Hoses

[Vanmanerik]

I asked Ian at Bongo towers for a price on the following coolant pipes (all numbers and ref are for http://www.lushprojects.com\bongoparts\pages\index.html ):-

Page 1550C
15-277
15-188
15-261
15-381

Page 6125A
61-213
61-213A
61-214
61-212
61-211
61-211A

Page 1312C
13-539A
13-546 No1 and 2?
13-551

Unfortunately he was unable to supply them 'My suppliers have said that they are unable to source these parts. Your best bet is to try Plymouth based Japtec'

Looking at Bongo Parts supplied online by various suppliers I think we are talking several hundreds of £'s here to replace all hoses so I am going to go down the DIY route and obtain staight lengths of coolant hoses and elbows and make my own pipes up.
As far as I can see the pipes to and from the turbo are 8mm or 5/16", the Bleed Pipe and Header Tank to Heater is 10mm or 3/8" both available. The metal pipes to and from the rear heater are 17mm but I am going to try and fit 5/8" or 16mm rubber hoses to them using copper 15mm elbows and short lengths of 15mm copper tubing to form the necessary bends, I shall also use 5/8 for the pipe between the radiator and the header tanks as well as the pipes to and from the front heater.
The crankcase-cylinder head bypass pipe (just above the thermostat housing) is 21mm or almost equivalent to 7/8", you can buy an elbow in this size to adapt to suit.
As yet I have not traced any 35mm or 1 3/8" elbows and straight pipe to form the upper and lower feeds to the radiator, will keep looking.

As I have had two leaks in two weeks, one from the bleed pipe and the other from the header tank to the heater it is apparent that all of the rubber coolant pipes are nearing the end of their useful life and I will feel a lot more confident with them all replaced instead of keeping a very careful eye on the temp gauge all the time and fearing the worst - it takes all the fun out of Bongoing.

Will keep you informed of how it goes.

[Blingo]

I don't think anyone has suggested BongoBits yet. I was looking for the top hose from the block, which is quite an intricate shape.

http://www.bongobits.com/Main.asp?PageN ... ategory=66

Good website with very clear photos. Phoned them and all pipes are in stock.

[Simon Jones]

Japtec & BongoBits in Plymouth are one and the same company. I have always found them very helpful, especially Mark.

[Vanmanerik]

I really don't understand why the purveyors of Bongo's and their spare parts do not understand that we, the owners, are not millionaires or fools. The prices asked for are simply ridiculous.
Example - the bleed pipe from the top of the thermostat and over the alternator is £18.39, Goodyear 3/8" (10mm) water coolant pipe is £3.45 a meter!
A water temperature sender is £31.73 (LOL) any other vehicle about £3.00 to £4.00
Wherever possible I shall carefully try and source the parts or their alternatives at a reasonable price, or see if it is possible to to make a part before throwing my hard earned cash away.

Does anyone know what is so special about a Bongo temperature sender, a thermostat or a radiator cap or an expansion tank cap that makes them so expensive?

Or are we being taken as fools?