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DreamStreamr · 10-24-2007, 11:17 AM

We pick up our 1979 Argosy 24T Monday morning. Really excited to see it 1st time. PO says includes all original documentation for the unit and the appliances and complete repair hx. We'll see.

Spent all lunchtime today reading Argosy threads, learning about vin decoding and Minuet differences. Will look fwd to sharing what we get and what we get into. Gonna be interesting.

How many Argosy 24Ts are in the Forum?

highmark · 10-24-2007, 02:28 PM

Hi! Sounds like you have a fun project ahead. Will be anxious to see pictures as you work through your re-model. If by "24T" you mean "twin" - you can count me in. I have a 1977 24' with center twin beds, rear bath and front dinette. I am almost done with my re-do and hope you have as much fun as I have - only sad part....working on the Argosy is lots more fun than mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, doing dishes....you get the drift - nothing else seems to be important. Enjoy your new addition! Carol

DreamStreamr · 10-24-2007, 03:14 PM

Carol,
We have the identical floorplan. Don't know if Minuet or not, will measure it Monday when we see it. Can't wait! Did you repaint the interior surfaces? Is it zolatone? (the flecked paint) Any shocking surprises?

Jim

Moonshot · 10-25-2007, 11:25 AM

Hello Jim,

You have the exact same year and model that I do! After owning a 63 Tradewind for a number of years I got very specific in what I wanted for my next Airstream and the Minuet 7.3 meter was at the top of my list.

The walls and ceilings are vinyl clad (sort of like wallpaper) over the aluminum and some have complained that sticky stuff "weeps" through. It hasn't on mine yet though. Various cleaners are recommended to handle this if you have the problem - POR 15 I think is one. My endcaps were likely Zolatone paint, but the PO painted over that with a gray to match the other interior walls. Not bad, but not original.

I think you'll enjoy this trailer. The narrow width and light weight makes it a breeze to tow. If you have any questions let me know, mine is supposedly fairly original too.

Scott

Moonshot · 10-25-2007, 11:31 AM

By the way, as you might have guessed the Argosy 7.3 meter Minuet is a rare Airstream. An unsubstantiated rumor says only one 7.3 meter Minuet was sent to each Airstream dealer. Also, as far as I can tell these were only made for one year - 1979. I have come across about six other 7.3 Minuets over the years. I bought mine in 2003.

Scott

bhayden · 10-25-2007, 02:07 PM

Jim,
I'm confused (what's new

). Did you just buy a Minuet or the "standard" Argosy 24' with the twin bed floor plan? If I'm not mistaken all of the Minuets are single axle trailers and the Argosy 24' is a tandem axle.

-Bernie
owner of a nice Argosy 24D but wishing it was the rear door model

highmark · 10-25-2007, 02:53 PM

Jim....My Argosy is not a Minuet, but the regular sized unit. I am not sure how many units have the front dinette, but I consider us lucky to have that floorplan. Did you get the wonderful Orange, Green or Gold interior? Mine is orange and I have been having lots of fun with making it bright and cheerful! As for the Walls - - My interior side walls and ceiling are vinyl bonded to the aluminum. They were in great condition so all I had to do was wash them down with a water based cleaner organic cleaner. The other interior walls - between the kitchen/bedroom and bedroom/bathroom were vinyl on thin plywood. The vinyl on these walls was falling off in places so I removed the vinyl with a heat gun; removed the sticky adhesive and then put up new vinyl wallpaper with heavy duty adhesive.....I think they turned out real nice. I picked a neutral, slightly textured wallpaper so it blended in with the existing walls and ceiling. I don't think I have any Zolotone in my TT. The inside end caps are ABS with what appears to be the color molded in (kind of yellow). My front end cap is starting a crack so at some time I will remove it and have it professionally repaired - repainted at the time too! Surprises??? The good ones were that the appliances all worked - only had to have the stove top, that was chrome with rust flakes, powder coated. I thought I could save the AC, but gave in and purchased a new low-profile Carrier from Family RV - great folks with great prices!!! I did have one spot in the wooden floor that had some water damage - by the water tank at the front of the TT. I was able to save the wood by using a product from Dr. Rot. I coated the whole floor at the same time since I had all the interior out. I also replaced the countertops in the kitchen with a retro style in tangerine - stepped it down a notch from the orange that was there. I will be anxious to follow your remodel from start to completion. What are your plans for changes, colors, etc???? Hope that you have as good of luck as I have had with my project.
P.S. I immediately put the rock guards on the front wrap window - way cheaper than replacing that window. Best of Luck - Carol

bobfowler · 10-25-2007, 03:25 PM

Congrats on the new baby! We love our 20 footer (though she's undergoing surgery at the moment).

If you intend to paint the interior, we've found that Glidden Gripper primer covers the vinyl clad walls and plastic endcaps beautifully.

DreamStreamr · 10-30-2007, 01:12 PM

We arrived safely home at 2200 hrs last night with our new baby, Snow White. She is a 1979 7.3 Minuet double axle front dinette twin beds well-used and a little abused. Has all original documentation including congrats letter from Argosy sales mgr, owners manual, owners guide, appliance documentation including for both replacement and original fridge, air conditioner, and water heater. Two tambour doors perfect, and the one in the sink cabinet is gone, replaced with two ugly particle core doors. I want to replace the tambour for this cabinet, the tracks look fine. Fridge replaced with a Dometic 4 cf, looks okay. Water heater shot, and it was only 10 years old. All original under-bed and under-dinette bin boxes intact. Bathroom seems okay. Flooring torn out and replaced with 3/8" pre-finished birch finish wood not particularly well-installed and conflicts with the under-bed compartment doors opening fully. Under dinette is 6" ceramic tile floor and some of same material in bathroom. I may replace the flooring entirely.

Walls and ceiling in great condition, no cracks, no gaps. Electrical system seems excellent, all works fine on battery at least. Armstrong air conditioner replaced a couple years ago with Carrier a/c-heat pump unit. Furnace looks okay. Don't know condition of plumbing, tanks, piping. Will leak test and sanitize. Outside body is almost perfect. Windows all operate wonderfully, so do two roof vents. Paint is excellent, and original 3-color stripe is intact. Has baby moon hubcaps, dented up and a little rough looking but cute. Awning needs fabric and mechanism repairs/replacement.
General Questions:
1. Anyone have a best idea on finding or making the tambour material to replace the approx 30"X32" one for the sink cabinet?
2. Would anyone want the curtain tracks from the bedroom? The lower one for each window has the sort of convection-proof shelf as part of the assembly.
3. Anyone want the under-bed storage tubs if we decide to switch them out?
4. Has anyone replaced the sink cabinet top? This one seems a poorly done replacement I will want to replace and would appreciate any good tips.

See next post --

Jim

DreamStreamr · 10-30-2007, 01:16 PM

Carol,
can you guide me on the rock guard investigation? I have heard the replacement glass cost is heinously high, so I'm tempted to tape bubble wrap on these or something until I can get them covered. They look good now and I want to keep them, so . . .

Bernie,
we were also confused. It was advertised as an Argosy 22T but the VIN clearly showed it would be a 24T. We still didn't know it would be a Minuet until we saw the body width and the Minuet medallions on either exterior side. We are delighted. It is sooo small compared to our CCD 25.

Scott,
thanks for the info -- I suppose it may be obvious we had no idea what we were getting into and barely know now. We spent a part of this morning emptying out the cabinets of 4,000 wal-mart empty bags and miscellany, and removing two interesting frames from over each of the twin beds -- kid bunk beds? Cast wall brackets as pivots and straps to a pair heavy cleats on the ceiling for each shelf/bunk. We don't know. For now we removed them and are holding for disposition.

I wish we could take Snow White camping immediately, but testing gas system, inspecting electrical, replacing water heater and testing/sanitizing water system are first. Want to protect the front wrap-around glasses especially. Then . . .

Meanwhile I will get some pictures posted by next week and let you know. Thanks for your sharing ways and helpfulness.

Jim and Deb on behalf of
Snow White

Moonshot · 10-31-2007, 09:59 AM

Sounds like a great unit, Jim!

The PO of my unit apparently replaced the tambour door under the sink with two sliding doors made of painted thin plywood. Think bypass closet doors. Sorry, I don't have a picture. I didn't know these was once a tambour door! Thanks for sharing that.

Under the bed storage units seem to sell pretty well on ebay as they get damaged fairly easily. Before you do so, consider that you can take these in the house and load up your clothing in them then carry them back out to the camper like you would a laundry basket.

Mine doesn't have the bunk beds over the twins. That sounds like a neat feature that I bet someone would pay good money to have if you ever choose to sell those.

Enjoy!

Scott

RF2 · 10-31-2007, 03:32 PM

Just bought a 1974 Argosy 22' rear door. Have all the original papers, except the manual. This Argosy sold for $5500. new, has been setting for 10 yrs., so I have a lot of work to do but when it's done, I will have a jewel. If anyone knows where I can get a manual for this 22' rear door, it would be much appreciated. Thanks, RF2

bhayden · 10-31-2007, 04:31 PM

Yeah, the bunk bed feature was an Airstream option. Not sure if it was still offered in '79 or they were owner installed. Either way it seems like it would be nice to have. I'd love to install a bunk arrangement over the double in our Argosy. Maybe even over the front if that could be made to work.

Didn't know they made tandem axle Minuets. That's very cool! One thing we really insisted on when shopping was a tandem axle set-up. Flats with a horse trailer have sold me on the value of tandem axles on a trailer.

More important than the track for the tambor under the kitchen counter is the drum into which the door rolls up. However, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one if your's is go because most people just give up on this arrangement. The overhead roll-up arrangement seems to be OK for tambor doors but the horizontal slide seems to be too problematic to bother with. Looks cool but just doesn't seem to work reliably.

-Bernie

aturner4u · 10-31-2007, 06:25 PM

Congrats on the new addition to your family.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhayden

More important than the track for the tambor under the kitchen counter is the drum into which the door rolls up. However, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one if your's is go because most people just give up on this arrangement. -Bernie

Our PO also took out the tambor under the sink and put in some kind of sliding doors that catch your fingers WAY too often. We haven't decided what to replace them with but they HAVE to go.

**Janet H** · 10-31-2007, 07:56 PM

Bunk beds were an option on Argosys for a couple of years. I imagine they used the same parts they use for standard Airstreams.

Argonaut20 · 11-01-2007, 06:31 AM

Here is a source for tambour doors:
TAMBOUR DOORS AND TRACKS
They are wood, but google under tambour may turn up more.
As I posted in another post, the problem with the undersink doors is that they can bind if the tracks are not aligned properly. If the tracks aren't parallel the top can slip out of track which then allows the bottom to bind. When you consider that the top of the door is gripped to close it you can see how the force tends to throw the bottom of the door down. Closing the door with a slight lift can make even the unparallel ones work better, but good luck getting folks to do that consistently.

DreamStreamr · 11-05-2007, 05:50 PM

Janet, I have never seen Airstream bunks so now will look for them to compare. We decided to remove for now and will determine later if we want the "storage". Doesn't seem like it with six bins under the beds and two more under the dinette.

Argonaut, thanks for the link to tambour. We're gonna chase this down and see if we can't eliminate the particle core laminate doors. They're heavy, ugly, and use up floor space when you use them. And besides, they're just not right.

highmark · 11-08-2007, 11:57 AM

Hi Jim - Let me know when you start to work on your window guards and I will share my experience with you. Would probably be best to send me a personal email - I get extra busy for weeks at a time and don't get a chance to catch up on this site. Carol

ajanib · 11-08-2007, 03:01 PM

I'd be glad to hear about your window guards too. Congratulations!

Argonaut20 · 11-08-2007, 06:16 PM

For a good description of how to mount a rock guard, check out the posts on
How to modify and install rock guard on minuet
by Janet. While it is on a Minuet, the instructions were very good for the install in general. You can buy the rock guard from Oasis RV, Inland RV, Griffith's RV repair, or other dealers/repair shops. It is a great add on. I can tell you from experience you DON'T want to have to replace one of those wing windows. They are expensive and plain ones are pretty close to impossible to find. Then you have the fun of mounting this expensive window in the trailer.