Few Bodywork Questions

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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Chief Brody
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Few Bodywork Questions

Post by Chief Brody » Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:28 am

Hi all. I'm doing a few touch ups and have a couple of questions for the experts. I'm confused by the awning rails on either side of the Bongo. One side has a few holes in it while the other side does not. Both sides also have signs that there should be holes but there aren't. Not sure if I'm making myself clear. Almost like the holes haven't been drilled through fully. Does everyone have holes in their gutters/awning rails? I'm asking as these rails are rusty. Not crazy rust but bad enough to have a look at. Just wondering if it's a build up of water through lack of drainage or something.

More of a general car question next. I have a few stone chips on the bonnet that I attempted to fix with the touch up kit from here but made a bit of a mess of it. They are all within a few inches of each other. Could a decent enough job be made of lightly sanding this area of the bonnet and spraying a couple of coats of base coat ? If I took my time, would it be possible to blend in with the surrounding bonnet? The colour is chaste white. Probably hard to answer that one.

Lastly, I have to attend to the rusty seam on both front wings. I know I have to remove the panel and ensure that all rust is removed, apply kurust of equivalent and apply touch up. The rust would likely come back though right? Would there have to be new metal welded in? Is this always the case? Why is there a seam there? Excuse my ignorance!
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g8dhe
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by g8dhe » Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:49 am

The gutters are spot welded and hence have circular indents every few inches, I wonder if this is what you are referring to? The side panels have a lip which forms the gutter and the roof has a lip which rests inside the gutter, before its placed in position some sealent is laid along the top surface of the gutter and the roof then sits on top this and is then spot welded in position every few inches. In my case there were some gaps in the sealent and over time moisture got in and started rusting the sides of the roof section. However there were no holes anywhere along the gutter on mine.
Geoff
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Bongolia
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by Bongolia » Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:56 pm

Not sure where you are talking about re awning, do you mean the six bolt holes on NS when top is lifted?
cwilliams255
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by cwilliams255 » Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:17 pm

Regarding the wings, the seam is in a stupid place in my opinion (I’m no car designer though) and not much metal to start with. I think once it starts rusting, you’ll be able to kill and cover up for a while but eventually it’ll need a new wing if you want to get it back to former glory
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Chief Brody
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by Chief Brody » Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:48 am

Thanks for the replies. That makes sense Geoff and seems to be what I'm referring to. I definitely have some holes along one gutter side. Not sure what the story is there. I have attached a few pictures. I am hoping mines doesn't get to the stage yours did but not sure what I can do to prevent that.

Can't believe the wings will likely need to be replaced at some point. Hoping I can dremel out what I can, rust treat it and paint it and hopefully get a couple of years out of it.

On another matter, I grinded out some rust on the nearside arch, rust treated, primed and painted it. The colour matches well with the sliding door but is a totally different colour from the rear bumper. Never noticed before. Looking art the nearside arch, I can see the original paint is different from the bumper but it's a more subtle difference. I suppose it was blended in. Not sure why the bumpers are a different colour. The other thing that bothers me about the patch up on the arch is that the finish feels like a very fine grit sandpaper. It looks fine but feels rough. Perhaps I didn't put enough clear coat on. Not sure. I didn't sand in between coats of base as it's a silver metallic (silver stone).

Thanks again for the help.

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g8dhe
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by g8dhe » Tue Apr 28, 2020 11:19 am

Ah the first picture is as you say a genuine hole, possibly to attach something (Jap's like there diversity aerials for TV), the second is one of the spot welds.
Geoff
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Chief Brody
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by Chief Brody » Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:27 pm

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Do all Bongos have rust developing with the gutters? There is surface rust running along the inside of the gutter that I'm hoping I cant just sand off and treat. Really just looking for the gutters to not get much worse. Thanks again Geoff.
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by g8dhe » Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:43 pm

No it seems quite rare up till recently, the problems I had, the lads at Discount trucks had never seen before and it was there first time trying to weld the thin material that forms the roof they ended up having to use a TIG welder with the lower gas pressure.
See here http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/tin_worm/
Geoff
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Re: Few Bodywork Questions

Post by Flanners » Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:22 pm

Some owner's I have read on here have experienced rust on the gutter join/area due to the fitment of the roll out awnings like the Fiamma's which have caused stress on the joins/welds leading to the ingress of water and rot.
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