A few rust spots - any advice?

[hembramacho]

The bongo had been developed a few little rust spots lately, which I've been aware of for quite a while, but haven't done anything about yet.
Anyhow, over the last couple of weeks a couple of them have worsened really quickly and upon closer inspection there seems to potentially be bigger problems lying ahead if I don't get it sorted.
The 2 main areas are 2 spots either side of the windscreen at the top







Also, down the edge of the windscreen, worse on the driver's side



Down the edge channel passenger side by the wing mirror



Couple of spots above the windscreen



And on the edge of the bonnet above the driver's side headlight.



Basically all over the front of the bongo could do with tidying up, all around the windscreen and bonnet. Does anyone have any idea of potential costs of getting these parts resprayed, and know of anyone decent in North Wales/North West to do the work, and am I also looking at another potentially more sinister problem, especially with the 2 spots either side of the screen which seem to be in roughly the same place and getting worse really quickly.

Cheers for any advice.

Andrew

[Dabs]

Id say that the ones at the top of the front pillars are a past repair that has reached the end of its days and come back through,think you need a good bodyshop to sort them all out!! Id ask if Wheelquicks bodyshop would do it for you!

[dobby]

I agree

Alternative is Ian Taylor in Stoke?

[bigdaddycain]

I agree with Dabs... That windscreen pillar crazing of the paintwork looks like a quick "blowover" has been done in the past to maybe just tidy up underlying rust issues. If Kawasaki kid see's this thread he may comment... I took him to Simon's today to pick up his freda after having some work done... Epic job as usual. Simon goes that little bit further than your average bodge it and scarper/quick buck paint shop. Plus, Simon sometimes has a dozen bongo's or more per week in his workshop, so he knows his way around them!

[bigdaddycain]

I've just looked more carefully at the pictures... overspray from previous work is still on the windscreen rubber...

[Dave.]

Seems to me the area on the drivers pillar is a old repair ,i can see the filler exposed and right by the rubber a fillered area done extremely badly ,possible a dent repair ,bit labour intensive area to repair .

[jaylee]

http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

[mikeonb4c]

I've seen more than one white painted Bongo where I've felt the paint has lost its gloss and probably developed porosity (breathing and letting moisture in). OK so you should be able to wax it and improve things, but I've always thought it would be very interesting to prep. it all and then respray it with clear 2-pack lacquer only. It seems to me that metallic finishes, which have to have this lacquer over the metallic paint, so often seem to do so much better on paintwork longevity. BUT, whatever you do, that rust needs tackling fast. Sand out as much as possible and then apply Kurust followed by paint or - alternatively - that miracle stuff (PDQ15 or whatever it is called) that has been discussed on here recently. That then leaves the problem of making it all look nice again mind you, but really that's of secondary importance.

I've just attended to a few (apparently superficial) areas like that on my Bongo (one tiny one above windscreen that hasn't worsened in 4 years, and a few on rear wheels arches). I've opted for Kurust, then neat green brushed on in places, and wiped on with a piece for foam dipped in neat green for the wheel arch reveals, all of that repeated with clear lacquer. I've used no primer. Although only patchwork repair, the result is surprisingly good and unnoticeable, especially given I broke all the rules. It'll have to do for now and I shall be interested to see how long it lasts.

[Bin Bongoed]

http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html

The exploded diagram makes my head feel the same way - can't make head or tale of it - but the rust at the top of the windscreen is I think internal (inside the pillar), and has been repaired as an external patch which is still rusting underneath. I hope that makes sense.

As this is part of the structure, it's going to be difficult to sort without cutting out and welding a donor section.

But what do I know.

[hembramacho]

Cheers for the replies.

I think I just need to get it in somewhere to have it looked at properly, and go from there. Fingers crossed it's not too serious!

Will report back when I know more.

Thanks again.

Andrew

[mikeonb4c]

Cheers for the replies.

I think I just need to get it in somewhere to have it looked at properly, and go from there. Fingers crossed it's not too serious!

Will report back when I know more.

Thanks again.

Andrew

I reckon (as said by others) that Wheelquick's bodyshop people might be a good place to start (BigDaddyCain would make sure you are looked after I'm sure and Wigan prices are generally v. good). I''d love to hear what they had to say about prepping and clear lacquering (which ought to be a lot cheaper than a full paint job and might look almost as good, but totally radical I know!).

Good luck Andrew - those of us with rusty bodies salute you

[dunslair]

I've seen more than one white painted Bongo where I've felt the paint has lost its gloss and probably developed porosity (breathing and letting moisture in). OK so you should be able to wax it and improve things, but I've always thought it would be very interesting to prep. it all and then respray it with clear 2-pack lacquer only. It seems to me that metallic finishes, which have to have this lacquer over the metallic paint, so often seem to do so much better on paintwork longevity. BUT, whatever you do, that rust needs tackling fast. Sand out as much as possible and then apply Kurust followed by paint or - alternatively - that miracle stuff (PDQ15 or whatever it is called) that has been discussed on here recently. That then leaves the problem of making it all look nice again mind you, but really that's of secondary importance.

I've just attended to a few (apparently superficial) areas like that on my Bongo (one tiny one above windscreen that hasn't worsened in 4 years, and a few on rear wheels arches). I've opted for Kurust, then neat green brushed on in places, and wiped on with a piece for foam dipped in neat green for the wheel arch reveals, all of that repeated with clear lacquer. I've used no primer. Although only patchwork repair, the result is surprisingly good and unnoticeable, especially given I broke all the rules. It'll have to do for now and I shall be interested to see how long it lasts.

Not sure about your porous paint theory Mike.... one thing I do know is that white vans show up any signs of rust very early. A friend of mine was saying that his bongo (which was silver and three years older than ours) was not showing any signs or rust on the wheel arches, where ours had a few small spots on the inside rim. When we had a closer look it was worse than ours , he just hadn't noticed. Oh how we laughed about that one....... I believe the green ones hide it particularly well

[kawasaki kid]

Just picked up on this thread - as Ste said picked my van up yesterday - thanks for the lift matey - the work Simon did was superb and he even did more than he had to do as he is such a perfectionist - you wouldn`t know it had been done and the paint match was perfect - my van is metallic burgundy so matching the paint can be a pain and the cost was low against other quotes. It`s worth the little effort to get there as you won`t be disappointed.

[stuc]

I would be very surprised if the rust has penetrated into the inner a post un less there has been some serious damage in that area. i would advise though taking out the front screen when the repairs are carried out or you will always have problems no matter what you do. I have never heard of paint porosity and i would advise against prepping and laquering as the laquer is clear and you would see any bad prep and the laquer may not adhere properly to the substrate. Take the screen out,take it back to bare metal,treat any rust accordingly, a good bodyshop would even be able to patch this area if the rust is really bad. It is not a large area so shoiuldnt cost too much. Hope this has been of some help.

[mikeonb4c]

I've seen more than one white painted Bongo where I've felt the paint has lost its gloss and probably developed porosity (breathing and letting moisture in). OK so you should be able to wax it and improve things, but I've always thought it would be very interesting to prep. it all and then respray it with clear 2-pack lacquer only. It seems to me that metallic finishes, which have to have this lacquer over the metallic paint, so often seem to do so much better on paintwork longevity. BUT, whatever you do, that rust needs tackling fast. Sand out as much as possible and then apply Kurust followed by paint or - alternatively - that miracle stuff (PDQ15 or whatever it is called) that has been discussed on here recently. That then leaves the problem of making it all look nice again mind you, but really that's of secondary importance.

I've just attended to a few (apparently superficial) areas like that on my Bongo (one tiny one above windscreen that hasn't worsened in 4 years, and a few on rear wheels arches). I've opted for Kurust, then neat green brushed on in places, and wiped on with a piece for foam dipped in neat green for the wheel arch reveals, all of that repeated with clear lacquer. I've used no primer. Although only patchwork repair, the result is surprisingly good and unnoticeable, especially given I broke all the rules. It'll have to do for now and I shall be interested to see how long it lasts.

Not sure about your porous paint theory Mike.... one thing I do know is that white vans show up any signs of rust very early. A friend of mine was saying that his bongo (which was silver and three years older than ours) was not showing any signs or rust on the wheel arches, where ours had a few small spots on the inside rim. When we had a closer look it was worse than ours , he just hadn't noticed. Oh how we laughed about that one....... I believe the green ones hide it particularly well

It's only a theory of course. But the vans in question (and I've seen this on other non-metallic painted cars) leave a challky whiteness on your finger if you wipe it across the paintwork (which seems to lack a full shine). I've seen one or two silver (95 model type vintage) Bongos with matted areas of paintwork, probably due to lacquer deterioration. No doubt varying climatic and atmospheric conditions in Japan have helped contribute to variations.

Stuc - I agree with you about the unlikelyness of rusting from within, removing windscreen etc.

The lacquer idea is a novel, controversial idea only. I'm not recommending it to anyone, but I'd love to try it on an old car one day just to see what could be achieved. It could not match a proper respray, but could perhaps be a whole lot cheaper and give a quite acceptable effect. You'd be able to get a rough idea of how it would work by wetting the old car with water and checking it over.

Grandads old Mazda has matted red paint. I have a compressor. I wonder if I could persuade him to be a guinea pig, as it couldn't look worse than it does now. Might even lacquer in a few insects for him if he asks me nicely!