Bongo Fury

Having read this I noticed I had water in when the Bongo was facing down hill. I opened the sunroof and found two drainage holes passenger and driver side which run under the b pillar and come out through a small tube located underneath. I poured water down both to test and found the passenger side drain was blocked
To clear the blockage I used a strip of thin welders braising rod fed the rod down gave it a good push when i met resistance and wow a loud glug noise and it was clear! again tested both sides and found both drains were clear with water running on to the road just next to both doors.

Evening all,

I am afraid yesterdays efforts were fruitless, checked the and blasted 2 dainage holes at the front and they are fine. The back ones I couldn't reach but water was draining through them fine. The worst outcome really as it means it is the seal that has perished and not user error. After 5 hours removing all traces of gaffa tape I tried to seal the seal with sealant but now it is chucking it down and its leaking again. We have to park on a slope which means that all water drains into one drain and it is just too much for it. We have moved the Bongo away from the house onto flat ground and covered the inside in a ground sheet.

Tomorrow I will be sealing up the sunroof for good

Anyone knowing where will repair Bongo sunroofs would be a big help as we can't find anyone local to Lincoln? Not sure we can afford a JAL pop top does anyone know how much they are? Also anyone knowing where to get a replacement seal? We have somone (who didn't know what a Bongo was) reluctantly looking at it but he says depends if he can do it and get the part, we have searched the net and found lots of other assorted Bongo parts and the only seal was out of stock.

Many thanks, Sarah

(still love my Betty Bongo but she is in disgrace)

I think you may have misunderstood my earlier post

missfixit70 wrote:Worth getting in touch with JAL who convert tintops into freetops - may be able to help you out with a seal removed for conversion?

I was suggesting they donate/sell the seal (from the sunroof they take off to fit the lift roof) to you Or try any of the breakers/importers, shouldn't be too hard to do.

As I've said, I don't have my Bongo here to check, but doesn't the seal only have to "seal" when the channel the water drains into fills up?

How does the water get around the glass and over the lip and past the seal if the channel isn't full to the top with water?

The seal on my sunroof compresses against the metal roof of the Bongo when the roof is fully closed. The part that overlaps the roof glass is hard rubber and the sides which compress against the metal are a fairly rigid foam. There is a join at the front with a small gap, but that closes as the seal compresses.

It might be posible for someone who knows sunroofs to replace it with a standard rubber seal bent round the corners with heat.

If the roof is not shut fully the drainage channels on mine cope with average rain, but not the sort of upturned bucket showers that have been regular this summer. That is how I got the nicotine stains back on the headlining.

It is lovely sunroof when working correctly. Well worth a bit of effort to resurrect. As suggested earlier the converters must remove sunroofs to put on aftermarket roofs. Also they must use something to seal round the opening to the new roof.

Short term closing the roof as tightly as possible and sealing it with silicone sealant is probably the best way to go. In the long term looking round converters and breakers for a new seal would be best.

On a Land Rover Discovery I fixed a leaking sunroof with a bead of silicon sealent on the actual roof where the rubber seal pushed against. Not sure if this would work with the Bongo as the roof glass rises from below.

Just curiosity. This sounds a catastrophic failure, was it imported in this condition? Or did the previous owner just drive around on a wetsuit?

If it's any help at all.. While i was having my break today i was up on a high wall looking down at a parked up Honda CR 4X4 sunroof.. They look similar, & the roof was left open by a couple of inches... You never know!

When my Disco was leaking from sunroof seal, I was advised by a Land Rover expert that the best way to fix it was to take the seal off and put silicone sealant under it. Then put the seal back over the silicon before it set. This gives a much plumper seal and compensates for wear.

I never tried this as I fixed it with a lot less effort, but I have seen this method reccommended several times with assurances that it does work.

I forgot about this coarse car repair technique when I posted earlier.