Mazda Bongo Self Build Campervan Conversion

This is our 1995 Mazda Bongo, Papaya the Bongo, which we converted in early 2019. To skip the intro please click here: 4:16
We decided to convert this campervan after struggling to find a van that suited exactly what we wanted - a small van with lots of storage which could work off-grid - so we decided to buy a Bongo unconverted and do the work ourselves. We're not professionals - but we are really happy with the results and everything worked brilliantly for us!
Papaya the Bongo was also for sale, but was sold within 24 hrs of advertising - thank you so much for all the interest!
www.gumtree.com/p/campervans-...
/ 356999385466746
If you have any questions about Bongos or self-builds, feel free to ask and we'll do our best to answer. Thank you :)

[@rebeccaoshea7934]

Fantastic video. I'm a new bongo owner and want to see more self builds. Very excited when I saw this, great work both xxx

[@hannahlihill]

Thank you so much, what a lovely comment! I constantly looked through KZbin, Instagram and Pinterest when we were converting Papaya, but I couldn't find much out there, which is one of the reasons why we made this. I'm sure there must be more Bongo self builds out there, so I hope to see more videos and pictures popping up! Good luck with your Bongo xxxx

[@kalebsproule2701]

Good morning to buy and build my bongo thanks for the ideas

[@sarahvegangarden4822]

Papaya is beautiful! I hope you had both had a wonderful trip around Europe, and many happy memories from your adventures!

[@hannahlihill]

Thank you for your lovely message. I'm so pleased you like Papaya 😊 We had an amazing trip around Europe, very lucky to have gone before the world turned upside down!

[@bobi2582]

Hi. I will be selling my Bongo soon and the video you made is a great idea and I'm glad it got you a result. Like you I'm looking for a slightly larger Van. Probably a Peugeot Boxer Autosleeper. Too old for self conversions now! Hope you continue to have fun again soon.

[@Balanced_Cadence]

Lovely van, I'm sad I was too late to buy it. Thanks for the video, some clever ideas. Love the colours. 👍

[@hannahlihill]

Thank you so much. I hope you've found the campervan for you now 😊❤

[@moto-hobby]

Супер получилось!) Я тоже недавно купил Bongo Friendee, очень нравится машина!)

[@alzeNL]

very nice build ! hope you have great adventures in your Bongo !

[@l333boa]

Tidy conversion 😎👍

[@DragonSlayer-km2gq]

yooo sick! I just got a bongo exactly like yours! cant wait to convert it!

[@hannahlihill]

Thank you! That's awesome, share some pics or a video if you can 😁

[@peltas1982]

That's grate conversion.

[@pev3054]

Brilliant video. Having had a T5 camper in the past, I'm looking to get a bongo now and this was very helpful. There isn't much info out there regarding bongos as there is transporters so very handy.

[@hannahlihill]

Thank you! We really appreciate your comment 😊 Yes, VWs are definitely more popular, but even so, it seems the smaller VWs aren't quite as popular for self builds as Crafters. But maybe I wasn't looking hard enough when we researching for our self build. Bongos are awesome little campervans, and really cool to drive being automatic and so small!

[@johnbolding8774]

Great video thanks Hannah 😊

[@moletech537]

Great video.. just a heads up a carbon monoxide detector won't pick up a gas leak. for that you need a gas detector

[@adrianmcdaid5082]

impress what u done enjoy

[@NaomiSeptier]

thanks!

[@stevensteggles7560]

Great job!!! I'm on my third Bongo :) Can I ask where you got your rock roll bed from? Thanks, Steve.

[@aceprojects120]

Where did you get the rock and roll bed from and what is the flooring you used

[@sergeilukonin7134]

Good )

[@mikemohan3213]

thats nice i think these vans are going to only go up in value

[@abbychaya]

Random question but where did you get the solar light on sun roof??

[@WizzRacing]

Going to import one of these from Japan....If I can find the 4x4 Turbo Diesel....

[@ballisticdan9135]

Nice. Is it still going?

[@dennisbouma37]

Where did you get the bed from?

[@peterwade1375]

Where did you get R&R bed from thanks Peter

[@hannahlihill]

I need to have a look through my ebay to find this out! It was a rock n roll bed company, we bought it for around £300

[@sarahvegangarden4822]

May I ask how much you sold it for, please? It's a beautiful conversion. Did you get it reclassified from an MPV to a campervan, btw? Cheers!

[@hannahlihill]

Sure. We sold the Bongo for £6,400, the interest we had was crazy! I must have had around 15 phone calls within 24 hours. We were very lucky with the timing I think, it seems the campervan market was really good at that time. We really loved her, but it's so nice to know other people did, too!

[@sergeilukonin7134]

I have a Mazda bongo frendee

[@Carrera-gp9od]

How do you check / top up the oil ? You won’t be able to fold the seat back because of unit behind the seat

[@hannahlihill]

It's mid-engine so you check the oil by flipping over the passenger seat. The bed and unit and draw all worked perfectly, we lived in the van for 6 months with no issues

[@Carrera-gp9od]

@@hannahlihill Your right it’s under the passenger seat , it’s the gearbox dip stick that’s under the drivers side I just thought with the kitchen unit behind the drivers seat u would never be able to flick it back to access the engine on that side