Bongo Fury

Hi all,

I've recently acquired a 2001 2.5td tin top with the Aero Kit fitted.

The arches are starting to look a bit tatty, so I've been looking at my options.

My preffered option for now is to treat any rust that's there best I can and fit some arch trims (pending a full refurb sometime further down the line)

The best available, short of buying OEM, seem to be the Van-X Trims https://van-x.co.uk/product/mazda-bongo ... rch-trims/ however they state in the ad that they don't fit the face-lift models

Does anyone know if this is correct? If so, are they able to be modified to fit? I've got no issue with having to fettle them a bit in order to make them fit, so long as they are not drastically different. Has anyone successfully fitted them to a facelift model?

Any help much appreciated.
Cheers,
Tony

So I'm thinking no-one has tried it. So for people's future reference, here's an update:

After studying photos of the arch trims and the pre and post face-lift Bongos, I concluded that the only major difference that could make these things not fit, is with the front bumper.

So I went ahead and purchased. As expected, both parts of the Trim for the rear arches fit perfectly well.

As for the fronts, the section which fits to the arch goes on fine without modification.

The other part, which fits to the bumper needs to be modified. I have managed this by cutting the part short of where it meets the flared lower part on the Aero bumper, and cutting some relief "slots" to help it conform to the shape. In the end I think you could probably manage without the slots but it did make it easier to get it to fit flush. All sections where riveted and tiger sealed on.

I'll post some pictures later in the week so you can see how it looks.

Cheers,
Tony

Pics will be great, thankyou.

Quite interested in these myself as an easy, Temporary way to tidy up the arches.

How are they fitted? I would want to bond them in some way that could be removed. Planing to sand back treat and paint the rust as best I can but it wont be good enough to leave un-covered. just trying to slow down the rust. Hoping to get another few years before I need to replace altogether.

Pictures would be great

That's essentially what I've used them for.

They are riveted to the underside lip of the arch (see pic below), but in order to get them to fit snug to the bodywork you'll need to bond them too. I've used Tigerseal to bond to the bodywork, I believe it is possible to remove Tigerseal, but it won't be easy, and there's no guarantee that the paintwork won't come with it. But if the arches are being repaired further down the line, a respray will be required anyway. Failing that I guess you could use silicone, or hybrid silicone sealant, which would come off easier, but as such, won't provide as good of a bond.



Couple of pics of them on, I haven't got the front part fitted yet (still waiting for the lacquer to cure), although it doesn’t look too bad without!

One thing that does look at little odd at the moment, especially on the front arches, is how the trim stops short, I believe this is to allow for the factory mudflaps, which I don't have fitted.

Front sections on:



They need clamping to get them to conform to the bumper shape while the tigerseal goes off. You need to take off the inner arch liners to be able to clamp to anything, but a fairly easy job. I forgot to mention that I had to trim these sections where they meet the bumper, a bit of judicious Stanley knife work required, but nothing major.

Never seen these in situ, what is the point is it purely aesthetic? Looks like another place for mud/salt/damp to be trapped and cause (even more) corrosion?

Thanks Thats really interesting and looks good.I think I may just give this a go to get a few more years out of it before i do the arches properly.
I had tigerseal in mind but have never used it so wasn't sure

Thanks
Ian