Bongo Fury

Hi gang - this is a product we discused some weeks ago - well, I eventually bit the bullet and ordered a kit. It took about 10 days - and arrived in quite a large, flat package - and heavy.

Today I decided to fit the kit - quite straight forward to do - there are 3 bits to go in the cutouts under the bonnet lid - the easy bit.

Then, lift up the seats, there are shaped pieces to go under each seat - I first removed the existing pads so the new ones would stick to the metal seat base - then the original pads went on top of the new ones.

There is a special pad that goes over the engine, and under the housing, retained with ties.

Then, two pads for each footwell, plus a bit over the transmission tunnel - these pieces are not self-adhesive, so easy to place in position.

The final four pieces are intended for the front door skins - two each side. I decided I didn't really want to disturb the polythene sheet on the doors, so haven't fitted these bits so far.

When I took the Bongo for a test run, the difference was very noticable - a whole lot quieter - the road noise from the tyres was all I really heard.

I'm definitely impressed - £200 well spent, in my view. The website is:-

http://www.noisekiller.co.uk

Mike

Except that I have to stop spending, I'd be v keen on that. My cheap alternative is to find an open road and sit at 60mph - the old Bongo is pretty good a being quiet in that mode

That sounds like good value for the higher mileage users.

A cheap and cheerful fix is buying the sound proof rolls from accessory shops. I pay £10 a roll and two will be enough for a bongo. It wont be as easy or as effective though. I have also used bonnet insulation from scrapyards before. Fireproof and very cheap.

If you do a DIY kit the important thing is to keep airflow around the engine at a maximum - it is easy to get engine temp up with a bit of careless insulation.

Looks good Yam - I fitted bitumen adhesive panels made by 3M to most of the panels including the doors. They help reduce the panel "drum"

I e-mailed Noisekiller asking whether the engine blanket in their kit would affect cooling or airflow in the engine compartment. They did not respond to the question, and so I assumed that the answer was actually yes. But I'm not convinced that an engine blanket over the top of the engine would be a problem: the turbo could be affected, but is water-cooled. The fan is sort of at the bottom, blowing up at an angle. Would it still cool the engine compartment properly?

David
Dereham, Norfolk

I think it would - yes - the blanket is a fairly chunky made-up mat type thingy, with 4 holes for tie wraps, although the ones they provide weren't long enough, so I had to resort to putting 2 together in each corner to fix it in place.

Although there isn't loadsa room between the engine and the cowling, there seems to be enough room for air to flow - but I will watch the temp gauge like a hawk until I'm satisfied all is OK.

I can't see any other way of insulating that bit - you couldn't stick it to the cowling as the handbrake mechanism, etc protrudes, so I imagine if anyone had had problems before, they would have altered the design.

Mike