Bongo Fury

Anyone fitted a full bonnet matt black car bra on their facelift Bongo?

Where did you get it from.....?

This one:

https://van-x.co.uk/ford/ford-freda/fre ... -bra.html+

http://van-x.co.uk/media/import/pdf/Ful ... ctions.pdf

Not trying to emulate a VW Camper here of course!

Cheers

I've heard they trap moisture
Rust starter

I bought a VW t4 which had one of those fitted.
It had been on for some time, and when I asked to see underneath the seller was quiet shocked to find
that over time rain, mixed with grime, dust,grit etc. had basically sanded down the paint work, and the trapped moisture had then rusted into it,i haggled the price down on the state of the bonnet.

honey badger wrote:I bought a VW t4 which had one of those fitted.
It had been on for some time, and when I asked to see underneath the seller was quiet shocked to find
that over time rain, mixed with grime, dust,grit etc. had basically sanded down the paint work, and the trapped moisture had then rusted into it,i haggled the price down on the state of the bonnet.

Indeed. That's exactly what I'd expected to hear. If I was going down that road I'd fake the effect using hammerite or plastikote (like some have used on their AFT roofs) applied with a roller to give a texture with character. Far better protection, and for less money. Whatever you put on there isn't coming off again anyway short of doing a full respray

mikeonb4c wrote:

honey badger wrote:I bought a VW t4 which had one of those fitted.
It had been on for some time, and when I asked to see underneath the seller was quiet shocked to find
that over time rain, mixed with grime, dust,grit etc. had basically sanded down the paint work, and the trapped moisture had then rusted into it,i haggled the price down on the state of the bonnet.

Indeed. That's exactly what I'd expected to hear. If I was going down that road I'd fake the effect using hammerite or plastikote (like some have used on their AFT roofs) applied with a roller to give a texture with character. Far better protection, and for less money. Whatever you put on there isn't coming off again anyway short of doing a full respray

In fact, since my Bongo is due a respray on the bonnet anyway as the lacquer is going chalky, I might just try out this idea first. I've nothing to lose if I don't like it, but if I do

honey badger wrote:I bought a VW t4 which had one of those fitted.
It had been on for some time, and when I asked to see underneath the seller was quiet shocked to find
that over time rain, mixed with grime, dust,grit etc. had basically sanded down the paint work, and the trapped moisture had then rusted into it,i haggled the price down on the state of the bonnet.

Exactly the same as one I saw,down to bare metal in places.

I think they prove how important The image. Is for some people
As while they might be protecting the bonnet from stone chips they are secretly rusting it
away on inside
So really they are only on there for the image
I do like the look of them tho
But I'd go down the sprayed Matt black bonnet route
May be that anti stone chip spray paint for a bit of textur

I think some satin sticky-back plastic applied with a squeegee will be a good second best....

I saw a white Bongo with a black bonnet like this on the way home from work today

I had a Van X Bra on for about 3, maybe 4 years and when I decided to take it off this spring, the bonnet was fine - just needed a wash and polish. In fact, after washing the Bongo yesterday and noticing some fresh stone chips I was in half a mind to put it on again.

On the question asked i.e. does it look like you're trying to emulate a VW? I think no. Given the similarity in dimensions, what looks good on one is likely to look good on another. I'm not sure the VW's have the monopoly on anything, with the possible exception of the hard shoulder of the M5 on hot summer days!