mhiscox
Expedition Leader
I'm sure that the audience for this tongue-in-check thread is vanishingly small, but bandwidth here don't cost nuthin' and perhaps there's one member who's spent long hours wondering, "How can I make a cushy camper out of my Samurai.
The logic behind this is a little convoluted. Basically, the Sami used to look like this:
with a Bestop bimini top, Windjammer back piece and tonneau cover over the bed. Looks good enough and is pretty convenient, but if it gets rained on, five gallons of water will collect in a pool on the tonneau cover. And since it rained just a bit this winter, I decided to also get the full Bestop replacement top and the associated hardware to enclose the whole area. Then, two weeks back, when we took the Sprinter to Eastern Oregon and pulled the Sami for the back roads:
I decided to do the experiment to see if you could make an enclosed sleeping compartment comfortable enough to spend the nights in. Turns out you can. :victory:
First make Base A out of 3/4 inch boards.
( BTW, I'm happy to supply dimensions but it's pretty obvious and the tolerances are huge. Though I'm sure New Yankee Workshop types could make this hyper-elegant.)
Then make Base B out of the same 3/4 inch material. The cross brace is off-center so that the smaller area could be used for storage.
Then make these guys (Tops A, B and C, left to right) out of whatever the home center sells as finished 24x48 handi-panels about a half-inch thick:
When take the headrest off the passenger seat (there's a metal clip that holds it on) and the plastic cover over the outboard recliner mechanism (one phillips screw in the center). Then recline the passenger's seat as flat as possible after moving the seat all the way forward. Don't use the underseat adjuster to move it forward; it won't move the seat forward far enough. Instead, use the recliner lever and the "easy entry" feature to slide the seat all the way forward before reclining.
(By the way, if you are among the small proportion of owners who still have the rear seat in because you transport extremely diminutive people with extremely short legs, you obviously have to remove the rear seatlette.)
Now put Base A over the passenger's seat, with the angle you cut matching the incline in the driveshaft tunnel and the square hole fitting over the seat recline. Try not to mash the rubber boots on the tranny and t-case shifters any more than necessary, and make sure that the outboard edge sits square on the floor; it's a tight fit.
Then put Base B into the back between the wheel wheels. Positioning is not critical yet.
Now lay Tops A, B and C onto the two supporting bases. Put the narrow end of Top A as far forward as it will go; the cutout is to go around the center console so you can pick up a few more inches of length.
It's not absolutely necesssary to screw the tops down, but the lightweight panels have enough warp that the don't mesh up perfectly. If you're anal (and I inarguably am) you'll want to put a minimal number of screws (1 1/2 inch number 10 square drives in my case) through the panels into the bases. I used seven; two diagonally through Top A into Base A, one through the front outboard edge of Top B into Base A, two through the rear edge of Top B into Base B and two through the front edge of Top C into Base B. Obviously, doing this makes the relative positioning of the components matter, so once you've lined everything up, put witness marks on the boards and maybe a piece of tape on the rear bed to show where to put the back edge of Base B.
As you might guess, the reason for having three top parts, and three parts with roughly the same short dimension, is so you quickly stack up the top pieces in the back and put the passenger seat back into use. Put Tops B and A (with A turned 90 degrees) on top of Top C, then turn Base A over and set it on the driver's side. If you're clever, you can dimension the shorter Top C piece to wedge Base A against the driver's side on top of Top B. Hold everything in place with a clamp along the back edge.
And now on to the outfitting . . .
The logic behind this is a little convoluted. Basically, the Sami used to look like this:
with a Bestop bimini top, Windjammer back piece and tonneau cover over the bed. Looks good enough and is pretty convenient, but if it gets rained on, five gallons of water will collect in a pool on the tonneau cover. And since it rained just a bit this winter, I decided to also get the full Bestop replacement top and the associated hardware to enclose the whole area. Then, two weeks back, when we took the Sprinter to Eastern Oregon and pulled the Sami for the back roads:
I decided to do the experiment to see if you could make an enclosed sleeping compartment comfortable enough to spend the nights in. Turns out you can. :victory:
First make Base A out of 3/4 inch boards.
( BTW, I'm happy to supply dimensions but it's pretty obvious and the tolerances are huge. Though I'm sure New Yankee Workshop types could make this hyper-elegant.)
Then make Base B out of the same 3/4 inch material. The cross brace is off-center so that the smaller area could be used for storage.
Then make these guys (Tops A, B and C, left to right) out of whatever the home center sells as finished 24x48 handi-panels about a half-inch thick:
When take the headrest off the passenger seat (there's a metal clip that holds it on) and the plastic cover over the outboard recliner mechanism (one phillips screw in the center). Then recline the passenger's seat as flat as possible after moving the seat all the way forward. Don't use the underseat adjuster to move it forward; it won't move the seat forward far enough. Instead, use the recliner lever and the "easy entry" feature to slide the seat all the way forward before reclining.
(By the way, if you are among the small proportion of owners who still have the rear seat in because you transport extremely diminutive people with extremely short legs, you obviously have to remove the rear seatlette.)
Now put Base A over the passenger's seat, with the angle you cut matching the incline in the driveshaft tunnel and the square hole fitting over the seat recline. Try not to mash the rubber boots on the tranny and t-case shifters any more than necessary, and make sure that the outboard edge sits square on the floor; it's a tight fit.
Then put Base B into the back between the wheel wheels. Positioning is not critical yet.
Now lay Tops A, B and C onto the two supporting bases. Put the narrow end of Top A as far forward as it will go; the cutout is to go around the center console so you can pick up a few more inches of length.
It's not absolutely necesssary to screw the tops down, but the lightweight panels have enough warp that the don't mesh up perfectly. If you're anal (and I inarguably am) you'll want to put a minimal number of screws (1 1/2 inch number 10 square drives in my case) through the panels into the bases. I used seven; two diagonally through Top A into Base A, one through the front outboard edge of Top B into Base A, two through the rear edge of Top B into Base B and two through the front edge of Top C into Base B. Obviously, doing this makes the relative positioning of the components matter, so once you've lined everything up, put witness marks on the boards and maybe a piece of tape on the rear bed to show where to put the back edge of Base B.
As you might guess, the reason for having three top parts, and three parts with roughly the same short dimension, is so you quickly stack up the top pieces in the back and put the passenger seat back into use. Put Tops B and A (with A turned 90 degrees) on top of Top C, then turn Base A over and set it on the driver's side. If you're clever, you can dimension the shorter Top C piece to wedge Base A against the driver's side on top of Top B. Hold everything in place with a clamp along the back edge.
And now on to the outfitting . . .
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