembly  http://tinyurl.com/64sx4rp

'88 Slate Blue Westy to be named.

'81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"  http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

Vanagon VAG Gas I4/VR Swap Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines