Bongo Fury

I’ve just seen a Bongo on Autotrader with 6 seats… driver and passenger up front, then two rows of two seats behind. Have these seats been cut n shut from a couple of trebles?

I have a similar conversion. Basically, they have stripped all the upholstery back, cut the middle seat out, then re-welded the seat frames retaining the floor rail and seat belt attachments, so yes "cut n shut". Done well it's a really nice job as retains the original safety factors for the seat belts mounts back to the frame and seat rails (unlike some rock n roll beds).

Some people get new flat seat cushion profiles when doing this as potentially makes it more comfortable when using as a bed, but I asked my converter to retain the original seat cushion shapes, as my thinking was likely much more time spent sitting rather than sleeping.

Hi gilly

Thanks for coming back to me. Do you know who did your conversion?

Oh yeah, that’s pretty much what I assumed. The seats on the above Bongo also spin round which is pretty neat. I suppose after the seats have been cut n shut, it’s a case of moving the floor rails over. I can see why some people get the seats made flatter to make the “bed” more comfy….. we only use our for day trips so I would stick with the standard material and profiles of the seats.

Yes, looking at the side conversion & materials used in your photos, the unit looks identical to mine (done around 2011), so I am pretty certain the conversion was by Budget Bongos in Southampton. I think it was called "Mistral" but my memory is hazy. Think Budget have folded/moved, and it's now part of Southern Bongos / Mistlebrook motors.

Budget (Simon) were pretty good and from memory price was keen - the materials used were generally good quality. Some of the workmanship was a bit poor, but nothing that cannot be sorted with a bit of TLC. I went for a full side conversion (sink, fridge & hob etc) to obtain formal Motorhome status on the V5 - as that lowers yearly insurance costs considerably. If I were doing this again, would have done the same conversion but specified 'Tambour' roller doors (as you need to move seats to open the std hinged doors, which is a bit of a faff). Budget also cut my std tintop off and added a low-profile raising roof and bed space - that job was really nicely done and kept the vehicle height under 2m - good for European carparks & motorway tolls.

I specifically searched for a conversion that retained the original seats, as rock n roll beds do not generally retain the proper seat belt mounting points, and it also keeps the feel of a day van with the two rear pax bench rows and just losing 2 seats from standard. It's heavy, so if you go for it, would recommend adding air-assist bags to the rear suspension.

Edit:- No need to move seat rails, the cut-down seat frames mount directly to the standard vehicle. Just need to ensure good welding quality on the frame and a reasonable re-upholstery job.