Bongo Fury

Following up on a post by Ady (Northern Bongolow) I located my local Millers agent and picked up 6l of Millermatic DM on Friday morning ready to take the Bongo over to Adrian in Bury for an ATF change. The Millers agent was in Knutsford (there must be some kind of 'sweet spot' for quality car services around there as the Bentley upholsterer BDC, DBO, Dabs etc. have used is based around there I think, also Chassis Clean not far off in Rostherne - I've used the last two, but have yet to afford the first ). A very interesting guy, a mechanical engineer of long experience who used to work for Champion sparkplugs and now works supporting car racing teams, he was into old Lolas and Porches and told me a bit about how these would be damaged if modern, phosphorus free oils were put into them. I told him about the Bongo phenomenon (10k+ in country, a modern classic IMHO etc.) and asked if he'd mind me mentioning him on here, which he seemed happy about (I don't think he needs our business as he's semi retired and fully happy with his racing team work, but we could use an 'oils expert' I reckon). His details are:

Robin Longdon
Woodcote Automotive
Knutsford
Tel: 01565 653658
Mob: 07974 169136
email: [email protected]
or [email protected]

From his internet entry, he says he will post product out so no need to collect.

I could ask him if he'd consider running an 'oils clinic' on here but does anyone think that would be worth the bother?

Millers Oils appear to be a UK company (Leeds based?) which I would regard as a plus as we could use some good UK companies to support. Robin Longdon explained that a few years back they had decided to work on developing specialists oils with specs and technical support aimed at giving reassurance to owners of specialist cars.

So off I went yesterday to Bury where the excellent Adrian treated me to an ATF change and filter clean etc. and also rear diff oil change. He said it was a good decision to change it. The fluid was in good nick and the filter was clear, but there was plenty of black sludge in the bottom pan. I think it feels better for new ATF (gear change maybe a bit lighter/smoother) but I know I feel a lot better for having had it done. Best to maintain and avoid trouble and not maintain and end up repairing trouble, and they say ATF should be done every 24k miles I think. Also, whether its because I had new diff. oil in or not, I thought the slight clunk I sometimes get when moving from 'D' to 'R' on the gear selector, had disappeared.

In the meantime I went to Bury Market and bought lunch. On the way I walked past the E Lancs steam railway, who had a WW2 nostalgia day in progress, and outside was a pristine maroon coloured 1942 Chrysler New Yorker, with two guys in dressed perfectly in period clothes (pinstripes double breasted suits and wide brimmed hats). The told me they bought it down south from the driver of the diplomat who it was allocated to when it was decommissioned in 1950. It was in his garage and apart from some deterioration of the interior trim, was in excellent condition. A stunning US classic.


I can really recommend Adrian in Bury if he's anywhere near you. He knows his Bongos inside out (does all the work for Manchester Campers and their Bongos) and the Bury market area is such a nice place to use up the time while he works on it.

thats great mike.like you say maintain rather than fix it after its broken,
i think you will find the gearbox will get better as the weeks go by,
nothing but praise for the millers oils in general.
i only use millars.
xss semi 5w 30 engine oil
millarmatic dm auto box oil for the bosses motor
just trying a millars commercial grade oil that does the manual box/both diffs and transfer case called
syntran 2 for my motor.will let you know when ive done tests.

my father in law was one of the main men in setting up the east lancs railway years ago.
he was one of the original guys who put all the bits together.from station buildings to all the earlier trains and carriages.hats of to him.a really clever bloke.
and like you say bury market,like markets used to be eh!!

Millars have had a good name in the Trade since Adam was a lad.

Northern Bongolow wrote:thats great mike.like you say maintain rather than fix it after its broken,
i think you will find the gearbox will get better as the weeks go by,
nothing but praise for the millers oils in general.
i only use millars.
xss semi 5w 30 engine oil
millarmatic dm auto box oil for the bosses motor
just trying a millars commercial grade oil that does the manual box/both diffs and transfer case called
syntran 2 for my motor.will let you know when ive done tests.

my father in law was one of the main men in setting up the east lancs railway years ago.
he was one of the original guys who put all the bits together.from station buildings to all the earlier trains and carriages.hats of to him.a really clever bloke.
and like you say bury market,like markets used to be eh!!

Thanks for steering me towads Millers Ady - I've been reading your posts and you seem to know your stuff so once I spotted it I was off to try some. I think the box is indeed 'settling' to the new fluid. What pushed me to do it was I thought I'd noticed a slight whine (from the box? who knows) and as I'd been feeling guilty about not doing the ATF anyway, I determined to get on with it. The slight whine only seems to be when moving off and when cold and I think it is decreasing now new ATF is in it. When Adrian and me looked at the black sludge that he'd cleaned off the magnet, it hada slight silveriness when you smeared it, so there was some fine metallic content we reckoned. Then again he said the fluid was in good nick and many changes he'd done the sludge and fluid were a lot worse. But it does make me inclined to think its good to change the ATF at reasonable intervals. As to whether I have a gearbox issue due to appear, we'll just have to see. I suspect not, and the gearbox is working beautifully, but if it happens then I'll just have to sort it. Cars throw bills and this one has given 4 years great service and without depreciating much in value, so its earned the right!

One interesting thing. I thought I'd check the power stering fluid, which I imagined should look and smelll much the same as the ATF fluid. But it looked dark and smelled maybe a bit like burnt toast - how does that work Power steering working fine, unless my whine is from the p/s pump

Bury is fantastic. I'd happily live there, rain and all, esp. with that market, and the Trough of Bowland not far off. One day maybe

and the Bury market area is such a nice place to use up the time while he works on it.

Or jump on the tram and you can be in the centre of Manchester in half an hour...

I agree with everything you've said about Adrian - sound fella.

mike the atf and power steering fluid are the same stuff,i dont mean they are the same system,i mean they are the same grade of oil,
sounds like a change is due,if its smelly and dark/old could be the power steering pump,or just old oil.

Northern Bongolow wrote:mike the atf and power steering fluid are the same stuff,i dont mean they are the same system,i mean they are the same grade of oil,
sounds like a change is due,if its smelly and dark/old could be the power steering pump,or just old oil.

That's what I was thinking (about it being the same stuff). Now, what's the easiest way to change it? Should I use the Pela to suck out whats in the reservoir, then just refill with fresh. Or does something more thorough need doing and if so, how tricky is it? Do you happen to known, before I consult the 'limitedly useful' workshop manual? Or does it really matter, given its not doing the same kind of work as the gearbox? The p/s seems to be working fine.

Take the reservoir off and remove the return (higher) rubber pipe.
Put the pipe into a suitable container and block off the return stub on the reservoir with plastic and elastic band.
Start engine and have fresh oil to hand, the pump is high pressure, and keep filling the reservoir until the return oil is new and fresh. About a minute or less sees all the fluid changed.
Refit the return pipe and resecure the reservoir - complete job about quarter of an hour

not replaced oil here before mike.have it on good authority that if you totally drain/refil the system the steering can become knotchy,but not sure,not sure the pela will get to it all either.
the system is actually working very hard mike as the oil is constanly being compressed then relaxed!!

thanks dandy

Guess what Ady's gona be doing tomorrow & mebe me if I got enough PS fluid, now I know it's not leaking, mind you, it probably had at least a full change or two over the last 3 years with the slight leak it had .

am i that predictable answer yes but i was a little nervous. i to have just fixed my leak so didnt want to upset it now!! but i will now thanks dandy again

Big thanks Alan for that excellent tip. Its on the list! Like Kirsty, I'll have to check how much fluid is needed as I only have 1 litre left after the ATF change. I wonder what recommended change intervals are (15 years anyone? )

The told me they bought it down south

Was the roof on the old Yank pale green? (it looks white in the picture) if so there is every chance we did the 'box on it in the '80's or early '90's! Always fun rebuilding these old Yank 'jerk-O-matic' transmissions, I have a very interesting early 60's Chiltons manual which is a real bible for them.