Black and Green Bongo

[redrocket]

Howdy,

thought i would start a thread about my journey owning a bongo to show the community what i have been doing so far.
So i bought this bongo back in mid january 2016 on a snowy frosty morning.



Now with snow defrosting at time of looking at this bongo i was unable to see fully what state the paint work was in, i could see a couple paint chips and rust on wheel arch which i was aware of but what i did not realise nor was i told by the seller that the paint work was suffering from deterioration of the clear coat layer on the bonnet and all around the top of the van. Now this still bugs me to this day that i didnt notice this when buying and ended up paying too much id say for this bongo but oh well, lesson learnt, water and ice is a great disguise.

I bought it unconverted with the aim to purchase a conversion of my choosing at a later date. After a while of the paintwork grating on me i decided i will put money into a full respray and sorting of the minor rust on the body work. 10 weeks later....yes really that long it came out of the body shop to look like this






Then it was onto picking a conversion, there seemed to be only two type of styles, a rear and a side, that being this type http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-Bongo-O ... SwpDdVPr6G

and this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-BONGO-C ... Sw14xWQLk0

these were the two that i had in my list anyway.

There were advantages and disadvantages to both of these, i prefered the look of the side conversion, but then the rock and roll chair took up so much room you were left with little space.

the rear more space as you enter through the door and looks quite cozy on the downside dont really get much in the way of storing things and you cant use any of it when the tables up...

So a bit about me, I work as a software developer/web developer for a company that produces CAD/CAM software for CNC Machines and i love DIY, so me and my girlfriend Beki who i also work with on a train one day to liverpool said, why dont we just design and cut our own conversion. So after that it was decided, we were going to make our own.

we decided to buy everything we wanted in it and build our design around that and our desires. we went through lots of different designs until we reached the final version about three weeks back when we decided to cut our first demo attempt on plain cheap 15mm ply and it looks and still does currently like this.

I am cutting the final version today, wish me luck and i will update this post once its off and all together.


i will link images below in order of the conversion step by step

[Ian]

Excellent! Keep us up to date with developments.

[Jillygumbo]

That's very impressive, and unique colours too.

[mikeonb4c]

Holy moley that looks really impressive. Great tale too. If its any consolation mine is in for a partial respray due to bonnet and above windscreen lacquer going cloudy, and also for rust repairs (keep an eye out and money aside for rust repairs as there likely will be need at some point)

[Bob]

Fantastic work, inside and out.

[Bongoplod]

Fantastic,.....keep us updated

Brian

[redrocket]

Right then, Happy monday all, no monday morning blues for me today as i have finally finished converting the inside of my Bongo after working solidly through Friday, Saturday & Sunday to get it all finished.

So we left off when i had the test cut on the inside which was looking like this.....


From left to right ill fill you in on what we were going to have in the bongo, So left as you can see is the fridge, next to that is the sealed gas locker, next to that would have been a slide out drawer which mainly was going to hold wine bottles and a couple shelves to hold canned food, then the big one on the end was going to be a cupboard to store drinking water.

Well luckily we went away with the layout like this and quickly realised we lacked storage space for all things you dont think about until you need em. so as youll see below this changed a lot.

So first was to strip out the old trial conversion


Then onto cutting the final one



Then cutting it out of the sheet and tidying up the tabs that held it on.
and then onto cutting the slots into the wood to hold the black rubber trim


Then it was onto choosing handles for the doors.




Then we moved onto how we were going to affix the doors as i realised that with the dimensions of the door with the rubber trim attached left little room for a hinge to act in place, so in the end we decided to use just purely magnets to hold them in place, and that worked really well as they come off with enough force to keep them in place, but not enough to strain getting them off and they snap back in place which is really cool.



then it was onto constructing it all together, first we started with the new large cupboard area




Then completed the rest and fitted to the van without anything in it


to then fittin it all with some added finishing touches



I have to say I am so pleased with how its turned out and i cant quite believe we did it as it looks in my opinion so professionally done. So much time has been spent doing this conversion and i can finally say its finished, minus speaker grills which will cover the holes you can see in the final images.

Now its onto wherever the weather takes us.......cant wait, been waiting so long for this

[mikeonb4c]

That is a truly fabulous job and i love the flush fitting doors (so rare to see but so nice) and the finish you've chosen. Quality! Just remind me how you make up the (double?) bed from the sofa, or are you sleeping upstairs? Also, how does the L-shape sofa work as there seems to be a bit of it without legroom, behind the kitchen/storage unit.

[Bob]

Proper Job.

[redrocket]

That is a truly fabulous job and i love the flush fitting doors (so rare to see but so nice) and the finish you've chosen. Quality! Just remind me how you make up the (double?) bed from the sofa, or are you sleeping upstairs? Also, how does the L-shape sofa work as there seems to be a bit of it without legroom, behind the kitchen/storage unit.

Thank you, i love the flush fitting doors too, sort of stumbled on them as nothing throughout this project was ever decided until it was there turn to be done next.
There is no bed downstairs, i was going to make one, but i was always content about sleeping in the roof, you get the views from up there through the window star gazing, or with the lining unzipped and tucked away, an amazing view that surrounds you while you drink a glass of wine.
The L shaped seating area, there is a bit if you were to sit forward facing that would have limited legroom, i had it there more in mind for the missus to do her make up and get ready in that corner so she can put her mirror on the side where the sink unit is facing the back, theres enough room there so you can sit face on to the mirror with your back against the back rest and have your things in front of you too.

I could have extended the units further back and had more cupboards but i found then the units would become quite intrusive into your living space.

On a side note i forgot to mention, there are plenty of 12v electrics and i have a 1500w 240v inverter installed and have also a 240v inlet, also to keep the missus happy , after all, this is supposed to be glamping

[mikeonb4c]

All sounds excellent to me

[redrocket]

I can now finally feel like a proud Bongo owner. Now just need to join the club

[Bongolia]

Nice job,like the flush doors also, makes a big difference to the overall look.Lime green compliments the tilt too I would imagine.
I also just use the upstairs and like you enjoy the star gazing and this past week sleeping with the sides rolled up and the fly screen allowing the cool night breeze to waft over my nake..... Ahem..Sorry, maybe a bit to much information there...
Two questions:
1/ how did you get the cutting machine in your house?
2/ how on earth did you upload the images! Whenever I try it it always comes back with an error or image too large.
The best I can manage is a link to Photobucket! Cant` even get an avatar to upload!
Good luck with the Bongo.

[redrocket]

Nice job,like the flush doors also, makes a big difference to the overall look.Lime green compliments the tilt too I would imagine.
I also just use the upstairs and like you enjoy the star gazing and this past week sleeping with the sides rolled up and the fly screen allowing the cool night breeze to waft over my nake..... Ahem..Sorry, maybe a bit to much information there...
Two questions:
1/ how did you get the cutting machine in your house?
2/ how on earth did you upload the images! Whenever I try it it always comes back with an error or image too large.
The best I can manage is a link to Photobucket! Cant` even get an avatar to upload!
Good luck with the Bongo.

haha i may have to try that as when i went on a trial weekend a couple weeks ago I found by around 730am each morning i was pretty much cooking, though that will probably be the only bit of summer we will have!!
The CNC Machine is at work, though i would love the room to have one this big!!! i do have a smaller one though at home.
The images i uploaded to my own server, i havent even tried the upload feature of this website yet. ill have a go at uploading an avatar myself and see what happens.

What do you have going on inside your bongo downstairs since you also use the roof to sleep in?

[Bongolia]

A side conversion fitted by a company called Free Spirit I think, in a kind of light Maple color. Looks very nice .Was in it when we bought the van. It does have its draw backs though the water container is in built behind the "wardrobe" and as it lays on its side it has a limited capacity of 12 litres, That means either driving over to the water point once a day or carting the water in a container to it.Far better to have had the fresh water under the sink in my opinion. It has the usual set up of Dometic glass topped two burner hob and sink.We fitted a removable slide in shelf to extend the work surface over the drivers seat when the back is tilted forward this was a useful addition and fitted another shelf to the seat base hump to store towels and the heater etc.when travelling.
We re-arranged the cupboard internal shelving shelving to be more practical and ended up removing most of the "pretty" panels from the rear to give greater access to the under seat storage,wardrobe area and the gas bottles etc these are stored under the wardrobe shelf at the rear of the van and to be honest cosmetically it makes no difference them being gone when the tailgate is shut.
The pull out bed we very rarely use unless the wife and I have a difference of opinion.
Under that we store pots and pans etc.
The Mrs travels on the bed seat so we reversed the passenger seat and use the foot well for storing walking boots and stuff sacks etc. Works well for us now. The biggest single improvement in usability was made to the upper bed hatch and area. I did a post on here about it if you got to my posts it gives a description but unfortunately no pixs .
The variety of setups on these vans never ceases to amaze me it is far more versatile than my old VW but just as thirsty.