Recently featured in the ever evolving VW T4&5+ Bus Magazine, this is an article featured on Bongo Fury my 17 second camper, which started the idea for the T17.club
Rather than doing the same old vans with different colours and curtains.... the guys at VW T4&5+ Bus Magazine are constantly looking for new and progressive builds. More road trip stories and out of the ordinary setups.....

Here is a cut down version of the article, from edition #42:

Bongo Fury is quick, with a ¼ mile drag time of 17.1301. Not bad for a fully converted T4 campervan, but that is only part of the story...


Firstly the name, “Bongo Fury” yes, it is partly aimed as a derogatory term towards the awful Mazda Bongo Friendee motorhome, but it’s mostly meant as an homage to Frank Zappa's 1975 album.

Next a little history, my wife Tamsin and I decided on buying a camper after a camping trip in a tent. We just knew it could be done so much better in a camper. VW was the only way we were ever going to go, and the T4 was the best compromise between looks, reliability, size and price.
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We drove down on New Years Day, 2012 to see an Ex-AA ACV 102bhp van in Exmouth, a 400 mile round trip. We bought it there and then. The previous owner had updated the injectors, but had no remap to take advantage of them. This was one of the first things we rectified. A remap produced 154bhp at the flywheel, over 50% more than stock! The extra power felt great and the van became much more enjoyable to drive.

What she looked like when we picked her up:






Soon after this, we attended BugJam26 in 2012. It was Tamsin's first time, but I had been before. When I was younger I would often be tow car driver for my uncle, Gary Angell, a former VWDRC champion. Gary raced ‘BugBear’, a '68 Beetle running 11 second 1/4 miles and later ‘BugBear2’ a VW Rail, which held a European record for the fastest four-cylinder normally aspirated engine, achieving mid 9 second passes! Watching the racing again at Santa Pod, made me reminisce about the past, plans began to hatch in my head.
All of which bring me to the current project, at around that time, I happened to find a local guy who specialises in all things Transporter based, Mario Burley at MV Engineering in Telford. Mario has been working on T4's for a long time, in fact it’s likely he converted much of the electrical system in my standard VW T4 into the uprated AA spec when the van was brand new. Between us, we began planning to take the power up, with the aim to hit the magic 200bhp at the wheels, smoothly and most importantly reliably. This was not to be a Drag Strip Queen; she is used as a camper and a daily driver. Although surprising a few people on the road, as well as the strip, would be a great bonus.

Our plan of attack was quite simple, keep the engine itself stock, whilst making sure there were no restrictions on intake, fuel and exhaust. The first step of tuning is to, make sure that everything on the engine is 100%. Despite the engine having covered in excess of 200,000 miles, on strip down it was found to be in excellent condition, regardless it was methodically rebuilt using all the best parts. Engine setup wise, the van is now in it's fourth incarnation. I could easily write a 10,000-word essay on all the configurations and ideas we have tried; from floating valves causing the engine to flood and then stall on the line at Santa Pod, to leaking charge coolers hydro-locking the engine, which bent crank shafts, twice...

Cracked/snapped Main bearing caps:


Proof of a bent crank:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pm0U2fw7Y4

Which caused 4 of 6 main bearing caps to snap, one of which dropped of!!!



One of many rebuilds:


..... Next instalment Part II... Here