Bongo Fury

Well I was just en route to somewhere in Cumbria and I stopped off at Northern Bonogolow’s to see if he fancied a trip out. Then I noticed the wheelarches on his Bongo and realised he was going to be busy.

Interesting job in progress though, :


Once you've used all your papier-mâché, chicken-wire....


....and bits of old Meccano to repair dodgy arches, it's time to do a proper job


Ruthlessly cut back to good metal....


....then good arches off a scrap Bongo and the first one ready to go on













Tune it next week to see how it looks with a spot of paint on it

cheers paul .
just trying a slightly different method, instead of the sprinter arch or transits, im really trying to stay away from doing any fabrication work on the arch lip so the end result should be better, what isnt clear from the pics is that the outer arch was ordered with 3-4 inch of inner arch so it can be scribed in or just welded over lap joint style. this one was scribed in and welded end on end, but its a nightmare to get right.

time will tell if its a good method or not,

Mine need doing if you fancy the job Ady.

i will see how these go first mate. it maybe a good line to be in now they are getting on a bit.

seriously though it takes a lot of time, especially the first time, its a wonder anyone make any money doing this on a commercial level. my mrs paid £700 for both sides (for a medium grade job) took 5 days to do it, the guy must have earned nothing when taking into account his time.

Looking forward to the end result.

Muz,nice job of Photoshopping Ady`s bald patch





Brian

Ye gods Ady you're a braver man than me. Good luck getting it finished and look forward to seeing pics. Adrian's welder insists on using fibreglass resin on finished welding before any p38 filler is used as the latter is porous. He also uses seam sealant as appropriate too I think.

Looking forward to the next installment. I think £700 for both sides is a good deal. Who did it Ady?

it was just a local body shop that did the wifes, it looked a good job when we got it back, but now 6 months on its a different story, thats why i thought i could do at least a similar job but hopefully better. the mrs motor was only the arch edge and not as bad as mine.

mike it sounds like he is using the resin to create a barrier to stop the dreaded return, seam sealer is a must though.


ive had to replace a lot of metal on the back edge of the inner arch where the mud flap hangers were and at the rear end of the inner sill, once the arch is not water tight around the wheel it lets water through into the interior this then runs to the lower edge of the arch both back and front then rots the sill and the rear panel where the rear plastic cabin vent is. both of these areas have removeable rubber grommets to allow access for your choice of anti rust treatment.

Yes looking good, its an awkward job, NB is the welder using gas or gasless.?

Pic with a dash of paint over it

teenmal wrote:....NB is the welder using gas or gasless.?

It was windy so I think most of the inert shield was dispersed while the weld metal was still molten But it's rock solid and miles better than the rotten original.

Northern Bongolow wrote:.... what isn’t clear from the pics is that the outer arch was ordered with 3-4 inch of inner arch so it can be scribed in or just welded over lap joint style. This one was scribed in and welded end on end, but its a nightmare to get right.

Good point. See below what you start with which looks like it’s been severed from the scrap Bongo with a chainsaw. Problem being that once you cut too much off either the original Bongo or the donor wing, you’re knackered. A bit like trying to fit a vinyl floor around a toilet, except there’s no fluffy mat to hide the gaps











Once you’ve finished, you should have a scrap wing like this....

Great pictures. Good luck.

teenmal wrote:Yes looking good, its an awkward job, NB is the welder using gas or gasless.?

its a clarke 205te mig with a big bottle 30% co2 and 70% nitrogen, as paul says it was crappy weather and im stuck outside and ive only got 6 days to get the job water tight then its back to work. ive never been happy with the weld on not new steel but the gun is delivering gas to the tip ok, its great on new clean stuff.

just in case peeps are wondering muz very kindly offered to take and post the photos as he was passing,(coss i cannot do it.) . he hasnt moved in at mine. cheers paul.

Here’s a few of the offside in progress – all the old rotten stuff cut out and ready to accept the donor arch....

thanks for calling by paul, (look at the time).