Worth checking your underseal?

We have had the bongo nearly two years now, and whilst the van is fairly young (in bongo terms) being a 2003 model, we were always aware that the undersealing which was carried out by the dealer where we bought it was not a ‘professional job’ (he made no claims that it was). With that in mind I wanted to check out the underneath of the van and get a top up done before another harsh winter of salt and grit took its toll. As suspected some of the underside had been missed and some was flaking off, so it was off to Campercraft in Kelty for some TLC from Bill. Bill gave the underside a liberal application of Hot Schultz to all the chassis sections, as well as painting front X members, wishbones, anti roll bars & diff. The interior wheel arches were showing some early signs of rust starting in seams, but have now been treated to a bath in Waxoyle, and particular attention was give to the more inaccessible areas around the rear arches and front sections. I Have had a look on the ramps and I am very happy with the job done.

The moral of the tale…. No matter how young the van check it over and top up on the under sealing, even if the it was given a paint over on import. Hopefully this will give us a few more years out of it!!

If anybody up here is looking for the job done…. I can’t fault Bill on his thoroughness.

A few pictures. (next a shiny new steel exhaust me thinks)

Glen Coe Meet

Great to meet everybody at the weekend, a few sore heads on Sunday I think! Brora and I managed to piece together the sorry tale of ‘The Munkeys’……On Saturday, and giddy from the intoxicating highland air, awe inspiring scenery and perfect weather, Mr & Mrs Munkey purchased two furry trappers hats, a bottle of single malt, logs and a case of Carling. Unfortunately the hats were one size too small…. They would not realise this until the next day! Armed with their bootie they headed back to camp. Logs on the camp fire and hats on the head, they settled down to a quiet evening of intellectual chat with the fellow bongo enthusiasts, unaware of the headache that was to follow…….As any of you whisky drinkers will know, at least one bottle in 100 is lost due to evaporation…. Known as ‘the angels share’…. Unfortunately this would appear to have been the bottle that Mr & Mrs Munkey purchased…. As Mrs Munkey recalls it, ‘it was opened for a wee dram in the afternoon, and when I went into the van to get it in the evening it had all evaporated!’ Unfortunately a similar fate also lay ahead for Mr Munkeys Carling….. it is a well known fact in Glencoe that Red Squirrels drink huge amounts of Carling and then deposit the empty cardboard packing case outside camper vans in the morning!!


The following morning all of the party who had been wearing hats which were too small for them woke up with sore heads……. You know who you are!

Mr & Mrs Munkey next time you visit Glencoe, beware of Red Squirrels and Angels!

Great time everybody, thanks… see you all soon.

 Bongo Etive Mor

 Not Sure about the 'Reserved' Bit

 Bongos Basking in the Sun

 Chilly Bongos at Dawn

 Dave Aber's Bongo has a quiet Puff as he sleeps soundly inside at 25 deg C

 The morning after the night before. Spot Mr & Mrs Munkey's chairs!!!

Dad's gone a Bit Picklelid

The Branston Pickle lid solution to missing alloy wheel centre caps

Method:

1. First buy 4 jars of Branston Pickle. Eat alot of cheese and pickle sandwiches or, if you're impatient like me, decant the contents into other jars so you can get hold of the lids sooner.
2. Clean lids and spray paint silver to match wheels. Decals courtesy of eBay. Cut three 10mm flaps in the inside face of the rim and fold them outwards.
3. Take the wheels off. Fit the lids from the inside using the flaps to hold in place.
4. Refit the wheels.
5. Submit yourself to the hilarity of your immediate family who now have a new euphemism for any perceived eccentricities in their father "Oh no Dad's gone a bit pickle-lid again!"
6. Have the last laugh, when 4 months later they are still going strong, without a scratch and looking very tidy.

Scottish Bongo Bash

The 2010 Scottish Bongo Bash was held in Kirkcudbright this year. About 35 bongos and their owners / families attended from as far afield as Essex and Elgin! The weather was fantastic, the company was great and the location was second to none. Hopefully the first of many such summer bongo trips this year.

more pictures below (click "read more")

Northumberland

Just found this picture of the Bongo, parked dramatically beneath Bamburgh Castle during a quick trip to Northumberland. Mrs Dunslair and the two mini-Dunslairs spent a couple of days exploring the coast line during the Easter Hols.

The Usual Suspects

Reminds me of the line up from The Usual Suspects.......Has anybody here seen Keyser Soze???

Grasmere and Easedale Tarn

So it just carried on getting colder and colder, with -18 deg C being the record. Dunslair Bongo, obviously hankering after warmer Japanese climes, took a hissy fit and spilt the contents of its rear heating matrix all over the drive. (It did this stealthily, dripping bit by bit into the frozen snow so we didn't notice until after the thaw). All sorted now though, so a trip away was long overdue and we headed off to the Lakes. We stayed in a Youth Hostel rather than camping but the Bongo was pressed into service as picnic/warming up base after our activities.
The weather did not play ball. Here we are enjoying the view at Easedale Tarn

Conditions could best be described as "atmospheric". The tarn was partially frozen so some ducks were swimming in the shallows near to shore, while others appeared to be walking on water as they skittered around on the ice a little way out. There were also plenty on "floating stones", some added by the mini-Dunslairs.

Here's Dunslair Bongo wating for us back at base in Grasmere

Snow causes Bongo Withdrawl Symptons

Started snowing in these parts around about the 18th December and hasn't really stopped since. We've accumulated an average of about a foot of snow, which makes the town look fantastic and has allowed us to share our Christmas with two very cheerful snowmen (now sporting snow overcoats as the picture indicates). But poor old Dunslair Bongo hasn't been anywhere since the snow started. We keep knocking the snow off the AFT and digging him out, but our road is in a very un-bongo-friendly state so we haven't ventured out.

Happy Birthday Bongo

Mid December the anniversary of our ownership of Dunslair Bongo more or less coincided with the birthday of the most senior (if only in age) member of the Dunslair household. A Bongo Birthday Party was held, complete with cake and candles.