This week I built a platform bed area in the driver’s cab for Pepper.
She can hang out there during the day if it isn’t too hot and also travel there – I can hook her harness into the seatbelt of the passenger seat.
The platform is two bits of 12mm ply that rest on a bunch of supports that I have made.
The timber on the side is screwed into the wall of the bus and also into the timber wall I have behind the passenger seat.
The frame in the floor up near the dash is not attached. It can be lifted in and out when I need to access the windscreen washer fluid etc there.
The engine hatch box is screwed down into the metal case of the engine hatch cover.
I have another support on the other side attached to a wardrobe there.
The two sheets of ply can be lifted off and there is quite a bit of space underneath for storage. I’m thinking extra dog bedding, dog towels etc and things I don’t need to access every day.
Eventually I will cover the pieces of timber on the side wall with ply and paint it to match the back wall. The engine hatch box will probably get painted also and lined with carpet to match the cab floor. I can use the box to hold things like water bottle, snacks, phone, rego info etc.
I will be getting some foam cut to shape to make the cushion for the bed and will make some removable washable covers for it too.
So hopefully it will look a bit nicer when finished but for now I just wanted to get it all built and test it out. Need to see how well it holds up on bumpy roads etc.
So far Pepper is happy with it 🙂
