Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Anything non-technical about the Mazda Bongo Friendee van

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Corranga
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Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Post by Corranga » Mon May 01, 2017 11:51 am

Well, technically, it's my mother in laws Bongo, but it'll be used throughout the family, and I'm the project lead so to speak..

We were drawn to the Bongo as it seems to offer the best balance of flexibility, availability, cost and size.

So, on Saturday we bought a Bongo. It's green, and pretty original looking, looks nice and solid, and drives pretty well. It's a diesel and meets all of our desired criteria which were:
Auto Free Top so it could sleep 4.
Tilting rear seats to allow 5x 3 point seat belts with a small kitchen unit fitted, or 6x 3 point belts without.
Dicky seats.
Preferably diesel (though not actually that fussy...)

So, we went to see 2 on Saturday, and drove the 2nd one home!

Overall, I'm really impressed with how much is fitted into these small packages, and everything seems to work so far too, though the high centre of gravity and tendency to lean over on corners is taking some getting used to as I'm more of a sports car man! :lol:

It came with a kitchen unit that is tired but functional, and an awning which fits the same description.

The project list is small, and hopefully manageable, I'm hoping to take this from being a good van (well I think it's a good one anyway!) to a great one.

The list so far stands at:
Clean the interior, then clean it some more!
Attempt to get rid of smoke smell..
Remove and repaint wipers.
Fit low coolant level alarm.
Do something with the dirty / broken ashtrays (replace, or something else?)
Investigate power hook ups / leisure batteries etc.
Investigate and possibly sort out small areas of peeling lacquer.
Fix anything that needs fixing!
Sort yellowed headlights.
Possibly find replacement rear light lenses (they are cracked, but not too badly)
Possibly fix rear bumper which is hanging low at one side.
Investigate why rear heater control doesn't do anything (or learn how to use it properly!!)

The overall plan is that my mother in law will drive this to campsites with nieces etc. in whilst I drive there in a slightly quicker fashion in the sports car with a tent in the boot. Family camping trips that allow both fast and slow pace, scenery, great roads, and quality family time.

Chris
Bob
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Re: Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Post by Bob » Mon May 01, 2017 12:24 pm

Warm welcome. :D

Do you have a tow bar fitted?

If so that may explain the sagging bumper, there's 2 kinds and one sort can cause a spot weld to break. Simple enough fix, but if this is the case don't tow anything until its sorted.. :wink:
Corranga
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Re: Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Post by Corranga » Mon May 01, 2017 1:01 pm

Ohh, interesting. It does have a tow bar - though the biggest thing it's likely to take is a bike rack I think!
I'll have to get under it and have a look.
It is handing down about an inch on the passenger side, but the bumper itself feels solid pushing / pulling by hand so i wasn't too concerned.
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g8dhe
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Re: Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Post by g8dhe » Mon May 01, 2017 1:09 pm

See here since then Towsure have added the extra strut like the A1 style http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... ng#p339381
Geoff
2001 Aero V6, AFT, full side conversion.
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Corranga
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Re: Yet another newbie In Scotland - Bongo just bought!

Post by Corranga » Mon May 01, 2017 2:56 pm

Thanks Geoff, I already saw that thread in technical and had a read. I'll investigate further, but a small seam weld isn't too bad, and I suspect we won't be towing soon anyway, so no real hurry.

I must be the typical Bongo owner as I was also looking at AFT lift times as I felt it was quite slow!

Incidentally, our van still has a Bongo Fury tax disc holder on it so I presume it was owned by a previous member :)

Chris
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