When we got our bongo the first thing I turned my attention to was the sleeping platform.
Having used it as per the manufacturer I found it nigh impossible to exit at night without major upheaval. I decided to reverse the lift panel but found, once I had completed the reversing process,
that a more satisfactory and relatively simple solution was to remove the lift panel entirely and replace it with a sliding center board and a small hatch at the rear seat end utilizing part of the original hinges and pins to allow the hatch to pivot.
It has worked out very well. The end hatch is approx 20 inches, runs across the width of the van and during the day folds up into the rear portion of the AFT held by a plug chain. The center board is then slid down to the hatch end stops, and also stands secured by a another piece of plug chain.
In the opened position the head room is increased significantly and in the night position you have almost a full length adult sleeping platform with the end hatch opened. I am 6`and my feet just dangle over the end with the hatch open.
Should you want the end hatch closed when up top then its a simple matter to drop it down, I can do it with my foot from the prone position
During the winter this was handy to leave open when in the tent to allow the warm air from the heater downstairs to rise into the tent keeping it a pleasant temperature, keeping the tootsies warm and reducing condensation at night.
Utilizing the upper area for the storage of bedding and mattress during travelling is also made easier as you have almost the full length to lay flat the bedding and my pop up loo tent, that, despite many watches of the You Tube video-the folding up technique escapes me.
The whole underside is covered in a grey stretch fabric, this formed the greatest part of the cost, that compliments the existing color scheme and the upper side is covered with insulated bubble wrap and a 3 piece loose covered sponge mattress cut to fit the individual panels thus allowing the boards to be raised with the mattresses in situ. The only downside is I need a stick to push the Cancel Lock button in the roof when dropping the top.
Has anyone relocated or over ridden this switch?
Total cost of the conversion was around 50 quid, although I did have the ply, and it took around a day and a half to complete this includes the covering of the boards and a good deal of time discovering and planning. There are no irreversible changes made to the van so the original equipment can easily be refitted if required.
I moved the fluorescent light to the sliding skylight cover so lighting is retained although this is really redundant now due to the fitting of a COB led in the upper courtesy light.The light move took a great deal longer and in retrospect it was a waste of effort the COB led being a better solution to the lighting issue.
I will re assign the electrical feed to the fluorescent light to a USB charger socket to power of our tablet whilst watching movies in bed.
Oh, and with the end hatch down it forms a handy platform for the placing of whisky and wine bottles and other such delights to sample whilst watching TV in bed .
Happy Days....