Bongo Fury

Many thanks again NT.

Will get hubby onto it this weekend. He's turned into a bit of a DIY addict what with the success of our loft boards and now the bongo boards!

We're currently only using the 2 larger boards as our little one is still small - means we have more room to get him and down and we haven't had to remove the roof as you've done.
We have the 3rd one ready in the loft for when he grows though!

Will have to put some pictures up of the finished article complete with anti-falling out barrier!

MMH

Hi there,
We are about to try our new bongo in few nights and am investigating sleeping arrangements too, with our little monkey son most likely to sleep in the roof top, as combined weight of us bulky adults exceeds japanese design. Can I just clarify if you can put in bed boards and leave the original ceiling lifted up? I am a technophobe and don't want to temper with the basics of the car, but don't mind some carpentry...Also would you mind putting up a picture on how the tomy bedrail thingy was attached into tubes?
I am considering getting a readybed, but feel more confident if there was som space and hight to prevent a mid night tumble.
Also has anyone tried to make the hatch as a bed rail, with baby sleeping in the back bit of the roof? I was thinking that some clips at the top and skylight , or even blocks near the hinges would make it stable enough to prevent an unintended tumble.

Thank you!
Hannelore

I spent most of yesterday sorting out my new roof boards as we're off to Shell Island today as soon as my wife gets home from work. They seem to have worked fine and it mostly went to plan. With my original measurement there doesn't seem to be a problem with them catching the AFT fabric - watch this space! I've used 1 inch memory foam (donated by friends of ours) which seems fine for the kids - they only use thin adventure mats when camping anyway! I also put some table protector mat stuff between the foam and the boards as I had some spare and I though it was a good idea at the time(!) I took a fair while sanding (electric sander) to get all the edges smooth which I feel was well worth it. All in all I am really pleased with the job - hopefully the girls will sleep tonight. Will post some pics up later.

Andrew

hlore wrote:Hi there,
We are about to try our new bongo in few nights and am investigating sleeping arrangements too, with our little monkey son most likely to sleep in the roof top, as combined weight of us bulky adults exceeds japanese design. Can I just clarify if you can put in bed boards and leave the original ceiling lifted up? I am a technophobe and don't want to temper with the basics of the car, but don't mind some carpentry...Also would you mind putting up a picture on how the tomy bedrail thingy was attached into tubes?
I am considering getting a readybed, but feel more confident if there was som space and hight to prevent a mid night tumble.
Also has anyone tried to make the hatch as a bed rail, with baby sleeping in the back bit of the roof? I was thinking that some clips at the top and skylight , or even blocks near the hinges would make it stable enough to prevent an unintended tumble.

Thank you!
Hannelore

You could leave in the original roof but you would obviously lose some head space and it would be harder to get in and out of the roof. The boards would also have to be stored somewhere as well. It is incredibly easy to remove the roof, as proved by myself, a complete novice at anything bongo and the only difference is that you can see the fabric from the roof when it is lowered (but it makes storing stuff on the boards easy)

hlore wrote:Hi there,
We are about to try our new bongo in few nights and am investigating sleeping arrangements too, with our little monkey son most likely to sleep in the roof top, as combined weight of us bulky adults exceeds japanese design. Can I just clarify if you can put in bed boards and leave the original ceiling lifted up? I am a technophobe and don't want to temper with the basics of the car, but don't mind some carpentry...Also would you mind putting up a picture on how the tomy bedrail thingy was attached into tubes?
I am considering getting a readybed, but feel more confident if there was som space and hight to prevent a mid night tumble.
Also has anyone tried to make the hatch as a bed rail, with baby sleeping in the back bit of the roof? I was thinking that some clips at the top and skylight , or even blocks near the hinges would make it stable enough to prevent an unintended tumble.

Thank you!
Hannelore

We left our roof in there as my husband really objected to loosing it for some reason - he also made the valid point that we had no-where in our small house to store it and wouldn't want to get rid of it in case we sold in the future.

If you are using all 3 of the boards as NothernTaff suggests in his original post then it will be a squeese to get your little one up and down and possibly fit a rail.
We found the larger 2 boards alone fine for our little one at the moment and should be for the next few years - depends on the age/ size of your children. Means there is loads of room for us to stand up and lift him up and down even with the roof still on.

I will get the roof up this weekend and take some pictures of the Tomy bedrail in action and how it's attached to the bedboards and put them up on here for you.

Good luck with making the bedboards.

MMH

Arrived home today from 2 nights in Shell Island (weather not great but caught loads of crabs!). The bed boards worked a treat! Both our girls loved them, especially as they could peep over to see mam and dad at any time. First night they slept right through ( a bonus that it's still really dark in the roof tent even when it's bright sunshine outside). The second night our youngest woke at 4.00am as her sister had rolled over and squashed her. So to sum up, a huge success. I've done a few modifications since arriving home today. Have removed the whole platform as it was redundant really and will give us more headroom to get the kids up to bed. Also, because of this I've have modified the middle board so it can travel safer using the bolts that originally held the gas struts of the platform.
I've taken loads of photos of the whole process and am really chuffed with the outcome, as my DIY skills are OK but no way near outstanding. If anyone is interested then I am happy to upload them, if I can figure out how!

Andrew and family (and newly Christened Betsie the Bongo!)

hlore wrote:Hi there,
We are about to try our new bongo in few nights and am investigating sleeping arrangements too, with our little monkey son most likely to sleep in the roof top, as combined weight of us bulky adults exceeds japanese design. Can I just clarify if you can put in bed boards and leave the original ceiling lifted up? I am a technophobe and don't want to temper with the basics of the car, but don't mind some carpentry...Also would you mind putting up a picture on how the tomy bedrail thingy was attached into tubes?
I am considering getting a readybed, but feel more confident if there was som space and hight to prevent a mid night tumble.
Also has anyone tried to make the hatch as a bed rail, with baby sleeping in the back bit of the roof? I was thinking that some clips at the top and skylight , or even blocks near the hinges would make it stable enough to prevent an unintended tumble.

Thank you!
Hannelore

Haven't got round to bed boards yet, although can recommend the ready bed. We have a 3.5 year old (can't do the half sign) and he's so monkey like he has no problems with the hatch (although we do in the night). His ready bed is the 3-in-1 sort which is a bed, a lounger or a seat (think its proper name is a "Rest & Relax" Ready Bed). In other words it has creases in it so it can be folded back out of the way of the hatch. Won't be necessary when the boards are done, but has worked a treat so far. He can fold it up to open the hatch himself and depending on where he is (ie if he's where I left him) I can fold up the bottom third and get up in the "attic" without disturbing him.

Doesn't solve the midnight tumble problem, but they're good beds.

Alison01326 wrote:

hlore wrote:Hi there,
We are about to try our new bongo in few nights and am investigating sleeping arrangements too, with our little monkey son most likely to sleep in the roof top, as combined weight of us bulky adults exceeds japanese design. Can I just clarify if you can put in bed boards and leave the original ceiling lifted up? I am a technophobe and don't want to temper with the basics of the car, but don't mind some carpentry...Also would you mind putting up a picture on how the tomy bedrail thingy was attached into tubes?
I am considering getting a readybed, but feel more confident if there was som space and hight to prevent a mid night tumble.
Also has anyone tried to make the hatch as a bed rail, with baby sleeping in the back bit of the roof? I was thinking that some clips at the top and skylight , or even blocks near the hinges would make it stable enough to prevent an unintended tumble.


Thank you!
Hannelore

Haven't got round to bed boards yet, although can recommend the ready bed. We have a 3.5 year old (can't do the half sign) and he's so monkey like he has no problems with the hatch (although we do in the night). His ready bed is the 3-in-1 sort which is a bed, a lounger or a seat (think its proper name is a "Rest & Relax" Ready Bed). In other words it has creases in it so it can be folded back out of the way of the hatch. Won't be necessary when the boards are done, but has worked a treat so far. He can fold it up to open the hatch himself and depending on where he is (ie if he's where I left him) I can fold up the bottom third and get up in the "attic" without disturbing him.

Doesn't solve the midnight tumble problem, but they're good beds.

We use the bed boards (2 large one with no fixings - work perfectly - no roof removal etc.) and we use the readybed too - just shove it up there - job done!

Regarding roughness / sanding / appearance, why not just buy some car upholstery carpet, or even the cheapest, thinnest crappiest grey office type carpet from carpetright or whoever, wrap it so the 'join' is on the top and spray glue it in place?

I did that on a camper i had before that had a couple of boards missing, and you couldn't tell that they weren't part of the original convrsion.

Phil

Jolly Rogers wrote:This looks really good

http://www.clearcutconversions.co.uk/co ... ation.html

Has anyone seen one of these clearcut conversions in the flesh? They are down at Bideford, I'm going down on the 9th June hopefully to take a look at a finished one. I will report back if it is any good.

I think the ply is a good idea but I'm not keen about looking a plywood finish from inside the van....

Nbongo wrote:

Jolly Rogers wrote:This looks really good

http://www.clearcutconversions.co.uk/co ... ation.html

Has anyone seen one of these clearcut conversions in the flesh? They are down at Bideford, I'm going down on the 9th June hopefully to take a look at a finished one. I will report back if it is any good.

I think the ply is a good idea but I'm not keen about looking a plywood finish from inside the van....

Have seen this before yeah - it looks a really nice job and although isn't something I could consider funding at the mo it's a good addition to this thread for future completeness/reference.

Well I currently have the following in my roof - and it works just fine - loads of room and its not the first time either;

In the front - 2 roof boards on on top of the other with some silver screens on top
In the back - a junior ready bed folded in half and deflated
In the middle over the hatch - a double sleeping bag and the rest of the silver screens

no problem

mobilecat wrote:Well I currently have the following in my roof - and it works just fine - loads of room and its not the first time either;

In the front - 2 roof boards on on top of the other with some silver screens on top
In the back - a junior ready bed folded in half and deflated
In the middle over the hatch - a double sleeping bag and the rest of the silver screens

no problem

You obviously don't have to use yours as a playroom!! I put two wedge cushions up there the other day and was in deep, deep trouble for not asking permission to put "my rubbish" in "his" roof. He then politely asked if I could "find another home for them".

Alison01326 wrote:

mobilecat wrote:Well I currently have the following in my roof - and it works just fine - loads of room and its not the first time either;

In the front - 2 roof boards on on top of the other with some silver screens on top
In the back - a junior ready bed folded in half and deflated
In the middle over the hatch - a double sleeping bag and the rest of the silver screens

no problem

You obviously don't have to use yours as a playroom!! I put two wedge cushions up there the other day and was in deep, deep trouble for not asking permission to put "my rubbish" in "his" roof. He then politely asked if I could "find another home for them".

no its my everyday vehicle and I don't open up the roof for playing unless we are site! Once we are into camping season again like now I like to keep most things ready to go because I ahve pain issues and I can't be doing it every time

We have just bought a Bongo (hooray!) with the Mushroom roof which has boards already - but I'm wondering about mattresses. Our kids both have ready beds - but if for any reason when we start sleeping in it we end up with a one up and one down situation (possible) I'd like to get a mattress. Does anyone have a recommendation? I've seen the thread with the great looking Thai one with the hatch 'flap' but with no hatch that's not great. We either need one in sections, or that can stay up there (is there room when the roof is down????) or that is not too big when rolled. Are thermorest mattresses any good for this?
So many questions, so little summer!