Argh
After discovering that no-one in the US makes one-piece* full-width convertible bench beds** and Travois is out of stock, I just spent all day at junkyards, convinced that I needed to find a chateau bed for my E350 build***.
After two hours wrestling with some bolts (long story) I got one half-removed, but thought I'd check-in for yall's informed opinions (I know you've all spent time thinking about them).
The one I may finish removing tomorrow is from a late 90's E-series conversion van, and measures approx 53 inches wide and approx 62 inches long. This is too short for me to sleep on. I thought it would be 72 inches long like my current semi-stock van with SMB top. Apparently not too short for some critters to have been sleeping on it, so it'll suck to even have it our garage for a week.
Before spending another half day unbolting, bringing it home / getting re-upolstered, I thought I'd see if you experts have any tips for a U.S. (and preferably non-backlogged) source a 72 inch+ 3-person bench for the rear of a ~05-13 E350 EB. Or, if in the process of re-upolstering a Ford, any of you had improvised the back panel to make the bed longer.
Notes:
*One-piece, as opposed to the 2-panel converting benches that have a freestanding third panel extension that discounttruckvan,
https://shop4seats.com/van-seats/sofas-and-benches.html , et al. sell. I'm talking about the European-style all-in-one, of which there are apparently 8+ manufacturers in the UK alone. PS DTV and S4S are 3-4 months out on production-- not sure if that's normal.
**Sorry for a new post on a topic that has been covered in umpteen threads, but I think I've read every post with key word "chateau" on here, ford trucks, and expedition portal. For those who haven't, here's what they say: the bed was present in '91 to ~'96 Ford Chateau's (e150?) and also 2002-2003 (e350?). Confusingly, converting beds are also in conversion vans from other years (and in Chevy's), and it's not clear to me whether the brackets and measurements are the same as the OEM beds. The bench from today (and my SMB) were bolted down about 42 inches apart).
***This is def putting the cart before the horse b/c I haven't sourced the van yet, and am still thinking of buying an existing SMB (or ideally a 4x4 E350 v10 with pop top but little to no cabinets / mods downstairs, plus a 110v non-rooftop AC... if Santa is listening)