Ford Bantam (Groupie Thread)

1746684913615.png

Spray painted them black again.
The 2 front ones fell off and drove like that for 10 years or more. Yes old glue marks remained. Looked kak.
To think, took less than an hour, could have done this sooner.

It was either repainting the door, or just put the sun bleached plastics back.
 
*Pics or it did not happen...

1746685464962.png


Yes, those white spots are from the years in the sun.
There is also quite a bit of damage, cracks if you will.
Spot putty, body putty, fiberglass, primer, different levels of sandpaper, all this later...

1746685629672.png

Chose the easy part for the windows. Struggle to get it out. It is done now, no point to hammer on the windows that should have been taken out.

1746685752292.png
 
My_King said:
View attachment 1818788

Spray painted them black again.
The 2 front ones fell off and drove like that for 10 years or more. Yes old glue marks remained. Looked kak.
To think, took less than an hour, could have done this sooner.

It was either repainting the door, or just put the sun bleached plastics back.
Click to expand...

What size tyres do you have on your Bantam?

I bought mine with aftermarket rims and fatter/lower profile tyres (195/55 R15s), and I noticed that they kick up all the loose stuff on the road and I can hear it hitting the bodywork. Mine is the base 1.3i, so no mudflaps, and the tyres protrude from the bodywork.

I'm considering swapping the aftermarket mags and tyres for a set of original Bantam/Ikon mags and factory spec tyres. Or I could just get mudflaps and see how it goes.

The other thing I want to do is look into replacing the front and rear 'Ford' badges which are faded as well as putting on the 'Bantam' and '1.3i' stickers on the tailgate. I came across a Bantam fan page on Facebook and there was a guy advertising that he does all of this.

I'd also like to get one of those rear tailbars with steps. I was behind a Bantam on the way to work this moring and it had a lekker polished tailbar with steps and I think it looked really good.

The only other major mechanical thing I need to worry about are the lower control arms which are worn. They got through roadworthy, but the guys who replaced my steering rack and the guys who replaced my front tyres pointed out that the control arms are shot.
 
Not Bantam related, but my Bantam is an ex-company bakkie that had company branding on it. I have managed to remove the stickers, but it leaves an outline which attracts dirt, and the Bantam is white, so it looks crap at the moment.

Any ideas on how to completely remove the branding?
 
thestaggy said:
What size tyres do you have on your Bantam?

I bought mine with aftermarket rims and fatter/lower profile tyres (195/55 R15s), and I noticed that they kick up all the loose stuff on the road and I can hear it hitting the bodywork. Mine is the base 1.3i, so no mudflaps, and the tyres protrude from the bodywork.

I'm considering swapping the aftermarket mags and tyres for a set of original Bantam/Ikon mags and factory spec tyres. Or I could just get mudflaps and see how it goes.

The other thing I want to do is look into replacing the front and rear 'Ford' badges which are faded as well as putting on the 'Bantam' and '1.3i' stickers on the tailgate. I came across a Bantam fan page on Facebook and there was a guy advertising that he does all of this.

I'd also like to get one of those rear tailbars with steps. I was behind a Bantam on the way to work this moring and it had a lekker polished tailbar with steps and I think it looked really good.

The only other major mechanical thing I need to worry about are the lower control arms which are worn. They got through roadworthy, but the guys who replaced my steering rack and the guys who replaced my front tyres pointed out that the control arms are shot.
Click to expand...

175/65R14

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Mine is the 1.6L XLT.

I replaced the front, faded blue badge a few years ago. It is silver again. So not doing that anytime soon again. Just letting you know my experience with them badges.

Still to do:

1746687028464.png

Spray them black again.

Note the canopy made the back thing rust where the canopy's rubber touched the back thing. So the white dust was us sandpapering the sheeet out of the rust. Just saying why it looks so dirty.

Still to do 2:

Just redo this entire thing:

1746687209923.png
 
My_King said:
175/65R14

View attachment 1818810

Mine is the 1.6L XLT.

I replaced the front, faded blue badge a few years ago. It is silver again. So not doing that anytime soon again. Just letting you know my experience with them badges.

Still to do:

View attachment 1818811

Spray them black again.

Note the canopy made the back thing rust where the canopy's rubber touched the back thing. So the white dust was us sandpapering the sheeet out of the rust. Just saying why it looks so dirty.

Still to do 2:

Just redo this entire thing:

View attachment 1818812
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the pics and the feedback on the badge replacement.

Mine does look nice with the chunkier tyres and lower profile, but I do intend to use it to do a bit of work, so they are not really practical. I also cringe when I hear stuff being kicked up off the road and hitting the car itself.

That is exactly the sort of tailbar/towbar/step combo I am looking at.
 
thestaggy said:
Thanks for sharing the pics and the feedback on the badge replacement.

Mine does look nice with the chunkier tyres and lower profile, but I do intend to use it to do a bit of work, so they are not really practical. I also cringe when I hear stuff being kicked up off the road and hitting the car itself.

That is exactly the sort of tailbar/towbar/step combo I am looking at.
Click to expand...
Hope you can get the same one you want.

Will upload a pic when I am done with that part too.
 
A problem I always had with my Bantam is that kak oversized 12V socket. Nothing you buy sticks in there.

So I have decided to improve the bakkie from my Aliexpress purchases:

1770980926707.png

12V meter with PD 30w USB C, Quick Charge 3.0 Socket, 12V cigarette socket, on/off switch.

And the factory socket? Ek weet nie, ekt die vokken verkere ding gekoop...

1770981001815.png

So now the original socket must be happy with a Hella socket.
 
My_King said:
A problem I always had with my Bantam is that kak oversized 12V socket. Nothing you buy sticks in there.

So I have decided to improve the bakkie from my Aliexpress purchases:

View attachment 1885868

12V meter with PD 30w USB C, Quick Charge 3.0 Socket, 12V cigarette socket, on/off switch.

And the factory socket? Ek weet nie, ekt die vokken verkere ding gekoop...

View attachment 1885869

So now the original socket must be happy with a Hella socket.
Click to expand...
Is this Allie Express reliable? Support good? I am looking for a boot handle for a Qashqai, it's available on Temu but the shopping experience of Temu just overwhelms me.
 
Last edited:
thestaggy said:
Update on the Bantam.
  • Sourced the driver's side door cable for R195.

Tried to put it through roadworthy and saw my arse.
  • Leaking power steering fluid (this was the leak I saw) -> New steering rack and tie rod ends - R7751 (Incl labour)
  • Insufficient braking force to the left rear (hand brake at 3%, foot brake at 40%) -> Cable in left rear drum was stuck open, skimmed rear drums and rebonded the brake shoes - R1484 (Incl labour)
  • Front tyres deemed to be too worn (this pissed me off as there was still clearance on the tread wear indicator) -> Set of Duruns - R2620 (Incl alignment and balancing)
  • Middle exhaust box leaking -> New box @ R1350
  • Plastic cover on the right rear taillight was cracked (Also pissed me off as the lights worked fine) -> New cluster - R525
And for good measure, I misplaced the key for the lock nuts, so they had to be stripped off and I had to replace them, so an extra R181.50.
Click to expand...
Solution for anyone with locking wheel nuts - Duct tape the lock nut key to the side of the cubby-hole (glove-box) - that way it cannot go missing - and remember to re-attach it again after use... ;)
 
My_King said:
Mine is the 1.6L XLT.

I replaced the front, faded blue badge a few years ago. It is silver again. So not doing that anytime soon again. Just letting you know my experience with them badges.

Still to do:

View attachment 1818811
Click to expand...
You should have swapped the lettering around so it said 'Batman' - I have seen that on a couple of Bantam tail-gates - some with a nice big Batman logo sticker in the middle as well...

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