Step one. Bought the van.

Sofa-bed continued:

Assemble the different pieces to see how everything works together. I took care to make sure the sofa-bed was square as I bolted it together. The best way for me is to measure diagonally from each corner.



If the measurements are the same then everything is square.

As I tighten up the bolts I would continue to re-check the square.


Did some testing with just the Seat Platform but I'll need to attach the two Platforms together to move farther along on the testing


Line up the two Platforms.


I'm using four hinges to join the two Platforms. I choose this style hinge because I happened to have them laying around. This picture shows that the hinge doesn't lay flat. There is more than one way to deal with this but the method I've chosen is to create a gap between the two Platforms. This gap wasn't in the original plan but it's not going to create any problems.


With this hinge the perfect gap happens to match the thickness of a piece of 19/32" plywood. Clamp a scrap plywood piece between the two Platforms to hold them in place.




Measure and mark out the positions of hinges.


Separate the two platforms. Using the marks and a clamp, line up one hinge. Then drill holes for the 1/4" bolts I'll be using to secure the hinges.


Do this for all the hinges on both platforms.


Bolt the two Platforms together and place on the sofa-bed frame. Use clamps to hold the Seat Platform to the metal angles on the end slides and the Center Support.


One of the first things I did with the Seat and Back Platforms joined and in place was to figure out what the optimum angle for the Back Platform should be while in the sofa position. Use clamps to hold the Back Platform at different angles. Kept changing it until I found what was most comfortable.


I like 112 degrees from the Seat Platform. I'm hoping this will still be OK once I install padding.




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