A rusty old dog or a cute little puppy?

[chrisvb]

Sorry fellas, but whilst I'm still discovering Bongos - and in particular, still discovering my own recently purchased Bongo, I need to ask a few questions which to many of you will no doubt be very elementary, but to me are frankly the only reliable guidance that's available to me. So here follows a few posts with some questions which I need some help with if that's ok. Many thanks in advance.

My first question is this... Is my Bongo excessively corroded to the point that it's essentially a bit of a dog, or is it generally salvageable provided I Waxoyl it and then keep on top of the welding each MOT? Whatever, the welding doesn't look very good quality despite it recently passing an MOT and the undersealing looks ineffective as there seems to already be some rust peeping through after standing around undriven for 2 months in the dry summer in the sunny South! Apologies, but I'm just trying to understand what's normal. Here are the pics...

[Sharkojoints]

Ok, I'll have a go. This is my opinion only, and evryone else might disagree, so do have some salt to go with it!

I see what you mean about the patch welding: it's not the prettiest, but I have seen worse. As long as you knew about it when you bought the van it wouldn't worry me too much.

The garage who did the welding have sprayed schutz - a type of underseal - over their work. That's fairly common with MoT work, in my experience. I never liked garages using the stuff on my cars, but it's hard to stop them if you don't do the welding yourself. All it does is cover up rust and make the area look OK for a few months, as you've discovered...

So what to do? Well, is that your lift that the van is on in the photos? If so, then here's what I'd do:

1. Go over the rusty bits on the underside with a wire brush, preferably one mounted on a grinder
2. Clear as much loose stuff off as possible, as well as flaky areas of schutz
3. Steer clear of more underseal type gunk - unless you're starting with rustfree metal or paint I've always found that rust festers worse than ever under the underseal
4. Mix 50/50 waxoyl and old engine oil, and pressure spray the mixture at everything in sight under the van, as well as in all the cavities and box sections
5. Repeat step 4 every year or two!

If you don't have a lift then all the above is harder but not impossible: ramps are your friend in that case.

So, dog or puppy? I'd say neither. As long as you can accept your van will never be 'concours' then I think plenty of Step 4 will keep the rust at bay and let you enjoy plenty of bongoing.

What are the back wheel arches like?

[New Forest Terrier]

Oh dear Best advertisement for Waxoyl i'v ever seen. What did the previous owner do in it? Pull his boat up the slipway every week? Catch the Sandbanks chain ferry every day? (A nice brisk wade in salty water on to the ferry if the tide is wrong). Try to teach the Bongo to surf?

Definitely not the best. Depends on the thickness of the rust what can be done. Those pipes look rather battered as well.

Certainly excellent advice from previous poster. Clean all that you can and use the waxoyl and engine oil mix.

Makes me feel very pleased that all you can see under mine is a thick black coating of underseal.

Over to the more knowledgeable.

[chrisvb]

Thanks fellas, alas the ramp isn't mine (I wish it was)! The Bongo specialist was a bit surprised too - it's the 1st Bongo he's seen that's needed welding like that. And he did comment that the standard of welding - and the apparent upkeep, implied a historically neglectful level of maintenance. He summarised by saying "I hope you got it cheap".

Oh dear!

[flossie]

I can't remember if you said whatvyiu paid for it but look on the bright side a full side conversion is 4k and upwards so you have that value to transfer to another vehicle when the time comes I would imagine ( assuming they can be stripped out and moved to a new vehicle)

[carlioll]

Chris - might be worth a quick check that your radiator isnt leaking. That darker patch on the front crossmember looks suspiciously like a water stain.

[chrisvb]

Chris - might be worth a quick check that your radiator isnt leaking. That darker patch on the front crossmember looks suspiciously like a water stain.

Cheers carlioll, well spotted. That's actually where I nearly changed a transmission fluid clip and leaked some fluid.

[chrisvb]

I actually think that the most worrying thing of all is not the corrosion on the chassis etc - that can all be welded... I think the most worrying thing is the extent of the corrosion on all the constant pressure/jubilee clips and lengths of steel tube. And if I'm going to bother with changing the clips I might as well do the hoses... and the tubes... and underseal... and... OMG! I've bought an expensive restoration project!

What if I used copper pipe, a pipe bender, and off-the-reel straight heater hoses in various applicable diameters?

[2sticks]

What if I used copper pipe, a pipe bender, and off-the-reel straight heater hoses in various applicable diameters?

It would not be a good idea to use copper anywhere in the cooling system.
Copper and aluminium are probably one of the worst combinations to cause
galvanic corrosion.

[wormey]

I've not seen one that rusty, it does look like it's been on the coast somewhere. There is some good advice above, learn to weld and you can keep on top of it your self.
It can be managed and have years of life. I'd take off the surface rust and paint with some type of protection on it.

[nfn]

It looks like you have a jubilee clip on the lower radiator hose -- these have a reputation for seeping coolant on bongos. You should replace with proper Mazda hose clamps. As others have mentioned, the condition of the steel coolant lines is really important -- given the amount of rust on your van, these steel pipes are likely to be rusty.

Waxoyl is good stuff. I've also had good lasting results using Dinitrol or Eastwood rust encapsulator first, then Waxoyling.

[mikexgough]

It looks like you have a jubilee clip on the lower radiator hose -- these have a reputation for seeping coolant on bongos.

Some have had no issues with Jubilee clips, some even with Silicon hoses, which kind of makes no sense to me as many with silicon hoses complain of weeps.. ...... for me I used these to replace some iffy factory ones when I changed my Radiator last year and after chatting in pigeon japanese with some Japanese Mazda fellas.....they are similar to O.E but UK sourced ....... I guess really it's your Bongo and your choice....
On cars you can spend as much as you like.....I have built 2CV's for people from the ground up....with Galvanised chassis and Stainless parts throughout......yet some are happy with Factory spec chassis and standard parts.....yer pays yer money....

[New Forest Terrier]

Interesting the approach to life of the previous owner(s) who spent so much on a top notch conversion, while allowing the beast to rust to this state.

The conversion looks nearly new, so probably done after all this damage started. Why spend several thousands, without checking out if the rest of the Bongo is up to scratch first?

[chrisvb]

Interesting the approach to life of the previous owner(s) who spent so much on a top notch conversion, while allowing the beast to rust to this state.

The conversion looks nearly new, so probably done after all this damage started. Why spend several thousands, without checking out if the rest of the Bongo is up to scratch first?

It's weird Mr Terrier. The conversion is almost new and hardly been used. Bits of it were even still in its wrapper! The cooker and sink looked completely unused - as did the cupboards.

But let's not be flowery about this - in all the places which are out of immediate view, it's a sh*theap! Oh heck! Oh thundering typhoons! Oh crikey! Unfortunately these are the only expletives I can use on this forum. What I really want to say is unpublishable. Maybe I should just say - Oh faeces! Oh sexual intercourse! Oh testicles!

Ok, I'd better cut to the chase. I paid 7 grand cash with no warranty nor a receipt, from a dealer. Question: Have I been ripped off? Answer: Yes, I think so. Next question: Do you think this is bad enough to warrant recourse or should I stick with it?

Any advice gratefully received. Please feel free to PM me if you don't feel comfortable publishing your response publicly.

Many thanks all.

[jaylee]

Is it me, or is yer inter-cooler air scoop missing?? part 13-56Y http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html