So I bought an element so I could sleep in it and store my gear for all camping excursions. I basically searched youtube, and the Honda Element owners sites to gain ideas then made my own modifications. Here is what I came up with:
This is the bed folded in half. The bed was made and notched so I could keep the third seat in the car in case I was traveling with three people. Or even better you can flip up the seat and store a mountain bike and still have a single width bed.
To open up the bed just recline the seat back then flip over the other half of the bed
To make the platform I took a sheet of plywood measured and cut to length. Then cut it down the center. I did not adjust for the saw cut as the fabric (vinyl) would make up the 1/4" difference.
I braced the board with PVC (its lighter than wood) in 4 spots as you can see from the photo above. If you dont want to see that hardware then drill and install the PVC cap first then upholster the bed.
The bed fits right up under the front seat with the headrest removed.
Here is a blueprint I found from the Honda Element owners site. The only mods I did was to notch out the bracket for the third seat and cut the plywood vertically.
