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1996 Mazda Bongo Camper
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08-12-2015 4:45pm#1I use a motorbike as my daily driver, including for commuting to work.
Up until very recently, I used to run a Renault Laguna Sports Tourer as a car also. I did use it for the occasional journey for work and was handy to have if temperatures dropped below freezing. The amount of work-related travel I need to do this year will be a good bit less than last year so I was getting tired of paying the high road tax for a vehicle which primarily sits in my driveway.
Anyway, I had been interested in Mazda Bongo's for a long while and when a realistically priced one appeared on Adverts I pounced at the opportunity. Link to advert
The pictures in the advert make it look a bit better than it is, the paint is a bit tatty and the interior is filthy and has no carpets.
I'm hoping to keep this for the next 10+ years so my priorities are catch up on the maintenance before tackling the interior and then moving onto the exterior cosmetics.
What I've done since purchasing it a week or so ago is give it a good clean outside and a hoover on the inside which didn't help much and I've also changed the stereo. Last night I changed the oil and fit a low coolant alarm. The engine is mid-mounted in these, resulting in some very long coolant hoses. If these leak, the engine overheats easily and the head cracks and needs replacing. This van has had the head replaced already so not looking to have to repeat the exercise. I haven't got any decent pics yet, but here's the van in a mates garage last night and a pic of filling up the oil, showing access to the engine.
I've ordered new 5.25" speakers to upgrade the existing front speakers and a set of 5" x 7" speakers to install in the rear (there are spaces left for them and even wiring installed from the factory). I've also ordered LED lights to change over all of the internal bulbs and a new wiring loom so that the internal lights, radio and 12v sockets will run from the leisure battery. I've also ordered a couple of additional keys from ebay (done using the keycode).
In terms of maintenance / servicing I need to do the following:
Check the gearbox oil and change if necessary,
change the differential oil,
change the brake fluid,
change the transfer case lube,
change the cambelt, bearing and spring - only 40,000km on these but last done in 07.
When I bought it there were receipts for oil fitler, air filter, fuel filter and the new cylinder head.
Then I plan on getting the interior sorted by replacing a few broken bits of trim, cleaning or painting the upholstery and getting new carpets and cleaning the seats or getting them recovered. I also want to paint the rails below the middle row of seats as they look shabby. There was a kitchen with the van but I don't like it so I'm going to re-build it behind the third row of seats. I will also install curtains for the windscreen, front and rear windows. The rear side windows have built-in blinds already. Once I get the interior respectable I'll be looking to address the body, there are a few patches of rust and dents and I don't like the colour or the graphics.12
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Had my work Christmas party on Friday so didn't get anything done on Saturday but on Sunday I got a few small jobs done.
First up was installing a new faceplate for the speedo. The original dials were in km but as this Bongo had been imported to the UK originally, this had been replaced with a mph/kmh dial:
I managed to get an original one for the cost of postage from the UK from a UK Bongo forum member:
First step was to remove the plastic housing which surrounds the clocks. You can just make out the LED for the low coolant alarm that I fitted last week, in one of the blank switches.
The instruments then came out pretty easilly, a couple of screws and disconnect a pair of cables.
Then I brought the rest of the instruments inside, removing the clear plastic cover.
The next step was really tricky as the needle was very difficult to remove, I think it had been superglued by the person who swapped out the face last time around. I had to use a kitchen knife and a screwdriver and a lot more force than I felt comfortable with but I eventually got it. Once that was off, replacing the face was easy.
It was then a matter or re-assembling everything but luckily I decided to test it out first as it was reading way off and I had to keep re-setting the needle and checking the speedo against my phone. Eventually got it near enough that I was happy with it and re-assembled everything correctly.
Then I installed the new wiring loom that I had purchased on Ebay. This enables the interior electrics to run off of the leisure battery (which is currently not connected to anything).
To do this, I disconnected the leisure battery
Removed the glove-box
Fed a coat hanger through from the bonnet into the dash behind the glove-box and used this to pull the cables through.
I then connected the leisure battery to a mini fuse-box and connected the fuse-box to the cable running into the dash. You can see the split charging relay in the background, which charges the two batteries when the engine is running.
Then it was just a matter of running the other end of the cable over to the main fuse-box, removing the fuses for the interior electrics and connecting the cables in place of the fuses.
So now, the stereo, 12v socket and interior lights are all run from the leisure battery. Only thing is I'll have to be careful not to leave anything running as they're all independent of the ignition. I might look into fitting a master power switch at some stage, both for saving the battery and for making the Bongo more difficult to steal.0 -
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Any chance you were at Applegreen petrol station in Tulsk 2 weeks ago? There was a Bongo like that.
Nice camper nonetheless.
Wasn't me I'm afraid, I'm in Dublin.
Didn't manage to get as much as I had hoped done over the holidays but did manage a few bits.
First up was to install rear speakers.
I picked up a set of these from my GF for Christmas:
There was no rear speakers currently installed, although there are blank spaces cut out for them. It was a bit difficult to get access to the spaces, I have since learned you're supposed to remove the whole side panel but instead we broke off the speaker grilles which looked pretty poor in any case.
The passenger side was just a matter of putting in the speaker and connecting it to the existing cabling.
When we got to the driver side, there were no obvious cables to connect to. There was a bunch of cables running by the speaker location but no connections so rather than risk anything we ran a new cable up through the centre console and into the back of the stereo.
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Sounds much better now and the music can be at a much lower volume so everyone can hear it and we can still talk to each other!0 -
The other thing we got started on was the 1st edition of how we plan to put the kitchen back in.
This is the kitchen that came with the van:
And we wanted to install it on the back of the middle row of seats:
First step was to remove the plastic seat back:
Then we installed six bolts through the metal seat frame, using the holes that had been used to clip the plastic back into:
We then used these bolts to secure a piece of timber to the seat back and then we built surrounds of this to form the edges of the unit:
We then butchered the original kitchen so that the cooker could be installed on top of the unit:
The end result:
and when used as a row of seats:
It's really just a proof on concept for the time being, next step is to purchase a similar sink and install that on the other seat back. Once it's up and running, I will probably rebuild it so it looks better and might make a few changes. It would be great to be able to raise the height of the cooker/sink when using them but they have to be permanently installed to be avail of campervan insurance.
I will need to come up with somewhere to store the gas bottle when not in use (will be disconnected when travelling) and also come up with a way of dealing with the sink waste but I'm very happy so far.
It is the most versatile kitchen installation for these vans that I've seen. The seats can still all be folded into a bed, all 8 seats are fully operational and there's still a lot of load carrying capacity with the seats folded up. We've only sacrificed a few inches of knee room but there's plenty of that as the middle row of seats slides back and forward by a few feet and I rarely have 8 people in the van. Typically, you will see other vans with wither a kitchen in place of the rear seats (or half of them), a full side conversion with a rocknroll bed installed or a kitchen in the middle with the middle seats removed. Each of these have a fair amount of compromises associated with them, which we have avoided.0 -
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Just a quick one today, I swapped out some of the interior bulbs for LEDs. They're a lot brighter than the stock bulbs and use less power so the leisure battery will last longer.
The stock bulbs for the front cabin ligths and the boot / rear light:
I removed the cabin light assembly and hooked up the COB LED panels:
Reassembled:
Installed:
I was very surprised when I tried them, they're really bright! They do give off a very white light which is great if you're using them to read or work but probably very harsh when relaxing in the van.
The rear light was really easy, the bulbs came with an adaptor which allows you to connect the new bulb to the terminals of the existing fitting.
Installed:
For some reason, this light still lights very faintly when the boot door is closed and the light switched so that it comes on when the boot is closed. It's only a very faint glow but I'll need to keep an eye on it.
I also removed the main light from the van:
This turned out to be a strip light so rather than disassemble the whole unit and re-wire in a COB LED, I ordered a LED tube from the web.
All I have left is the light on the inside of the lifting roof but with the weather today I didn't want to lift it to get access.
I've ordered a sink to fit on the back of the single seat in the middle row, once I get that, I hope to get the kitchen finished.0 -
Nice work so far S.
Your kitchen is genius.
A folding sink sounds messy.
Simona1986 wrote: »I removed the cabin light assembly and hooked up the COB LED panels:
Do they need heat sinks?
Simona1986 wrote: »They do give off a very white light which is great if you're using them to read or work but probably very harsh when relaxing in the van.
Try a filter.
I'd use high CRI 2600°K Leds. The Ikea ones are good, philips are best of the rest.Simona1986 wrote: »For some reason, this light still lights very faintly when the boot door is closed and the light switched so that it comes on when the boot is closed. It's only a very faint glow but I'll need to keep an eye on it.
Could be a bad ground elsewhere, a poor termination, a high impedance short or the door switch isn't mating correctly.
What's size is the parasitic load on the battery when everything is "off"?
Simona1986 wrote: »This turned out to be a strip light so rather than disassemble the whole unit and re-wire in a COB LED, I ordered a LED tube from the web.
You can extend / use 12v strip lights here
Can we have bigger pictures please?
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Sir Liamalot wrote: »
Do they need heat sinks?
I don't think so tbh, they aren't going to be on for very long times but I will keep on eye on them as we go.Sir Liamalot wrote: »Could be a bad ground elsewhere, a poor termination, a high impedance short or the door switch isn't mating correctly.
What's size is the parasitic load on the battery when everything is "off"?
It's actually the boot lid, not the sliding door that sets it off. I've read online of a few others with the same issues with these panels and they talk of not being able to detect any load on the battery so that's good enough for me for the time being anyway. I'll keep an eye on it though!Sir Liamalot wrote: »You can extend / use 12v strip lights here
When I said strip I actually meant florescent tube. Although, I do intend to add a slick blue LED strip around the perimeter of the roof (internal) at some stage. The ones I've seen draw about 60W over a 5m length though so will need to watch the usage there also.Sir Liamalot wrote: »Can we have bigger pictures please?
Not sure if sarcastic, but if you click on them, they'll open much bigger?0 -
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Subscribing as might get some ideas for my own project! Wish you the best with whats ahead of you.
Few questions though. I know you said you're hoping to keep the Bongo for 10 years or more, so it might be a moot point, but while you managed to re-align the speedo - will the odometer not be clocking up in km rather than miles?
Curious about the new wiring loom too for running things off the leisure battery. Would you have a link to the ebay item at all or a description of what you searched for? I'm after getting a fuse box for our van from which I should be able to construct my own loom (for want of a better description) but if there's an out-of-the-box solution then it might be an easier route for me to take
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So another few bits done since I last posted, we're actually trying to buy a house at the moment so the financial priorities are elsewhere for the time being
First of all, the LED tube light for the main light in the rear came, an easy swap:
Other than that, we eventually got the new speakers installed, had been waiting on some spacers to arrive from ebay as the new speakers were too deep to fit.
Door panel off:
Spacers installed:
Comparison between the new and old, the sound is much better but now when turned up loud the lights do quiver slightly every time there is a bass beat!
Also got around to installing the sink. It's a good bit deeper than the unit we made for the cooker but I will likely re-build them both now that I know the concept works.
We followed the same process as we did with the cooker, taking off the seat back and installing bolts:
Building up a unit (space left for future drain pipe):
Then mounting the sink into the unit:
Couple of views of the installed units:
And also got some day-time pics of the van:
Apologies to Sir Limalot for the small thumbs, I will have to check out a different hosting site!0 -
Simona1986 wrote: »
Apologies to Sir Limalot for the small thumbs, I will have to check out a different hosting site!
:pac: No worries.
I gave up on hosting sites. I just upload to boards.ie as an attachment. Then click preview before I post, click on the pic. to open in new tab. then right click on the image when it loads and copy image location, then paste that back into the post I'm previewing using the insert image button.
Fair play you're getting loads done.
The lights quivering is due to voltage drop. The bass is putting a heavy intermittent load on the battery and the the lights get less electrons as they are being diverted elsewhere. There's a few solutions one is more batteries as the more you have the less of a relative load the amp will have on the system and it should stabilise. Another is a switching regulator for the lights, that inputs a variable voltage and outputs a steady 12.5V. You could use one regulator for all the lights if you can find them at the fuse board and put them on a single bus with a fuse to suit or breaker.
I was thinking about your cob light. Easiest way to test if it needs a heat sink or not is turn it on for about 30-40mins until if heat stabilises then feel the back of it, if you haven't got a multimeter with a thermocouple or a IR jobbie.
If it's too hot to touch (>60°) it needs a heat sink. It doesn't have to be a fancy one. You can rivet it to sheet or plate metal.0 -
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Another possible option would be a power cap for the sub/amp. Lot lighter than an extra battery.Sir Liamalot wrote: »The lights quivering is due to voltage drop. The bass is putting a heavy intermittent load on the battery and the the lights get less electrons as they are being diverted elsewhere. There's a few solutions one is more batteries as the more you have the less of a relative load the amp will have on the system and it should stabilise. Another is a switching regulator for the lights, that inputs a variable voltage and outputs a steady 12.5V. You could use one regulator for all the lights if you can find them at the fuse board and put them on a single bus with a fuse to suit or breaker.0 -
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Well she passed with flying colours, a minor leak from the gearbox but nothing to be concerned about and the main battery was slightly loose. Happy days.
A few pictures from servicing her and giving it a clean in advance of the test. I had just reached the 5,000km since I last changed the oil. Here's how she is on fuel:http://www.fuelly.com/car/mazda/bongo/1996/alkers/402032
Airing out the roof!
Like having a portable balcony!
Draining the old oil out.
You can see the undersealing job.
Refilling the oil
The old filter
Very black for 5,000km!0 -
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