1996 Mazda Bongo Camper

Had our first proper trip at Body & Soul festival over the weekend.

Bongo performed flawlessly - we had 5 people staying between it and the awning, we brought so much stuff with us that we were very comfortable and were able to make our own coffees and noodles etc thanks to the hob and kettle.

Come home time on Monday (it had been raining heavily all day on Sunday), the place was like a swamp and everyone was getting stuck and having to wait to get a tow from a tractor. I approached the swamp with a good bit of speed and the bongo didn't even slow down, made it straight through and up a muddy hill without a bother on it.

Quick update, only reactive maintenance as the search for a house is ongoing and consuming all available funds and time!

The bongo suddenly developed a horrible scratching noise under braking. I took the front wheels off the have a quick look and the pads appeared to have loads of life left on them. Hadn't time to have a proper look then but had another look a few days later...



One of the pads was fine but the other side was down well into the metal. Must have been like that for a while as the disc was also badly worn from the worn pad.

The pads on the other side weren't as bad but had also worn unevenly, this time due to a sticking piston as one end of the pad had loads left and the other was heavily worn.

In any case, new discs and pads for both sides:



And installed them, was a bit of a pain trying to free the one stuck caliper but got it just as we were about to give up!

Fixed a few niggles over the weekend:

The front fog lights and the horn hadn't been working. Long story short but they are now.:P



Whoever was at the wiring on it previously was mad, there were various grades of cable joined together with tape running all over the place, half of it redundant!

Grand day for a bit of work on the daily driver also:

Planning a trip down to the Wild Atlantic Way for four nights this weekend. Evenings are getting notably cooler and while there are curtains on the rear side windows, I haven't got anything else to keep the heat in and the light out except for a cheap Aldi windscreen sheet.

Was in lidl recently and picked up a sheet of radiator foil:
https://www.offerscheck.org/powerfix-profi-radiator-reflector-foil/lidl/2015/kw-53/276658

Using only a marker and a scissors, was a simple job to cut out templates for each of the windows (except for the windscreen). By leaving the cuts slightly larger that the windows, they stay in very well with no fixings required.

I'm thinking silver side out for sunny days and silver side in when its cold...













Also installed some HIDs in the headlights (which were woeful). They seem much better but I haven't had a chance to test the full beams or see how bad the dips are for glare.

Haven't done any more but just to follow up on my previous post to show the seat rails painted and installed:







Also, when I raised the roof to have a look, there was quite a bit of mould on the canvas. I sprayed this with a bleach spray and left it air out for most of the day and it had disappeared.

As an aside, if anyone has come across garages which did a good job or knew their way around these Bongos could you send me their details please?

Got the oil in the two diffs changed today also. Stuff in the front looked fine but the the rear was worse for wear. Changed the engine oil and filter also.
Didn't get a chance to investigate the rust. Will try and post a few pics before getting a professional opinion next weekend.