Most of a Westy bed came today!

Greyhound package express is totally the way to go for shipping big, unwieldy stuff. One and a half days to get a big package from Alabama to Brooklyn, and at a pretty reasonable price.

hardware from a 1968 Westy zbedHere’s the hardware and wood for the bed.

The laminate on the visible part (with the door) is mostly good. There’s one big chip, so that’s where the heat vent will go. Only the bottom board is bad, but I just need that as a template for mounting the hardware; putting this bed in the Vanagon will require a totally custom bottom. The sides will probably only serve as templates too.

Preliminary fitting (ie, holding one part of the bed against the engine firewall and fantasizing about camping trips) suggests that the height will match up pretty well with the rear deck. (EDIT – HA! It’s actually a couple of inches high and I’ll have to build a short platform in the back, but that will make a nice storage space for the solar panel and other flat objects)

Not sure if the rear cushion will fit, it comes tomorrow, but overall the bed area should fold out to about 75″x46″. New covers will have to be made immediately; the 37 year old mucous-colored vinyl is not to my taste.

Westy!