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AndrewV · 09-18-2010, 02:20 PM

Hey All

I'm semi new here and recently bought a 1973 Argosy 20. My wife and I have always wanted an Airstream or Boler to restore. We found this one down in Cornwall and brought her home. The shell is in relatively good shape. Obvious repairs so far look like belly plate, floor, most likely frame, possibly wiring as we had trouble with the grounds hooking the trailer lights up. I'm sure there will be lots more as we start to pull things out and bring her up to date.

No plans yet for a theme, but I've given my wife the green light to make it her own inside as my artistic side is not very strong.

With out further delay..... here she is.

**Kevin245** · 09-18-2010, 03:59 PM

Congratulations on the Argy. Leaks are something we all deal with at some point. Keep us posted on your theme selection and reno progress.

Kevin

bwoodtx · 09-18-2010, 04:29 PM

very nice!!! i have one of those myself i am currently working on. i am amazed at the amount of room in a 20'.

2vets · 09-18-2010, 05:13 PM

What a great size and layout! Those front windows look like they bring in a huge amount of light. Congratulations!

jetmom4 · 09-20-2010, 05:30 PM

Our 73 20' doesn't have that much room between sofas. Or drawers.

Does the side gaucho have a closet between it and the bathroom?

Splitrock · 09-20-2010, 06:11 PM

I like it! Thanks for posting the pictures. I'll be watching your progress.

Gary

AndrewV · 12-20-2010, 04:33 PM

Thanks for the kind word all. Sorry I haven't posted much since starting. Other priorities have surfaced the last couple months.

Well. I'm back at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetmom4

Our 73 20' doesn't have that much room between sofas. Or drawers.

Does the side gaucho have a closet between it and the bathroom?

Yes it does jetmom. However we are planning on taking it out to free up some room.

We have some neat and probably non conventional ideas for it so far. I'll be taking a few more pics and will list off our plan of attack and ideas.

I'll be bugging you fine folks for suggestions and possible solutions as I encounter any problems.

Cheers!

wasagachris · 12-20-2010, 05:16 PM

Andrew a belated welcome to you from another Canuck and fellow Ontarian. I have a 73 myself, not an argy but an excella. I`m in the middle of a full monty. So if you need any tips just PM me and I`ll try to help.

Happycampers · 12-20-2010, 05:43 PM

Hello Andrew... Welcome ... We also have an Argosy. Checkout the thread Costalotta start to finish.... lots of work but we love her. Right now we are in Arizona with her. We also have been looking for a smaller one but we won't be selling this one. You have a nice trailer.... Annie

ROBERTSUNRUS · 12-20-2010, 11:50 PM

Hi, great looking Argosy; Did the Beagle come with it?

Keep us updated on the restore.

AndrewV · 02-01-2011, 02:24 PM

Well as I'm sure most others have found once they dive in... it's going to be a bigger job then anticipated... BUT thats all good. It's all part of taking on such a project.

As I've been testing things out I've discovered the refrigerator does not work. so it will be either a repair or just a replacement with something more modern and efficient. Stove works great but I cannot seem to get the oven to fire. Furnace and water heater I have not been able to test either as the LPG cutoff valve under the trailer is seized. The water pump seems to work.

Someone at some point during its life has been creative with the plumbing. As its a mix match of copper and rubber hose all over the place. We'll be replacing that all with PEX anyways.

We've started to take out the components and furnishings. The bathroom is going to need alot of work.

I'm still pondering whether to pull everything out and replace the whole floor, or to just repair any water damaged sections. So far I have only found two. By the door and water pump. Still need to see whats beneath the bath fixtures. I'm sure the frame might need some work too. Hopefully not much more then some sanding and sealing which I could do from below by dropping the belly (?)

It's certainly becoming a big project and I'm learning alot. It's also slow going being its winter. We have it under a shelter and can use a space heater when it's not too cold outside.

Oh and the the fella in the above pics is our basset hound Howie.

AndrewV · 11-28-2011, 06:25 PM

After a long hiatus I'm back at it. When I started into the bathroom I noticed a lot of rot under the fixtures. Which let to a lot more rot under the floor. The frame at the rear crossmember had rusted right through. This caused me great frustration and I almost threw in the towel... I stepped away from it for well, almost a year. I started to get motivated again a month ago and started reading through as many frame repair threads as I could find. I also talked to our shop guy at work who's a welder to get his opinion.
So I have new inspiration and in the last month finished pulling the floor, fixtures, inner panels to expose the damaged frame as much as I could. This evening I cut out the entire rear frame about 26inches from the back wall. This allowed me to drop the remaining rear frame in one piece. Crossmember and rear bumper as one unit. Which we will rebuild at the shop and put back into place with new steel.

Thats where I'm at right now. Once the frame is repaired I'll drop the rest of the belly and clean the frame and seal it.

Here's the current progress in photos.

Cheers,