Bongo Fury

Dodgey wrote:These might help a little.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/ ... d53b7f.jpg

(Above - ignore the hump at the front, thats a fridge, and the wheel arches are on both side of course. It's the dims I used to create mine.)

End result:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/ ... ySmall.jpg

I even used it for my cutting plan:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/ ... 15ad9a.jpg

As for finding a level, I put my floor in, and then made everything 90 degrees to the floor. Any other way and you'll end up in a right mess.

Simplest solution always the best.

Dodgey wrote:

waren wrote:Nice sketchup model! Im using sketchup too.

Do you have the headroom ceiling drawn above the kitchen as well?

No - I drew a box, which represented the total space to play with, then I deleted the top and 3 of the sides to design the kitchen. The height from the floor to the window was a known constant, for getting the unit/worktop heights right.

For the height of the roof, I used a close approximation - as the roof has curves and varying heights so totally impractical to model properly. The only panel in the kitchen that meets the roof is the end one, which I made with the generous approximation dimensions, then trimmed to fit the roof contour.

The most important measurements were the length of the total available area, and the width, to get the bed right. (the grey slab on the floor represents the bed - only it's footprint, not the height!)

Gotcha. The model and cut out plan are awesome!

I want to do something similar. I'm hoping to be able to stand in the kitchen area, well really I want to know how much of the floor area I can stand comfortably in order to design the layout. I want to map the area of the floor plan with 6' headroom. I will probably make it like a headroom contour map showing 51", 74", 84", and 96". Then I can layout storage, kitchen, sleeping space.

What year is your bongo?

Cheers. Its an "M" Reg.

Here is the real thing:



Only difference from the drawing is the top cabinet is longer as I had spare wood, and the bed carries on 1/2 way past the fridge door - it has the corner removed to facilitate this.



I wouldn't get too obsessed with headroom - pretty much anywhere below where the internal roof/hatch lifts up gives you enough standing room. Even at 6' you will easily clear the roof until you reach the part where there is no hatch, and that area is where your seat(rock n roll bed) will be so you can't go any further.

To use the sink and hob standing up, the need to be where mine are - i.e. as far forward as possible.

The one mistake I made was not considering the height of the bed/seat. I just bought it assuming the seller picked the right height. As it turned out I was VERY lucky. The seat is the perfect height for sitting but my head "just brushes" the lower roof when sitting upright at the back of the seat. I'm 5'10". As it turns out, you never really sit like that, and in real use, my head never touches the roof.

Nice design and finishing work, looks very clean. I like the "pedistal" sink I was thinking of doing something similar.

Dodgey wrote:Cheers. Its an "M" Reg.

A 95 ... so should fall in the 1st Gen AFT

Dodgey wrote:I wouldn't get too obsessed with headroom - pretty much anywhere below where the internal roof/hatch lifts up gives you enough standing room. Even at 6' you will easily clear the roof until you reach the part where there is no hatch, ....

Ok this is strange .... If I understood The1andonly's post above he was indicating that his bongo only had sufficient headroom to stand in the front half of the hatch area.

The1andonly wrote:1st opening point to roof 750mm (highest point to roof you can stand in)
max distance that a 5'11" person can stand in (facing to back) to rear opening is 500mm ie 810mm from Datum

I tried to draw what I thought he communicated here. 810mm is 31.89" which he stated was the limit of headroom for him at 5'11", As you can see the headroom is well short of the Mazda "spec".


Based on this Mazda drawing which I used to estimate headroom, I agree there should be almost enough headroom to move comfortably while standing within the "hatch" area.


Then Stuc offered this ..

Stuc wrote:Just to throw something into the mix here, it depends on which model year you go for as when looking at new roof canvas I discovered there are 3 different heights to which the roof lifts, mine is a 2001 and lifts much higher than my 95 did. It is quite noticable too as the roof has a lock button to lower it, which I could reach by standing in the rear, but in my new one I have to stand on the rear seats to reach it.
Hope this helps.

But yours is a 95 ....

I would have suspected a few "broken" tops as the cause of the confusion but the fact that the canvas is not interchangable ... the investigation continues

I think there are just 2 different roof heights when fully lifted. Around about 1999, they added another 6 inches or so (ooh er missus). This could make a slight difference to the inner headroom if the inner flap goes up slightly higher to make use of the extra space. I can't recall whether it does or not.

One way to gain extra height is to remove the inner flap, but the downside is that you loose extra storage space up top & can't close it down to keep the warmth in over night.

Ok - I just went and checked and I was wrong about which part hits me 1st, but right about the amount of room.

If I stand facing the sink (the right half of the smev unit, where the pedestal part is) exactly centrally I have plenty of headroom. If I move a little right (so the window latch is directly in front of me) then my head touches the roof hatch assembly. The thing is, if I move that little bit further right, my legs are hitting the seat (bed upright).

Your bed needs to be a minimum of 6' long to a) comply with regs to make it a camper b) to sleep comfortably! - so your rock n roll bed will end in the same place as virtually all other conversions. The only way you can make it shorter is to have the back higher in the seating mode, which then totally blocks your rear view. What I'm trying to say, is unless you have a very different bed, you won't be able to stand in the area that's "height restricted" anyhow, as the sofabed will be in the way.

My kitchen design is as far forward as possible. If the units were any further forward then the driver seat would not recline enough, and you'd not be able to lift it up enough for engine access.

In a nutshell, where my sink is now, that's the furthest back you can go without having to sit down to use it!

p.s. the pedestal - I got that idea from someone else's design. It allows my bed to be a good 12 cm wider than "standard". That doesn't sound like much but it makes the world of difference. I've slept in a Bongo with a standard width bed in a side conversion, and in mine, and in mine I can sleep very happily with my g/f. The other felt a bit cramped.

Dodgey wrote: If I stand facing the sink (the right half of the smev unit, where the pedestal part is) exactly centrally I have plenty of headroom. If I move a little right (so the window latch is directly in front of me) then my head touches the roof hatch assembly. The thing is, if I move that little bit further right, my legs are hitting the seat (bed upright).

Your bed needs to be a minimum of 6' long to a) comply with regs to make it a camper b) to sleep comfortably! - so your rock n roll bed will end in the same place as virtually all other conversions. The only way you can make it shorter is to have the back higher in the seating mode, which then totally blocks your rear view. What I'm trying to say, is unless you have a very different bed, you won't be able to stand in the area that's "height restricted" anyhow, as the sofabed will be in the way.

My kitchen design is as far forward as possible. If the units were any further forward then the driver seat would not recline enough, and you'd not be able to lift it up enough for engine access.

In a nutshell, where my sink is now, that's the furthest back you can go without having to sit down to use it!

It's a masterpiece! The logic and detail put into your design is impressive. I read an article a while back about a ex NASA architect that designed living quarters for the space station. He started building caravans (trailers), seems like an ideal fit he was obviously used to dealing with limited "space".
http://www.crickettrailer.com/index.html

I'm thinking of designing some kind of transformers/lego camper. Still trying to figure out the floor space and headroom I have to work with. The concept is factory seats and belts for "bus" mode, remove a seat and install a SMEV sink+stove, table and minimal counter space for "camper" mode. The posts here have been a ton of help, since I will be buying and importing a Bongo to Canada without ever haven seen one in person. There are no discounts on insurance for homebuild campervans regardless of bedsize here unfortunately although I will need a 6 foot bed.

I like the idea of removing or modifying the upper bunk "tray" ... I'm thinking of adding a hinge or removing it and replacing it with 2 or 3 sections of plywood covered with foam. (I dont believe there is any foam on the factory bongo upper bunk correct?). When the top is up the sections can be pushed and stacked at the rear increasing headroom. This is how the VW westy's work I believe.

What do you think?

Latest news, after spending days looking I have eventually found every measurement needed for a Bongo, height, length, interior, exterior, I'm sure this is the most comprehensive guide we have seen.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=africa ... ,s:0,i:100

stuc wrote:Latest news, after spending days looking I have eventually found every measurement needed for a Bongo, height, length, interior, exterior, I'm sure this is the most comprehensive guide we have seen.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=africa ... ,s:0,i:100

{chuckle} ... very funny

bongo frenzee wrote:
This pic is when I'd just got Boris...

It looks like "Boris" has had his upper bunk "tray" removed. And perhaps also had the roof opening enlarged (by that I mean a section of the remaining roof near the rear hatch removed.) This looks exactly like what I was thinking of.

Can anyone confirm if there is structural webbing or reinforcement in the portion roof section that is removed that would make this a bad idea?
(I could see Mazda creating "bulkheads" of sorts at the front and rear thresholds of the roof opening.)

Also, I am wondering how much room is available for storage when the top is down. There must be 6-8" in there that would allow for a few inches of foam, and storage of bedding etc. while in transport mode.

Hi Stuc

Please could you advise the website url for VGS imports or contact info?

Many thanks

flossie wrote:Hi Stuc

Please could you advise the website url for VGS imports or contact info?

Many thanks

Hi cant get on at work but think the website is www.vgsimports.co.uk, the guys name is Vince and he is very helpful. Tell him Stu from Gateshead College passed details on.