Bongo Fury

bigdaddycain wrote:It's a pity the door edge reflector wasn't attached to the side sill... seeing as that seemed to survive damage free it may have deflected the impact from the sill! There's not a vast amount can be done with the sill, it would take one hell of a pull from a tack weld on dent pull bar, and may be a drill into the sill job and slide hammer it out Not great, and not a vast amount of repair options really... except getting it as straight as possible, filling, flatting, repainting, and making pretty again... That sill seam would need re-sealing. You'd be looking at about a £250 bill from my local bongo bodyshop to fix that.

That is a very good price,its a pitty that the vehicle is in Scotland.

rita wrote:

bigdaddycain wrote:It's a pity the door edge reflector wasn't attached to the side sill... seeing as that seemed to survive damage free it may have deflected the impact from the sill! There's not a vast amount can be done with the sill, it would take one hell of a pull from a tack weld on dent pull bar, and may be a drill into the sill job and slide hammer it out Not great, and not a vast amount of repair options really... except getting it as straight as possible, filling, flatting, repainting, and making pretty again... That sill seam would need re-sealing. You'd be looking at about a £250 bill from my local bongo bodyshop to fix that.

That is a very good price,its a pitty that the vehicle is in Scotland.

You beat me to it!

I'd better explain... And i'm not trying to sound elitist at all here you understand? But i'm fortunate in location, as i'm just up the road from a bongo importer...All bodwork issues are shipped out to a very talented father and son team around the corner... Over the years a rather vast amount of bongo parts have accumulated, meaning there is only a small outlay for the initial parts/panels, the rest of the cost is labour. Because bongo's are "the bread and butter" Of this particular outfit, bongo owners are generally well looked after... Both costs wise, and with the quality of the finished job. There's not many bodyshops will paint a 15/16 year old vehicle with the same dilligence and care as a new motor!

Again i think i need to chip in, cant help myself, ignoring the heater problems i think a good panel beater will repair all of that no problem. I can recomend a couple of bodyshops in the North East who will look after you if you mention me but depends how far you want to travel. I am sure someone local to you will be capable.

A couple of local recommended bodyshops have quoted at £350-£400+vat, and a couple of others much higher. I'll hopefully get this done in the next couple of weeks.

I expected your lowest quotes to be around the 400 quid mark... They see a grey import and automatically stick £100 on the quote...just for quoting you! Silent silver can be sprayed on by a 2 year old, in the dark, with no hands... I suppose the 350 quote is about the same as a 250 quote around here by the time you've factored in fuel costs Post up the piccies of the finished job so we can all go OOOooohhh

bigdaddycain wrote:I expected your lowest quotes to be around the 400 quid mark... They see a grey import and automatically stick £100 on the quote...just for quoting you! Silent silver can be sprayed on by a 2 year old, in the dark, with no hands... I suppose the 350 quote is about the same as a 250 quote around here by the time you've factored in fuel costs Post up the piccies of the finished job so we can all go OOOooohhh

Wasn't expecting them to have time on their hands - going camping on Friday to the Scottish mini-meet. Should be ready by then. Let's hope so... They said they wouldn't touch the heater. Taking it in tomorrow for a Wed start.

bigdaddycain wrote:Silent silver can be sprayed on by a 2 year old, in the dark, with no hands... Post up the piccies of the finished job so we can all go OOOooohhh

The silver and the contour at the bottom will be what they'll be. It's the vast expanse of black panel that's worrying me. Until Saturday, the only flaws were a small pimple around the fuel filler and a patch where a mechanic pointed out to me how thin the metal was and left an impression where he'd been pressing! What do I say on Friday if I'm not happy...?!

Driver+Passengers wrote:Anyone have step by step instruction to remove the heater? Can I get away without draining coolant, being quick and bleeding, or what's the script? I'll go read that other thread again.

Does the front aircon switch turn on aircon in the rear? I think I read that rear aircon was an option and I assumed that I didn't have it. Does this make a difference?

Just removed the rear heater on mine. Quite simple, but you will need to bleed afterwards.

- Have the aircon system depressurised
- Undo the two bolts holds which attach the aircon pipe union to the bottom of the unit. Keep both parts clean by taping a plastic bag over the ends
- Drain coolant
- Disconnect both coolant pipes
- Undo 3 x 10mm nuts from the studs that pass thru the floor
- On the top, remove the 3x 10mm bolts that secure the unit to the floor
- Unplug all the connectors - they're all different, so no need to worry which way to reconnect them
- Lift out out - it's bulky but not heavy

You'll probably find the foam gaskets that surround the pipes will have disintegrated. I remade mine using a piece of neoprene which makes a very neat alternative.

Any questions - feel free to ask.

Thanks, Simon.

That's really useful.

Avoided removing the heater. Photos of work in progress...





Said they had to cut, weld and reseal (it split when they pulled it back out). They reckon another couple of skims and they should be ready to prime and paint (black) this afternoon, mask and silver tomorrow and ready for sometime in the afternoon. Looks like a fair bit more shaping to go to get it back. Gap around door looks good.

It'd be interesting to see the finished result It's certainly looking good so far

Driver+Passengers wrote:Avoided removing the heater. Photos of work in progress...





Said they had to cut, weld and reseal (it split when they pulled it back out). They reckon another couple of skims and they should be ready to prime and paint (black) this afternoon, mask and silver tomorrow and ready for sometime in the afternoon. Looks like a fair bit more shaping to go to get it back. Gap around door looks good.

Looks like it's getting there Have they checked to see the welding hasn't melted any of the heater/ac components?
And just check the filler flap release still works, I don't think it should have been affected but I know of one Bongo owner who went to fill up after getting rear arches done & the cable had been melted/fused by the welding - http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

Haven't checked re: welding melting rear heater, but fuel filler still works. I hadn't thought of either of those - thanks for the tips.

As for the final finish - it's a good job that's been done and I'm really happy it's back. I'll always know it's been done, and looking really closely I can pick out a half dozen minor things that I will live with (or cover with decals). I'll get photaes up soon.

It was looking good. And you had to run your nose along the paintwork to see where it had been done.....