another bongo.

[karena]

sadly my beloved bongo is now defunct - but i am getting another pretty much the same 2,5 diesel auto 1996 -so a tad younger and not falling to bits but i have a couple of probably daft questions for a not very newbie.

This one has a leisure battery -its got a split charger installed -but what is likely to be using leisure vs mains battery - i,m assuming interior lights cigarette lighter sockets and radio - but how would i be able to tell for sure - blinds are not electric and no conversion so no fridge or sink pumps installed.?

I am getting new wheel arches and have the option to chose paint colour for bottom half -when theyre done - been messing with photoshop to find something that will go ok with the top half colour and I,m fancying the colour we all refer too as scooby doo (turquose ish ) - does anyone know what the more technical name is for this colour.?

The other was registered as a campervan - even though it had no conversion - this one is MPV - and i know that pushes the insurance up - but generally - (it will differ between companys i guess) is this usually a massive hike.
I dont want a proper conversion particularly - as i want the flexibility to use it for different things - and have all the camping stuff i could possibly need and more anyway - but would it be worth - for example reversing middle row seats to get a rail fixed fold down table in (i dont know if this is possible until i get it as i dont know if its on long or short runners to reverse the seat anyway) -sleeping is on seats or aft so no problem - i,m not entirely sure what storage space theyre demanding - or whether a cooker has to be a "proper" job separate gas bottle in a cupboard - or a portable housed in some kind of fixed unit - same with water what do they mean by in a container - (i think you would be hard pressed to have water not in a container.) Has anyone had any kind of experience with this. ?

[Markas]

This one has a leisure battery -its got a split charger installed -but what is likely to be using leisure vs mains battery - i,m assuming interior lights cigarette lighter sockets and radio - but how would i be able to tell for sure - blinds are not electric and no conversion so no fridge or sink pumps installed.?

Disconnect starter battery and see what still works? Or look in the fuse box to see if any additional 'jumper' wiring has been added in place of fuses to run power to a separate fuse box on the LB circuit. I run all of the above plus the electric windows off the LB.

[sotal]

I was going to say similar, I'd have just gone the other way. I would disconnect the LB and see what stops working!

Do some quotes for insurance. When we first got ours 3 years ago and I was looking around for insurance, the MPV insurance was roughly four times as much as campervan insurance. However we have had a small rise each year on the cost of campervan insurance and looking now I could get MPV insurance for just over double what we paid for campervan insurance this year. Although I get breakdown cover included with the insurance for our campervan, if we got an MPV bongo instead I would need to sort breakdown cover on top.

I'd say the difference for just one year would give enough money to put the basics in to make a simple conversion.

[karena]

Thanks for the info -
Hadnt thought of the windows on the lb also now wondering if the sliding door might be as well - but as you say disconnect and see what doesnt work.

ouch even twice as much on the insurance is a lot over a couple of years - i will look into some sort of modest conversion I wonder if the middle bench seat set up with trays uppermost is a "table"then maybe some sort of pull out draw type unit in the back behind the rear seats that comes out under the tailgate with a canister style cooker insett,into it, a space for a water container with tap, and a modest bit of storage space .In other words pretty much what i do now but in an official style "unit" and with cooker insett, and that can be fixed in place.

[g8dhe]

The sliding door is NOT on the leisure battery but it also won't harm the SB even given a lot of use over several days, however operating the sliding door when the batteries are disconnected is NOT a good idea as there is a rotating mechanism inside that gets out of sequence very easily and will prevent you opening the door without resorting to mechanical activities within the door itself which is a pain when it won't open!