Bongo Fury

Well, today Bobby has gone in for a bit of minor bodywork rust repair and the wheel arches repair. There is some rust appearing on the rear arches and I initially thought it was going to be a big job where the arches would need to be cut out and replaced. Thankfully, after being checked by the body shop owner he was surprised at how good the arches were and felt confident it was only minor repairs needed. Once done I have decided to have a full re spray to sort out the annoying scratches and marks. I have decided to have the AFT sprayed the same colour so will be totally colour coordinated.
I am so excited and will be without him for a week for all this to be done. James at the body shop has agreed to take some photos of the ongoing work so if I can workout how to post them on here I will share the progress. Watch this space!!

Sounds good,looking forward to the pics,what colour are you going for?

I'm a bit of a stickler for keeping things as original as possible so will be keeping it the same colour, dark burgundy. I'm sure there is a Mazda name for this colour but I don't know what it is. It will be totally de badged but will have new chrome window sills that I bought from VanX. Bargain at £24!
I also like my chrome bits. It's going to be a long week!!

Should be very smart once he's done.

Its a long week without your Bongo, though.

Full report and pics please once its back

bongoroy63 wrote: if I can workout how to post them on here I will share the progress. Watch this space!!

Details are in the Guidance section near the top of the forum page

The revamp of my van is still going ahead and I'm now after some more advice.
I'm now looking at getting a set of 17" multi spoke wheels. Seen a set I like and the purchase is imminent. However, before I take this step I just wanted to ask what the pros and cons are of upgrading my wheels to 17"? What are other owners experiences who have done this?

bongoroy63 wrote:The revamp of my van is still going ahead and I'm now after some more advice.
I'm now looking at getting a set of 17" multi spoke wheels. Seen a set I like and the purchase is imminent. However, before I take this step I just wanted to ask what the pros and cons are of upgrading my wheels to 17"? What are other owners experiences who have done this?

I have a set of 17" alloys that came with the Bongo and that I put on periodically because I love the look. No real issues except ride maybe slightly harsher over potholes etc and the garage said balancing them took some care (Bongos seem fussy about having well balanced wheels from reports I've read and from personal experience). In theory you can get better MPG if the rolling circumference is greater than before. In that case of course, your speedo will move from over-reading towards under-reading. I found 17" with 55 tyres meant my speedo was reading correctly (normal is over-reading).

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mike, sounds like it's a goer then. Just out of interest, what size tyres have you got on yours?

bongoroy63 wrote:Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mike, sounds like it's a goer then. Just out of interest, what size tyres have you got on yours?

215/55/17 are fitted. When I bought the Bongo it had 215/50/17 on it and the load ratings were too low. The ride was harsh and cracking was evident in the side walls. I've thought of getting 215/60/17 next time as I wonder if the greater depth might give an even softer ride plus look good. It would also increase rolling radius (and in theory, MPG but....) but they would cause the speedo to under-read. I think the 215/55/17 are probably about right really.