Decent shell wanted

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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rustyp
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Decent shell wanted

Post by rustyp » Thu Dec 01, 2016 12:46 pm

Bongo has failed it's MOT good and proper with rust, rust and more rust.

Are the any good shells out there or Bongos with blown head gaskets?

Thanks, Russ
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Decent shell wanted

Post by mikeonb4c » Thu Dec 01, 2016 1:45 pm

rustyp wrote:Bongo has failed it's MOT good and proper with rust, rust and more rust.

Are the any good shells out there or Bongos with blown head gaskets?

Thanks, Russ
As Bongolia can testify, you can fix even a fairly rusty Bongo. Is the old Bongo not refurbishable? Have the MOT people detailed where the rust is?
winchman
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Re: Decent shell wanted

Post by winchman » Thu Dec 01, 2016 2:21 pm

Its all down to time, have you the time to repair it and the skills?
My MOT man told me a tale of a young lad who spent all his money and time with his Dad welding an old car, he said it was so hard to tell him that the welding wasn't any good and would all have to be done again.

I bought my Discovery cheap as it was rotten, I can and have welded them back together in the past but a friend quoted such a good price I let him do it. The way I did my calculations
Good Disco £1500+
Rotten Disco £800
Two new sills, new rear cross member, Repaired foot wells, chassis plated in several places £400
So for £1200 I had a rust free Disco, its worth about £1500, but I know it has no issues and won't need welding for a long time.
I would have the Bongo repaired oh you could buy mine and keep the rotten one for parts? Mine was imported in 2007 and only rust has been wheel arches, just starting to go and I repaired the front cross member as it came up on an advisory, but I have seen several newer ones totally rotten?
rustyp
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Posts: 263
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:01 pm
Location: Saltash

Re: Decent shell wanted

Post by rustyp » Sat Dec 10, 2016 2:28 am

Friends of mine run the Bongo Doctor in Plymouth (formerly Bongobits) and I value their opinion and I have looked underneath and it is very crusty. If nothing suitable comes along I may have to bite the bullet but will be approx £500 of welding, and then 2 tyres, wipers etc...
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