Rear arches needed.

splitpin · Post by **splitpin** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:09 pm

Bad news today, took bongo to repair shop for estimate for fixing rear wheel arches with rust showing through. Seems that dealer I bought from had done cover up job to make them look good, so will need both arches replaceing, this is new shape W reg van. Repair man can't find new arches so I have to find used pair, if anyone know where I can buy some I would be very grateful for info.
Thanks.

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:16 pm

splitpin wrote:Bad news today, took bongo to repair shop for estimate for fixing rear wheel arches with rust showing through. Seems that dealer I bought from had done cover up job to make them look good, so will need both arches replaceing, this is new shape W reg van. Repair man can't find new arches so I have to find used pair, if anyone know where I can buy some I would be very grateful for info.
Thanks.

Unusual to hear of serious rust problem on such a new Bongo (is it a 2 battery one rom North Japan out of interest?).

Bellhill break Bongos and may have suitable wings. BF Members Haydn Callow and Waycar8 have both had arch replacement jobs done and would be useful to speak with. Someone else (and this is interesting) in the Midlands showed pics of replacement using 'generic' steel arches, which are not hard to get, and they looked pretty good when finished (maybe with a bit of filler to fair them in but...). Have a search as the post should be on here somewhere. I wonder if it was the dealer who sold it to you who did the cover up, or could it even track back to Japan? How long ago did you buy and did it come with Jap acution certificate as that ought to have flagged it up if not done in Japan.

Good luck - keep us posted

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:41 pm

Search e bay "breaking Bongo" and contact the seller....I got mine for £100 delivered (old shape) in super totally rust free condition

Then find a GOOD body shop...it is not a easy task to graft one in.
Expect to pay another £600/700

Good luck

apole · Post by **apole** » Fri May 22, 2009 6:35 pm

Hi,

Just a thought. As Mike has said it's very unusual for such a newish bongo to have such serious rust. I'd get the entire car checked out to see if there are any other problems before getting that fixed, you may find something else needs sorting too in which case it would be cheaper to get them all done at once.

Also consider getting it properly undersealed to keep it in good nick when this is all sorted.

Andy

splitpin · Post by **splitpin** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:19 pm

Thanks for replys and advice, van was imported in 2004, I bought last year in June no rust at all then, bodyshop man reckons very good coverup job had been done with perfect paint match and yes van had twin battery so from north Japan.
Thanks again.

patnben · Post by **patnben** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:56 am

Search for johnnybee or universal+wheel+arches.

This member posted photos of Bongo repaired using universal wheel arches.

Stinch · Post by **Stinch** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:17 am

I had a poke at mine yesterday and one hole lead to another

. I'm going to have to fill them for now as we have had to fork out for a replacement engine recently.
We as a club should really pull together to aproach a company to make new panels for us, I know it has been mentioned before.
The press for it it probably sat in a dusty warehouse somewhere in Japan it just needs liberating

(maybe a job for the A team)
Splitpin I can get you a set of fibreglass over arches but that wont stop the rust and will probably make it an even better place for the dreaded tin worm to breed.

N

maxheadroom · Post by **maxheadroom** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:58 am

Stinch wrote:I had a poke at mine yesterday and one hole lead to another . I'm going to have to fill them for now as we have had to fork out for a replacement engine recently.
We as a club should really pull together to aproach a company to make new panels for us, I know it has been mentioned before.
The press for it it probably sat in a dusty warehouse somewhere in Japan it just needs liberating (maybe a job for the A team)
Splitpin I can get you a set of fibreglass over arches but that wont stop the rust and will probably make it an even better place for the dreaded tin worm to breed.

N

Over 2 years ago I met a guy at Trowbridge village pump festival who had had the whole rear side panel replaced after an accident. He told me the panel was sourced direct from Japan. His Bongo even featured on the front page of Bongo Fury, I remember seeing it there. So there must be panels still around, maybe Ian can shed some light on this?

Post by **Ian** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:53 am

Panels are easily obtainable from Japan, but the air freight makes it very expensive. Wellhouse Leisure (Huddersfield) have a body shop and can sort everything out for you.

maxheadroom · Post by **maxheadroom** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:56 am

Ian wrote:Panels are easily obtainable from Japan, but the air freight makes it very expensive. Wellhouse Leisure (Huddersfield) have a body shop and can sort everything out for you.

Top Banana

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:23 am

patnben wrote:Search for johnnybee or universal+wheel+arches.

This member posted photos of Bongo repaired using universal wheel arches.

Well done+++ patnben. We really ought to get organised on this one as there's going to be a growing crop of rusty wheel arches as Bongos get older and a dwindling supply of perfect ones and breakers yards prepared to cut them out for peeps. If this universal wheel arch thing can be made to work, it sounds cheaper and more practical as a strategy I reckon.

I wonder if Bongo Towers might consider stocking them plus a factsheet on how the job is best done based on that bodywork shops experience.

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:36 am

It would be worth one of the big Bongo importers to have a load of panels put into a few of the incoming Bongos....No freight charges and a bit of "good ol" profit this side of the water.

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Sat May 23, 2009 11:18 am

haydn callow wrote:It would be worth one of the big Bongo importers to have a load of panels put into a few of the incoming Bongos....No freight charges and a bit of "good ol" profit this side of the water.

Its something I know little about but will Mazda have a good stock of these hanging around, and what will Mazda prices be like? Could be a v. expensive solution. Also of course do the importers actually have good contacts for sourcing Bongo spares or do they just focus on picking up Bongos at auction and bringing them into UK?

I wonder if BJ4 (BF member in Osaka, Japan who hand picks Bongos and other cars for UK clients for any who don't know) will read this and be able to give any thoughts

neil/di · Post by **neil/di** » Sat May 23, 2009 2:10 pm

I for one would be very interested in these panels.Could the club not try to source them as I feel a lot of people will be requiring them
Neil.

Cloughy · Post by **Cloughy** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:10 pm

Having just spend the morning grinding a small rust spot, that turned out to be a large hole

, I can say I would be interested in some arches in the future. Will fill for now as the bank balance is low.

I can see from mine, which was rust free 2 years ago, that there are more rust spots developing, grinding and filling will be a tedious ongoing loosing battle. The rest of the Bongo is rust free, just the poor rear arches that are rusting.

With Bongos getting so popular, soon somebody could make a living doing nothing else but replacing Bongo wheel arches.

Cloughy

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