Contemporizing 1976 Argosy D - opinions please

[SmokelessJoe]

As usual, somebody else has my good idea:






(I also had an uncle who was reputed to have invented the zipper, just before Lightning patented it.)


from New Orleans - Happy New Year - everyone!


Sergei

[Aage]

Cool! Vintage MG (is there any other kind of MG?) on a vintage what, Ford?

[SmokelessJoe]

After dust, dirt or moisture interfered with with my set-up several times I mounted an plastic index-card box, bought from an office supply place for $1.99, on my A frame. Never a problem since:





Sergei

[IndyAnne]

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

As usual, somebody else has my good idea:

<img src="http://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=118381"/>

<img src="http://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=118380"/>

(I also had an uncle who was reputed to have invented the zipper, just before Lightning patented it.)

from New Orleans - Happy New Year - everyone!

Sergei

Imitation, once again, proves to be the sincerest form of flattery! I like the inventive and adaptive genius in the old and new. What would it take to get a 68 Trade Wind hitched to that beauty?

We had a good time in NOLA over New Year's. I saw the signs for the Habitat rally, and wished for a camping trip. We were tourists this time and did everything we could do on foot or streetcar.

As always, great work and great life, Sergei!

[bhayden]

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

The slick Oceanair blinds for the entry door and galley ...caught up with me at the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi.Attachment 117593



They are a neat looking privacy solution for curved walls.


Sergei

Those look nice. Why do you say for curved walls? Looks like they're pretty straight to me. As always, your rig looks stunning. Hey, we've got a caravan with my brother-in-law planned for next summer; Seattle to Modesto CA. Two trips in three years ain't great but I was seriously on the verge of selling the trailer since we've stopped using it for bike race HQ. The last trip was the Demming "rally" which was enough fun to keep me hooked!

[bhayden]

Sergei,
How are your tires doing? I'm going to be replacing both the tires and wheels before we travel next summer. I'm going to go to 16" rims since that opens up so many more tire choices. I'd really like to use a Toyo or other Les Schwab supported brand since my travels will be exclusively west coast and primarily in WA, ID, OR and CA.

[SmokelessJoe]

Why do you say for curved walls?


Hi Bernie, good to hear from you. Well, the walls on our trailers are curved, like in an airplane or boat hull. Getting stuff to fit is sometimes a problem.

These blinds are purpose built for the boat world so they are easier to install than making up stuff, like I did with IKEA blinds through the rest of the trailer, is.

The Ikea stuff works nicely but you have to figure out ways to valence them and deal with the operator chains and such.

In these last two locations, the kitchen and entrance door, a self-retracting, cool looking shade like the Oceanair was cheaper than fabricating all the stuff needed to make the cheaper Ikea blinds work there.

Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

Bernie, the tires look OK to me but what do I know about such things? You're the guy that I turned to for advice when I bought the Yokohamas.

I like the way the trailer tires look and they seem in good shape.

When I was in Saint Louis I went to a tire shop to have some tire extensions put on the duallys. There they spotted dry rot on ALL of my Sprinter tires, at less than 5000 miles.

I replaced the front pair with brand new ones but left the rears on. I just thought that if something went wrong there I'd still have 5 tires to support me, unlike if a front tire blew.

Sergei

[bhayden]

I don't really buy into the "spotted dry rot" in a tire speal. Good to hear the Yoko's are working so far. We were really close to selling the trailer but now have a trip planned for next summer down the west coast of the US. I'd venture out with the old bias ply tires on the trailer now rather than new Goodyear Marathons even if they were free.

In the FWIW department my son got the old '66 Mustang convertible running (which meant I had to had over the title ;-). He "stole" the tires and wheels off my '65 which were Magnum 500 rims with tires I bought back in the '80s. They are just fine... no "dry rot'. I have friends with airplanes that use tires older than that. If a tire is crap in 3 years it was crap when it was produced.

[SmokelessJoe]

“If you don’t have a plan that’s one less thing that can go wrong”
the late Joe Reddington



When push comes to shove you find out whether you live by your borrowed mottos or just hide behind them whenever its convenient.

By the second week in Lafayette, Louisiana I began to feel the pressure of not knowing - except in the vaguest sense - were I was going next, nor how I was going to travel back home to Canada.

So I sat down in my trailer and made a PLAN:


January 26 Port Arthur, Texas
January 27-31 Galveston, Texas
February 1-3 Victoria, Texas
February 4-6 Corpus Christie, Texas
February 7-13 San Antonio, Texas
February 14-16 Fredericksburg, Texas
February 15-27 Austin, Texas
February 28 Palestine, Texas
March 1-3, Shreveport, Louisiana
March 4-8 Natchitoches, Louisiana
March 9-11 Natchez, Mississippi
March 12-15 Hattiesburg, Mississippi
March 16-17 Meridian, Mississippi
March 18-22 Montgomery, Alabama
March 23-24 Tuscaloosa, Alabama
March 25-30 Birmingham, Alabama
March 31-April 2 Chattanooga, Tennessee
April 3-5 Knoxville, Tennessee
April 6 Wytheville, Virginia
April 7 Charleston, West Virginia
April 8 Wheeling, West Virginia
April 9-17 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
April 18 Eire, Pennsylvania
April 19 Buffalo, New York
April 20 Aylmer, Ontario, Canada



Maybe Joe just meant that you need the right to change your mind. Or have realities change it for you. It’s been an unusually severe winter this year.

In the end I never did make Port Arthur - which is fine ‘cause I don’t like oil refineries and chemical plants- and I spent extra days in Galveston, hunkered down against the Gulf wind when the other Texas places were even colder. Corpus Christie became an innocent casualty of the deep freeze and Fredericksburg was abandoned too when freezing weather struck again in San Antonio.

Subject always to meeting interesting people or running into some more bad weather - and then having to drop or over-drive a town – I am now heading north along a path I’ve finally planned, hoping for some nice spring weather.


Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

With the kind of winter we've had all over North America this year the Zip Dee awning that was installed at their suburban Chicago factory last November 14, 2010



was not even unfurled until March 19, 2011 at Montgomery, Alabama.




It's remained a nice 80F ever since.


Sergei

[HiHoAgRV]

Sergei ,
How about some feedback on how well the split system AC is working out? I would consider a similar setup on my '63 Overlander but I would really like some in-the-field data on how well one works in a sure-nuff melt down South heat wave...

[SmokelessJoe]

Hi Ho,

Like my diesel powered hydronic heating, I am very pleased with the split air system.

The LG is very sophisticated and far superior to the RV type packages.

I'm in Montgomery, Alabama under a very hot sun - not as hot as it will feel in July I grant you - but the trailer is a perfectly comfortable 72F inside. The blower is silently running in the CHAOS logic mode, which imitates a natural breeze. (The plant can be run in 5 different settings)

I can hear the RV a/c plants surrounding me; they can not hear mine. Folks just see the compressor fan blades almost silently turning and wonder what it is.

I passed through Brandon enroute Vicksburg to Meridian about 2 weeks ago and could have showed you the set up then. Too bad.

Sergei

[shermantic]

It sounds great. Good luck with the toilet though we are having a terrible time finding a replacement for out argosy. Nothing seems to fit with the way the molding is in the bathroom. Good luck though sounds like fun

[SmokelessJoe]

When I was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the 7 days March 24/30, I met Chuck Lacey, the Director of Emergency Services at the large regional hospital there, when he and his family were my neighbors at Tannehill State Park.

I wrote Charles yesterday after hearing about the monster tornado that struck Tuscaloosa last night and was relieved this morning to hear from him.

The New York Times says that 200 people were killed in the South last night. The deadly, direct hit that Tuscaloosa took can be seen in the videos below.

The second video on the Atlantic Monthly site seems to have been shot on McFarland Avenue, a street that I Mini motored daily. Two malls, University and the particularly nice and successful Midtown Village (were I often went to Starbuck’s ) seem to have been largely destroyed. The damage will be in the billions.

Charles’ hospital is also on McFarland. The twister passed right by, damaging but not destroying the building. The hospital is the large 5 or 6 story brown brick structure across from the green highway system signs on the demolished street.

Tornado Town: Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Ford Vox - National - The Atlantic

Anyone of the videos on the local paper’s site will give you some idea of the immense destructive force of a thing like this. The latest figures from Tuscaloosa today are 32 dead and over 700 injured. Sad and shocking.

TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL

It was in Tuscaloosa that I encountered the first National Weather Service warnings of my 165 day trip. They can be scary when you are a traveler without local bearings. Americans will know this but the radio you’re been listening to cuts out mid-sentence, a loud Claxon call, then a somber digitized male voice: THIS IS THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA. ......A DANGEROUS STORM HAS BEEN SPOTTED AT SO-AND-SO AND IS MOVING EASTWARD AT 65 MILES PER HOUR ... STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS .... IMMEDIATELY GO TO THE LOWEST PORTION OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS ....

All very hard to do in a trailer....

This is very sad to see. Of the 37 American places that I stayed at on this trip, All-American Tuscaloosa, Alabama was right up there - one of the nicest among them.

And Indy Anne, I did get to the ORIGINAL Dreamland BBQ. There’s a story there too.








Sergei, safely back in Toronto

[IndyAnne]

Sergei,

We have been following the storm stories from Alabama with deep distress. The death toll has risen since early reports. Not since April 3, 1974, have we seen such losses, but this one was so much worse.

My father is living here in Indiana with us after some surgery and illness. We watched the news about some of the same familiar places (McFarland Blvd, and in Birmingham) in your report and could not believe the destruction in populated centers in Tuscaloosa and less destruction, but more effects upon friends and relatives in our home area in the north.

Thank you for the photos from Dreamland BBQ. That was a nice mention. Can't wait to hear more stories.

Glad you are safely home.

Anne

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

When I was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the 7 days March 24/30, I met Chuck Lacey, the Director of Emergency Services at the large regional hospital there, when he and his family were my neighbors at Tannehill State Park.

I wrote Charles yesterday after hearing about the monster tornado that struck Tuscaloosa last night and was relieved this morning to hear from him.

The New York Times says that 200 people were killed in the South last night. The deadly, direct hit that Tuscaloosa took can be seen in the videos below.

And Indy Anne, I did get to the ORIGINAL Dreamland BBQ. There&rsquo;s a story there too.

<img src="http://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=128450"/>

<img src="http://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=128451"/>

<img src="http://www.airforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=128452"/>

Sergei, safely back in Toronto

[Aage]

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

Perhaps I should take time for a Reality Check?

I am 69 and before I know it, if I’m lucky, I’ll be 75.

Hey, Sergei: you made it! Congratulations

[utee94]

Originally Posted by Aage

Hey, Sergei: you made it! Congratulations

Ha! And so he has.

Sergei, how has the Reality Check been?

Any chance you're going to make it back to Austin soon to help me Keep It Weird?

-Marcus

[n6durham]

Originally Posted by SmokelessJoe

Marc, others:

Marc asked to see some photos showing how I am installing the IKEA furniture used in my remodel.

All the pieces - bath cabinets, wardrobe and desk unit, galley, fridge box, and slide out pantry drawers – have been dry fitted and cut to the profile of the trailer.
Attachment 30404Attachment 30406Attachment 30405


Once the hydronic system is completed, we will install the furniture pieces.

The weight reduction method used is very effective. I estimate that cutting the frames down this way results in cabinetry no heavier than if built with stick construction.

Attachment 30407Attachment 30408

The centre, tall unit is an Ikea wardrobe that comes complete with double doors that slide over each other on cool aluminum tracks.

In my redesign, slide the doors to one side and you get the wardrobe; slide them to the other and you get a road office set up (under the window).

The desk surface will slide out, carrying my iBook and printer.

I stole that idea from forum member Zeppelium

Sergei

Sergei,
could you tell me the name of the style of cabinets from Ikea you used. we are currently trying to find the right cabinets and have looked at Ikea.
Thank you!
Nikki

[SmokelessJoe]

Nikki, first read my post #9 here:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f310...-mh-67241.html

I'm not sure of what the style was called 4 or 5 years ago. APPLAD maybe. IKEA changes their styles and names from time to time.

My advice would be to get one of the styles that are solid wood and wood veneer combinations. Though they sometimes look nice, the foil wrapped are particle board and very heavy. For the same reason avoid glass front cabinets. Very heavy.


Sergei