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Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the left?
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 9:34 pm
by sotal
I've no idea yet how much of an annoyance it will be, but the bongo indicator is on the right.
Has anyone swapped it over to the left like most cars are?
I just know we are creatures of habit and usually driving a car with it on the other side, I'm constantly going to be wiping the windows when I want to turn!
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:24 pm
by Bob
That is the proper RHD side.
The other way is Euro nonsense.
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:51 pm
by mikeonb4c
Life is wayyyyyy too short for bothering with stuff like that. Ask Bob - he was thinking of making his Bongo rear engined but then someone offered him a particularly nice zider......and the rest, as they say, is amnesia

Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:51 pm
by Cab-ova pete
That's all the fun of bongo living

Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:53 pm
by Simon Jones
The nearest cousin to the Bongo would be MX5/323/626 of similar vintage, but a check on eBay suggests the angle of the stalks would not work even assuming the connections and self-cancelling mechanism could be made to work. Simplest solution is to get used to it. After a few inappropriate squirts and flashes

you soon get used to it.
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:59 pm
by sotal
Haha, I guess getting used to it is the only answer then!?
We do have a series 2a Land rover, that also has the indicator on the right (part of the reason I already know that I'll get it wrong!

)
I was kind of hoping you could just spin the assembly round and have an upside down washer stalk.
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:10 pm
by mikeonb4c
Simon Jones wrote:The nearest cousin to the Bongo would be MX5/323/626 of similar vintage, but a check on eBay suggests the angle of the stalks would not work even assuming the connections and self-cancelling mechanism could be made to work. Simplest solution is to get used to it. After a few inappropriate squirts and flashes

you soon get used to it.
Told ya! Zider drinking, on the other hand, is a much more straightforward business, though it can still result in inappropriate squirts and flashes. Ask Bob

Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 12:14 am
by Cab-ova pete
I'm not too bad in the bongo now

it's when I get back In the work van, my mate wonders why I always clean the windscreen at roundabouts a n junctions

Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:41 pm
by Diplomat
I used to see an original series Nissan Micra being used by a driving school which had adaptors fitted extending the controls to the opposite side of the wheel so that pupils used to eurotrash would not get confused.
I always meant to fit something similar to my VW Type 25 to make it compatible with my Japanese home market fleet.
Like the Bongo, the Series 2 Land Rover is a proper right hand drive vehicle.
Imagine the reaction we would get if we tried telling a Frenchman or a German that they must use their left arm to signal out of the window (logical) and their right to work the indicators while it is busy with the gears a lot of the time (illogical).
Small wonder that so many cars in Britain are still indicating right while turning left at roundabouts. The drivers don't have enough spare hands to cancel them. If they were on the correct side they could be cancelled while steering with one hand and changing gear with the other, like they can on the continent and in Japan and could here in the old days if you didn't have a Ford or Vauxhall.
There isn't usually a pressing need to play about with the wipers while changing gear or direction. Hence their correct position to the left of the column for right hand drive.
Sadly, who in the UK/European motor industry is going to take any notice of me or Bob or even acknowledge that the Japanese have got it right?
Frank
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:57 pm
by Diplomat
Cab-ova pete wrote:I'm not too bad in the bongo now

it's when I get back In the work van, my mate wonders why I always clean the windscreen at roundabouts a n junctions

I hope that your work van isn't one of the many which have offset euro handed rear doors where you have to walk further around the larger one if you are correctly parked in this country, with the back open for (un)loading. The junk we get foisted on us by our EEC masters.
Frank
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:44 pm
by Cab-ova pete
Hi frank, Renault traffic

I think identical to Vauxhall vivaro? I got told we are getting new vans in July, can't wait to see what we end up with

Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:43 pm
by Diplomat
Cab-ova pete wrote:Hi frank, Renault traffic

I think identical to Vauxhall vivaro? I got told we are getting new vans in July, can't wait to see what we end up with

Ah! I quite like those. Nice and boxy, better for camping than vans with curved or sloping sides. They either have a lift up tailgate or equal sized twin doors. It seems to be mainly the smaller vans which have one small one large and only available handed the French way round.
I thought the Vivaro/Trafic was Nissan derived (Primastar). I bet if it's available for the Japanese home market it with have the stalks the correct way round!
(Edit) I've got a funny feeling it's not a Japanese originated van, which would explain why I've not seen them imported in the usual Commonwealth countries that take ship loads of second hand Japanese vehicles and hardly anything from Europe.
Frank
Re: Has anyone tried swapping the indicator stalk to the lef
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:08 pm
by Cab-ova pete
I've had a few problems with it over the last 3years

brakes every five minutes new pads? Side door (sliding) always dodgy when sliding shut and not shutting properly,maybe because I'm used to the sweet comforts of my beloved bongo

the most recent was a brand new barrel on stearing column due to key kept getting stuck in the ignition

anyway other than that it's a flying machine

your right tho it's a nice compact vehicle, can't wait for the brand spanker
