Bongo Fury

Bongolia wrote:How could I tell if it were a northern climate vehicle, chassis number/engine code?
I have searched under posts for winter Bongos and found posts relating to fast warm up devices and there removal.
I wonder if there is some correlation.

Mine came with a second battery tray already fitted. As it came off a boat, that was a real clue!

teenmal wrote:Having a winter pack does not mean that the vehicle has spent its life in the North of the country (Japan), the only way is to contact / find out where the previous owner/s lived.

As a general rule:-
Winter pack = North
No pack. = South
But agreed, there are exceptions!!!

haydn callow wrote:

teenmal wrote:Having a winter pack does not mean that the vehicle has spent its life in the North of the country (Japan), the only way is to contact / find out where the previous owner/s lived.

As a general rule:-
Winter pack = North
No pack. = South
But agreed, there are exceptions!!!

Any bongos in middle earth? Wonder what option they'd have

Probably fly like in Harry Potter.

Ok well I had the other Bongo in on Thursday and went over it in the same way as the others and what I am seeing is that the corrosion , although varying in degree between the vans , is most prevalent on the NS near side especially the roof and rear NS rear cross-member.
Not sure why this is but I believe it`s related to the fact that the NS has the sliding door aperture in and so more prone to flexing.
It is interesting also that the construction of the NS rear D pillar differs slightly from the OS.
The material used at these spots is 16 SWG, seven panels join here! The trumpet or bell shape that can be seen by "stikin yer ed under the bak" is one deep drawn pressing, almost impossible to replicate without a 100 ton stamping machine, two failed attempts at trying to beat the shape into a bag with a bossing mallet just left me with a blistered hand and two scrap bits of 16SWG,extends into the rear cross-member to add extra support to the rear bumper mounting bracket. I eventually did it with three shaped plates of 16SWG and laminated three further plates internally at the point where the NS rear bumper bracket mounts.
This theory may also explain why the corrosion occurs at the lower rear sill section at the rear of the sliding door and also around roof area at the upper opposite corner and again at the top of the NS D pillar.
At sometime during next week I shall be getting some of the interior of my Aero side conversion, stripped out to have probe around those areas on that van.
If there is anyone local to Carshalton who has a Bongo and would be prepared to leave it with us for a day I would like to have a probe around it with the camera, It would need to be clear of any camping or personal bits, preferably of an early year and an unconverted AFT.
FOC of course.
Meanwhile I shall struggle on trying to upload the actual images of the work rather than the links on the 4WD refurb thread.

I've always observed the near side of any vehicle starts to rust first....always put it down to the near side always running near the kerb where the rain and mud collects.

haydn callow wrote:I've always observed the near side of any vehicle starts to rust first....always put it down to the near side always running near the kerb where the rain and mud collects.

Do you mean because of the camber of the road the moisture inside the van would collect on that side or in normal wet weather driving?

Just that near the kerb is where the water/crud collects......also it's the near side that runs onto grass verge and collects mud

haydn callow wrote:Just that near the kerb is where the water/crud collects......also it's the near side that runs onto grass verge and collects mud

All makes good sense to me. Salted water run-off also picked up in pressure injecting quantities from kerbside. Another factor maybe is the exhaust warming the underside bodywork more (warmer = faster chemical reactions) and also the rear silencer heat shield provides a hiding place for corrosion once inner arch compromised by corrosion and spray getting through onto crossmember via that route. In my case i think there may have been swirl effect due to bumper mounting /fit being slightly compromised after being caught once on a gatepost. Moral of this is to be ever vigilant and inspect/prevent/remedy promptly. And, as Adrian my Bongo mechanic opines, Bongos are not build like old Toyotas when it comes to steel thickness and design intended to minimise corrosion.

Just washed WW11BER and at a guess the near side bottom 12 inchs was 4x as dirty as the offside....I rest my case as to why the near side rusts before the offside!!

haydn callow wrote:Just washed WW11BER and at a guess the near side bottom 12 inchs was 4x as dirty as the offside....I rest my case as to why the near side rusts before the offside!!

Prosecution rises from the bench and ask "why would that affect the roof and screen pillars ?"

It wouldn't!!

Exhibits A & B.


http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... =3&t=72769

The 4WD has the same rusted roof areas as Geoff`s and the other two looked at have corrosion starting here but almost none on the off side.

rear heater and side to top roof vent ducting maybe affects the offside by keeping it dry.

mikeonb4c wrote:

haydn callow wrote:Just that near the kerb is where the water/crud collects......also it's the near side that runs onto grass verge and collects mud

All makes good sense to me. Salted water run-off also picked up in pressure injecting quantities from kerbside. Another factor maybe is the exhaust warming the underside bodywork more (warmer = faster chemical reactions) and also the rear silencer heat shield provides a hiding place for corrosion once inner arch compromised by corrosion and spray getting through onto crossmember via that route. In my case i think there may have been swirl effect due to bumper mounting /fit being slightly compromised after being caught once on a gatepost. Moral of this is to be ever vigilant and inspect/prevent/remedy promptly. And, as Adrian my Bongo mechanic opines, Bongos are not build like old Toyotas when it comes to steel thickness and design intended to minimise corrosion.

I think that is all very true. Add to that the D pillars are used by the vans vent system to draw warm moisture laden cabin air out by the vacuum created when the vehicles is moving adding to the condensation in the trumpet.
Apart from very slight details the D pillars are the same on both sides. So the question remains why does the roof on the NS show a propensity to corrode ?

I completely understand the point Haydn is making regarding the build up of muck on the NS lower areas but it doesn't explain the corrosion in the upper areas.
Its a bit of a chicken egg thing, does the weakening of the D pillar by corrosion lead to greater flexing of the body on that side or does the body flexing caused by the door aperture cause the unprotected seams to open and allow the water in and start a chain of events leading to the roof skin corrosion. In any event the fundamental problem is simply that the vans were never protected from the factory.