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new owner, what bed should be in my pop top?
Posted: 09 May 2006, 18:21
by t25heaven
hi all, i recently purchased my first t25
it's a 1985 devon pop top, the roof is the staight up version with 2 gas struts either side. i paid 1500 quid for the van and it has a recon 2 litre wbx volkspares engine with 2500 miles on it. it had been standing for 2 years so needed an mot and only cost 100 quid to get it through, so i think i got a pretty good deal.
my question is there is no bed in the pop top and seeing as me and my mate are going travelling in it i would like to get hold of one, as i'd prefer him to sleep "upstairs" rather than in the rock n roll with me
i will post some pics when i can but for now i'll describe what i can see, there are 3 grooves in the plastic trim just below the canvas either side of the van. it looks like these should hold some sort of support for a bed or hammock? any ideas what shold be up there? if so anyone know where i can get hold of the bed or hammock?
also on the subject of the roof it seems a gas strut is knackered any idea where i can get one for a reasonable price?
any help will be appreciated, i look forward to hearing from all you experts...
andy
Posted: 09 May 2006, 20:51
by thewibbit
Andy.. I have a Devon too..an '82 with a side elevating roof. Mine basically has two boards which are carpeted on the underside to match the roof carpet, and they have approx 2 inch foam on top which is covered and has velcro tags to hold them on. Boards are the width of the roof and approx 1.2m? long. The front one stays where it is and the back one slides towards the front one to make the bed and you climb up at the rear of the bus. When you put the roof down the back one slides back. In mine there are U shaped grooves in the bit the bed slides on which a plastic D shaped bit attached to the bed board slots into to keep it all in place. Can't get photos at the moment.. let me know if you need some. Would be dead easy to make with some MDF/ Ply etc.
Posted: 09 May 2006, 20:53
by DiscoDave
the devon roof bed is made from two boads, in the daytime, one at each and and at night the back one pulls forward to make a bed with entry at the rear~! the grooves you talk... each board has two nylon semicircle blocks that sit in these grooves to stop them mooving about whils the vehicl or bed is in motion!! don't know about the shoks tho!!
Posted: 09 May 2006, 21:42
by Bedders
My 1990 Holdsworth has a similar arrangement, but with only two U shaped grooves on either side. I made a bed base from 18mm plywood cut to fit across the hole in the roof and about 2/3 the length. I cut two lengths of steel tube to fit in the grooves from one side to the other. I got the tubes from B&Q where they are sold as legs for kitchen worktops.The bed base rests on the tubes which stop it bending too alarmingly when anyone climbs in.
I hope your friend is nimble, light and non-claustrophobic. The space up there looks like it's only designed for kids
Posted: 09 May 2006, 22:11
by missusjen
Bedders wrote:I hope your friend is nimble, light and non-claustrophobic. The space up there looks like it's only designed for kids
Nah - the Devon roof is the biggest you'll get aside from a Viking. The bed is massively long, and the head room is a good 3 foot.
When we sold one, I got my 4 year old to stand up in there to show the size, and when she was very little, she used to sleep downstairs with me, and my partner and the two lads slept upstairs.....
Posted: 09 May 2006, 22:15
by T'Onion
t25heaven can you do some piccies cos from your discription
staight up version with 2 gas struts either side
it doesn't sound like the norm devon to me, sounds like the 3/4 Jed has
Posted: 09 May 2006, 22:27
by missusjen
Aaaaaaaaaaaah........
Both have two gas struts - but one is full length and side opening, and, as Onion has just pointed out, the other is considerably smaller.....
Posted: 09 May 2006, 22:29
by Bedders
the Devon roof is the biggest you'll get aside from a Viking. The bed is massively long, and the head room is a good 3 foot.
It ain't so big in a Holdsworth, but you can fit two adults in as long as they're not too heavy. I don't trust my home made contraption that much
Posted: 09 May 2006, 22:34
by missusjen
Bedders wrote:It ain't so big in a Holdsworth, but you can fit two adults in as long as they're not too heavy. I don't trust my home made contraption that much
Once had 4 adults sitting in the roof at dubfreeze - it's amazing what weight those things will take.....
Posted: 10 May 2006, 16:43
by t25heaven
hi thanks for all your help i think i'm going to go with the couple of bits of ply and poles for kitchen work top option, rather than try to find an original bed. might be a silly question but how do i add pics to my post??
as for my mate that's coming with me he's not the smallest of blokes he's a good 15 stone! i hope the bits of ply will hold his weight!
any ideas where i can pick a gas strut up?
cheers andy
Posted: 10 May 2006, 20:12
by matt
any ideas where i can pick a gas strut up?
trylookin a few posts down, i think its wwwcampershop.com
Posted: 10 May 2006, 20:14
by matt
Posted: 10 May 2006, 21:18
by thewibbit
My mate Paul slept upstairs in my devon for 4 nights at Le Mans and at the time he was about 23 stone no word of a lie. (and it didn't collapse).
Posted: 10 May 2006, 21:19
by thewibbit