Bongo Fury

Hi,
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Just joined and just bought a Bongo.
I partially blame my mother as she has a Bongo and has led me to the darkside.
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I used to be a VW T2 owner in years gone by and was responsible for it's restoration and pimpage. However, since then I have opted for the sensible family option...but secretly dreamed of owning another camper or van.
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This week I was 'crashed for cash' in Bradford on the way to work, and my car written off.
The Bongo was almost fresh off the boat and a combination of future camping trips, plus the bull bars on the front for the daily drive through Bradford persuaded my wife too Ferries to France & Spain await!
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So, we are now Bongotised. Our 5year old son was already converted from going camping with the Grandparents and sleeping 'up top' in their Bongo. He could barely contain himself when I arrived home with a bongo today.
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So, let the pimping begin.
Needs a few minor touch ups with the paintwork, otherwise it's mint. Good as new underneath and runs very well.
However...no alloys
So first pimpage will be alloys & side window tints.
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I've digested lot's of information already, but why does she keep beeping when the roof is fully up?
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Anyway, nice to be virtually 'here'.
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Martin

Hi and welcome to the madhouse and enjoy the forumn.

Welcome
Enjoy the Bongo

As for the roof it may just need another little push from the inside to lock it off and stop the beep.Its probably not been sent up for a while!

Dabs

Hi Martin and welcome to the forum,re the beeping,possibly needs the contacts cleaning,but someone more techie minded than me may be able to advise further.
Please put your location in your profile,and photos of your new toy are madatory!

Brian

Welcome to the forum
As Dabs said hopefully it's just that it hasn't quite reached lock out point, mine usually goes after a couple of raise & lower manoevres, I take it you're doing it with the engine running to give it a bit of welly, it'll soon flatten the battery if you play to much too leave the engine running for a while to charge the battery a bit if you've just started it to raise the roof. To get it down again you'll have to press the lock cancel button in the roof, & don't forget to have the handbrake on or it won't move, there's a little switch at the back of the handbrake that sometimes gets a bit damp & doesn't work, quick scrape'll get you moving again. Give the rams & rollers etc a bit of a lube (I've used white grease or spray silicon oil or even olive oil), mine needs doing again, the weather soon gets to it.

OK, will do. I only had time for a quick play after I got home.
OK pics.....how to attach?

OK here's a start...

http://s762.photobucket.com/albums/xx26 ... ain/Bongo/

Just copy the IMG link in the drop down box if you want to paste them onto the forum like



Nice looking classic green bongo

Welcome in to the fold Martin, a fine looking specimen you have there too.

Mine does the same niggly roof thing sometimes, you need a second pair of hands to give the roof a last half inch push.

A squirt of this




On the runners & rams has helped mine though.

Theres a weekend meet the weekend after next in Silverdale, N Lancs. Try to find time to pop along & have a rummage around some others for ideas.

Could be a Life Changing Experience.

mister munkey wrote: Theres a weekend meet the weekend after next in Silverdale, N Lancs. Try to find time to pop along & have a rummage around some others for ideas.

Also a Meet here The Cotton Arms, Wrenbury, Cheshire from 19th to 21st March 2010 pop in if you fancy a ride out!

Dabs

Welcome Mountain - nice looking classic Bongo with all the bits (it seems to have alloys on it too?).

I gotta ask you - how do you find driving the Bongo after driving the VW T2s?

Hope you have lots of camping fun with the Bongo. Fit a low coolant alarm if not done, for peace of mind.

Welcome to bongo fury Martin

Cheers everyone!
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mikeonb4c. Nah, no alloys yet, the wheel trims just look good in the photo! I'm still on the look out for an ebay special.
"Fit a low coolant alarm if not done, for peace of mind. "
I'm a bit coolant obsessed anyway, especially with driving diesel cars for so long. Is it an easy job?

As for the T2 driving experience, pretty comfortable but more aking to sailing a small boat than driving.
The Bongo however is a really comfortable drive. Not a hint of a bad back after driving it home. Would have been 'ow me back' after that long in a car

So, sorry for the noob questions, but were id the sensor that stops the beeping when the roof's up?

I will no doubt make a meet at some point and then my life will probably change as it did in my VWCombi days

welcome
there are some microswitches on one side of the runners for the roof that control the bleeps. the main sounder unit is in the rear of the bongo down drivers side. i wouldnt expect that they would like disconnecting tho.

dreamwarrioruk wrote:welcome
there are some microswitches on one side of the runners for the roof that control the bleeps. the main sounder unit is in the rear of the bongo down drivers side. i wouldnt expect that they would like disconnecting tho.

Cheers, I'll have a close look at the runners first

Mountain wrote:Cheers everyone!
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mikeonb4c. Nah, no alloys yet, the wheel trims just look good in the photo! I'm still on the look out for an ebay special.
"Fit a low coolant alarm if not done, for peace of mind. "
I'm a bit coolant obsessed anyway, especially with driving diesel cars for so long. Is it an easy job?

As for the T2 driving experience, pretty comfortable but more aking to sailing a small boat than driving.
The Bongo however is a really comfortable drive. Not a hint of a bad back after driving it home. Would have been 'ow me back' after that long in a car

So, sorry for the noob questions, but were id the sensor that stops the beeping when the roof's up?

I will no doubt make a meet at some point and then my life will probably change as it did in my VWCombi days

Low coolant alarm is dead easy to fit, hour max. Worth looking at modifying the temp gauge too (either a Mason alarm or with this cheap mod) as it's dumbed down so it doesn't scare people by moving once it's up to temp , there's a factsheet in the members area on coolant alarms & monitoring.
Make sure the coolant has been thoroughly flushed out & replaced as it's reasonably new on the country, the Jap spec coolant isn't compatible with the uk spec stuff, causes sludging up & acidic mix if you're not careful, worth replacing the stat while you're at it. Make sure you know what coolant is used in it so you can top up with the same stuff. Give it all a good check over especially coolant hoses etc & keep on top of maintenance as her looks bely her age That way you should enjoy many happy years of trouble free bongoing in whatever form your bongoing will take