How much restoration do I do?

[juel]

In the process of repainting the rubrail of my 1978 Argosy 24ft trailer, I have found a hole in the front belly pan behind the middle of the tongue just under the gas bottles. It is a hole in the outer thin metal, the interior metal seems to be intact. When I tried to clean out the hole I got lots of white powery stuff. This thin metal goes over to where the tongue attaches then there is a space and another piece of metal goes on around and down the side. This metal is complete and only had some rock pitting of the paint which I am sanding out prior to painting. How far do I need to go in looking into this hole. Should I take off this piece of metal. I see so many here on the forum taking off the belly pan. Is that something I may need to do? Also I see some surface rust on the frame that is visible underneath. Should I sand this off and repaint or leave it alone? I have looked in the back bumper where the dump hoses are stored and don't see any rust. The floors inside all seem solid with no leaks. Just how far should I go with my restoration? Should I take it for granted that a trailer this old has troubles. Also, I don't have anything for the gas bottles to sit on but the tongue. Is there supposed to be a pan or something there? Where could I get such a thing or will I have to get one made. Thanks for any help you can give. Judy

[Condoluminum]

Judy-

Welcome some more to the Forum, and good luck with your project... While there may not be a lot of Argosy retorers in your part of Kansa, there are hundreds here on the Forum, and is't pretty safe to suggest that regardless of your problems, somebody has faced a worse one and survived it... What you've described in white powder on surface of aluminum and rust on frame area is pretty common, and results frmo either exposed steel of frame sections contacting un-coated aluminum sheet by themselves, or with some boost from a little leaking battery acid.. Steel and aluminum in contact in presence of any acid (even from the rain..) will act to try and become a bettery, and the steel will rust, and the aluminum corrode... Using Arm and Hammer baking soda and water to flush will start to neutralize if battery has been leaking, but next step is to remove/replace corroded aluminum, and clean rust from steel, and paint or coat with either Rustoleum Primer/Paint (if not too bad..) or more heavy duty coating like POR-15 (think permanent paint-on epoxy armor coating...). You may not need to remove entire belly sheet, and it's easier to cut section and replace with new thin alum sheet, which should be anodized to provide protection against next round of corrosion.. Leaving rusty steel to continue rusting is bad form, and looks un-professional... (Eventually, frame will need to be replaced also...)

As for propane tanks, there may only be a curved metal piece to hold bottoms on top of frame rail, but if that is gone then you'll need to fabricate something similar to hold them in place on rails. (Not sure either if yours started with 1 or 2 tanks... May make difference in mount... Someone with more expertise will hopefully jump in on tanks..) If they are steel, it is OK to sand them and paint to match trailer.. If they're aluminum tanks, they can be cleaned up but should not be painted..

John McG

[Condoluminum]

Judy-

You might also look at BALRGN web site and photo's which you can find by clicking on link in chain of messages listed as "New Airgosy owner"...

This picture: http://www.balrgn.com/Argosy/42236968.jpg shows how his rusty frame looked on similar model he just bought. No metal under or between front frame rails, and only some metal rings and tall rusty threaded rod to secure and hold down two propane tanks.. Some more work to do in this area for him as well, but maybe useful to show what it might look like.. He might also be good source of info as well, as a second time trailer fixxer-upper...

John McG

[overlander64]

Greetings Judy!

Originally Posted by juel

Also, I don't have anything for the gas bottles to sit on but the tongue. Is there supposed to be a pan or something there? Where could I get such a thing or will I have to get one made. Thanks for any help you can give. Judy

If the standard Argosy coaches parallel the Minuets for '78, there isn't a ring or platform for the tanks. On my Minuet, there are a pair of tab welded to the A-frame of the hitch that correspond to the outer perimeter of the tanks (20 pound). The original owner of my coach verified that this was the way the coach was delivered from the factory. While I can't confirm it, I suspect that a ring or support tray may have been added if the coach came with the 30 pound tanks rather than the 20 pound (or smaller) size tanks. It can be something of a balancing act to get both tanks reattached following refilling. Something else that was something of a surprise to me was that the tanks on my Minuet were painted to match the orange metallic trim color rather than the body color of the coach - - I have found that the new Chevrolet Colorado truck Sunburst Orange Metallic paint is a very close match for the metallic orange that Argosy used on the banana wraps, hitch and bumper of the '78s.

Good luck with your projects!

Kevin

[Stefrobrts]

On another post you also asked about sealing around the windows. I sealed my trailers seams with Parbond, which is a thinner sealant than Vulkem. I used vukem for areas that needed the thicker stuff, like around the vent stacks. So it depends on the size of the seam you are sealing. You might also need to consider that your trailer is painted, while mine is bare aluminum. I don't know if that would effect the ability of the sealant to stick without any preparation to the area being sealed. I'm sure some Argosy owners can tell you. Hope that helps a little.

[juel]

Thanks so much for your help. I think I'll have someone build me a platform for my tanks. They are the larger ones and the PO put a piece of wood under them that has seen better days. I have the Parbond, but the area above that front window is very large and I guess I just thought the larger tube of Vulkem would work better. Is that good logic? Of course both these sealents are aluminum colored. I hope they are paintable. Speaking of painting, both the large tanks have been painted before so I'm guessing they are not aluminum. Thanks for all your help. I will have a lot of work to do next weekend. Judy

[overlander64]

Greetings Judy!

Originally Posted by juel

Speaking of painting, both the large tanks have been painted before so I'm guessing they are not aluminum. Thanks for all your help. I will have a lot of work to do next weekend. Judy

The tanks on your Argosy may be aluminum - - try the magnet check on the body of each tank as a test. On the Argosys, even the aluminum tanks were painted at the factory. My Minuet still had its factory original tanks when I purchase it and they were aluminum and still had their factory orange metallic paint.

Kevin

[Janet H]

We also have painted aluminium tanks - although ours are the color of the body not the trim. Orange tanks would be cool! (or really gaudy...)