Freda in NZ

For all owners and afficionados of Mazda Bongo Friendees and Ford Fredas based outside of UK or Ireland.

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moggyNZ

Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:29 pm

Here is our vehicle

We love it but are struggling to find parts for it. It spent 2 months in the garage last time, waiting for parts to be sent from Japan. Now due to a mistake made by the company we took it took to regas the roof struts, it needs a new roof.
Anyone know any good parts suppliers in NZ>
moggyNZ

Re: Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:30 pm

well I would post a pic if it would let me, my pic is way less in size than the maximum stated, but cannot post a link
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b218/ ... _small.jpg
missfixit70 wrote:edited by admin to remove URL quotes - not necessary when pasting links
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by mikeonb4c » Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:54 pm

Welcome moggyNZ

Weird - I cut and pasted your URL and looked at your pic, but putting image tags round it on here produced nothing!

V. Sorry to hear about your roof. My suspicion is that Bongo parts like a spare roof in NZ will be as rare as Kiwi's teeth. You'd have to try and ship one from a scrappie in UK, but at what cost!?!?! Is repair out of the question? What happened to cause the roof to need replacing?
:?
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by francophile1947 » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:40 pm

Image is too large and exceeds the forum limit of 640x480, hence it won't post. Go to your photobucket account and resize the photo - should then be OK :D
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by mister munkey » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:46 pm

Image
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by widdowson2008 » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:35 pm

Steve
moggyNZ

Re: Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:55 am

The story behind the roof, is that it was taken to get the struts regassed. The chap took them off, but, obviously had not grasped the fact that it was an electric roof and grabbed hold of it and yanked it down (obviously with a lot of force). Bending it where the locking mechanism is and cracking badly both sides of the roof. (chap is also denying having done it, despite hubbie being there at the time)
It probably is repairable by a specialist, but a replacement would be preferable.
moggyNZ

Re: Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:05 am

widdowson
With the repairs we have had so far, with the excpetion of the tailgate (got rear ended) most parts have not been compatible with the bongo, so it would have to be a Freda to make it worth the while. In NZ we have only seen one other on the road. So the new parts that have had to be ordered in the past were from Japan.
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by scanner » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:06 pm

moggyNZ wrote:widdowson
With the repairs we have had so far, with the excpetion of the tailgate (got rear ended) most parts have not been compatible with the bongo, so it would have to be a Freda to make it worth the while. In NZ we have only seen one other on the road. So the new parts that have had to be ordered in the past were from Japan.
Just "Mazda Bongo" covers a range of vehicles but "Mazda Bongo Friendee" and "Ford Freda" should be identical SFAIK the only major difference is the badges.

So it's no use just asking for Bongo parts, they have to be Bongo "Friendee" parts to be what you need, I don't think there is any need to insist on Ford Freda unless you want badges.

This
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Bongo
explains Bongo development and which models are which.
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by mikeonb4c » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:07 pm

moggyNZ wrote:The story behind the roof, is that it was taken to get the struts regassed. The chap took them off, but, obviously had not grasped the fact that it was an electric roof and grabbed hold of it and yanked it down (obviously with a lot of force). Bending it where the locking mechanism is and cracking badly both sides of the roof. (chap is also denying having done it, despite hubbie being there at the time)
It probably is repairable by a specialist, but a replacement would be preferable.
I'd start getting my head around repairing, in case an affordable replacement proves impossible to find :roll:

Sounds like it might not be hard to repair, plus you could respray it in a colour of your choice and so get an extra plus out of the exercise :D

Don't understand how the mechanic can duck out of if it was clearly he who was in possession of the car when it happened. Maybe he could be enticed to follow his conscience if the repair route was chosen, as he might be able to get a quid pro quo favour from a body specialist so a job could be done 'at cost' for you (mind you, we should discuss on here what materials and techniques are appropriate for the GRP roof - have a search on here for 'stabilit' to find some old discussions)
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:37 pm

scanner wrote:Just "Mazda Bongo" covers a range of vehicles but "Mazda Bongo Friendee" and "Ford Freda" should be identical SFAIK the only major difference is the badges.

So it's no use just asking for Bongo parts, they have to be Bongo "Friendee" parts to be what you need, I don't think there is any need to insist on Ford Freda unless you want badges.
We had thought that the Bongo Friendee was the same apart from the badges, which is why we bought it. However when the head gasket went and the engine got stripped down none of the parts were compatible. The guy doing the work is a friend of ours (and a professional mechanic) and was trying to keep the cost down by sourcing parts locally, but all the parts he tried to get from the Mazda place (which also has a secondhand parts section) were not what we needed. In particular the head gasket is definitely different.
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by scanner » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:36 pm

moggyNZ wrote: We had thought that the Bongo Friendee was the same apart from the badges, which is why we bought it. However when the head gasket went and the engine got stripped down none of the parts were compatible. The guy doing the work is a friend of ours (and a professional mechanic) and was trying to keep the cost down by sourcing parts locally, but all the parts he tried to get from the Mazda place (which also has a secondhand parts section) were not what we needed. In particular the head gasket is definitely different.

???
Well that is a first - I've not heard that ever before, heaven knows what engine you have in yours then.

From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Freda
The Ford Freda is a rebadged 8-seater Mazda Bongo Friendee MPV, introduced to the Japanese home market in 1995. It is styled, literally, like a box, purely for space efficiency and for conservative Japanese tastes.

While initially a Japanese domestic market vehicle, it is becoming increasingly popular in overseas markets for Japanese imports, particularly Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, and New Zealand.

Most examples of this vehicle are automatics (there are a few manual versions), and are available in 2WD (SGL3) and 4WD (SGL5) versions. 2.5 turbo diesels are common in Japan, although V6 petrol engines are starting to appear. Later (post 99) models are a different shape and have different engines. Air conditioning (often with climate control), and Electronic Blinds are fitted as standard.
moggyNZ

Re: Freda in NZ

Post by moggyNZ » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:40 pm

Ours is a 1997 V6 automatic, which may be why the engine parts are different, as I am guessing that the Bongo Friendee doesn't have that engine as a common option for those imported into NZ??? If it is only the engine which is different, it would make other parts easier to source.
It was a grey import from Japan.
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by scanner » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:58 pm

moggyNZ wrote:Ours is a 1997 V6 automatic, which may be why the engine parts are different, as I am guessing that the Bongo Friendee doesn't have that engine as a common option for those imported into NZ??? If it is only the engine which is different, it would make other parts easier to source.
It was a grey import from Japan.
Well it will be different from a diesel engined Bongo then, but the same as a V6 petrol Bongo though, the engine is from a Mazda 929 car - not (apparently) a common model anywhere.

This
http://www.algysautos.com/BONGO_TECHNICAL.html
may help to explain further.
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Re: Freda in NZ

Post by stevedon » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:17 am

hi ive used ultimate mazda in the mount for parts ,regal automotive in tauranga for engineering work and mazda bits in auckland for larger parts ie steering racks.if you need any help pm me and i will ring you.as far as the head gasket goes use genuine.Mine was 168 inc gst last week you have to haggle though,head 840 from regal head bolst 60,water pump 100 from bnt,oil filter 25 from mazda(35 from supercheap) haggle haggle haggle
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