1975 Argosy Value

[Boom Sounds]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Neither of which on this 75 would work on your 91 (92?) coach.

Sorry to burst your bubble

Darn, it's a life's work maintaining these coaches........one day, if I follow the yellow brick road and click my heels, I will have beautiful sliding windows.

[SteveNdebbie]

Ok. We're not doing the Shasta trailer. I would like to get a better look at the underneath of the Argosy and I have my wife's uncle who has done mechanical and auto bodywork. I am going to look at it again tomorrow. I could take more pictures if there is anything that might help clarify the condition. The dismantling of the motorhome and using it for parts is intriguing but I think it is in good enough shape that it would be a shame to tear it apart.

[Boom Sounds]

I think he's caught in the net. Standard. Tenner says he'll buy it. 🤔


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[Boom Sounds]

To be honest, I think it's very difficult to assess what you are getting into. If you get lucky, you might get it up and running for less than 5k. It could be many times that. There is a checklist somewhere on the site. Aside from the mechanicals, look for floor rot and all interior appliances/furnishings. You could be getting into something time consuming and pricey.


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[mayco]

Obviously the exterior is a filthy mess but that's no big deal really. The glass looks intact and the body doesn't look to be in bad shape. The interior looks to be reasonable considering its living conditions for the past few years. Doesn't look like a great deal of water infiltration. No way to asses the mechanicals until its out of its present site and in a place to make it more accessible. Probably needs everything they ALL need when buying a unit that's been sitting for that long.......if you can get it for a steal, who knows?

We all know that you want to buy a rig that's been in recent use and on the road but those units usually have a higher initial cost and most still need upgrades. I'm not advising a purchase but if I were a bit younger and had more energy for a project like that, I don't think it's too awful scary. Better have some pretty good mechanical abilities or in your case you can get it done for next to nothing. An indoor shop space would sure be desireable. Getting it out of there, power washed, and general clean up would do wonders for the appearance. A lot will depend on what you desire as your end result.

If you're willing to put the time, effort, and money into getting it home, getting it cleaned up enough to do a good assessment of what it needs. Even if you then decide it's too much of a project for you, I bet you would get your money back for what you would have in it.


Mike

[Grosspoluter]

Do not buy it and plan to restore it and or use it
offer them $500 then sell each windshield side to one of us for $500 each the rest is free money[emoji23]
As you can tell by the vultures that have already started circling, parts for these things are extremely hard to come by
I have the larger version and 84 345
The ONLY thing these things have going for them is the "cool" [emoji41] factor
Yeah I love the attention it gets when you pull into the campground, when it's running good and going down the road I love getting the thumbs up and seeing people taking pictures of it on their cell phones from their cars
The thing with motorhomes is you have to maintain all of the running gear engine transmission driveshaft rear axle cooling system oiling system not to mention in this case you're dealing with an older carbureted 454 V8 if anything happens to the running gear it will cost you thousands of dollars for repairs and probably at least an $800-$1200 bill for towing
If you have a trailer and something goes wrong with your toe vehicle you simply crank up the tongue, left it off one ball. crank it down and set another ball, done [emoji736]
(I know that's a simplified version)
I spent $10,000 for my 345
Since then I have spent another $6000 maintaining and repairing it keep in mind when I bought it the former owner drove it to me over 800 miles so it was a semi-good running condition RV
I do most of the repairs and maintaining myself (I did not rebuild or install the transmission I had a shop do that)
If the goal here is to learn from other people's mistakes...
Walk away and let the buzzards feast
(PS I'm not just saying that because I need parts[emoji57])

[SteveNdebbie]

So far I have appreciated all your comments and advice on the forum (even from the buzzards!). These will be very helpful for tomorrow when I may ask the owner some questions and take another look. Thanks Mike for your comment which I agree with and also to Grosspoluter for that counterpoint which my wife agreed with. We'll let you know how things seem after tomorrow.

SteveNdebbie

[tevake]

There is truth and experence in the comments above.

But it sounds like you are trying to look at the project realisticly, and have most of your rebuild team in house, sort of.

I would want to see as much of the chassis and mechanicals as possible before even dragging it out of there.
Lots of the classic motorhomes have been in hibernation for parts of their lives and come back from it. So there may be hope.

If you haven't been looking at the market for a while, It may pay off to check it out a bit. I doubt the argosy is going to disappear any time soon. We have been seeing some pretty good looking deals lately in the classic motorhomes for sale thread. Also over on airstream addicts they turn up too.

If the main goal is to go RV ing, it may be cheaper and quicker in a coach with less needs

Part of a sheet of plywood, a large floor Jack, couple of jack stands, and a bright flashlight could make things a bit clearer as to the condition down below.

You could air up the tires and fill the holes under the wheels while it is off the ground.

Don't let the buzzards put you totally off, you will find them very helpful if you do take the plunge.

Welcome to the forums, hope to see you joining the fun.

Cheers Richard

[tevake]

I can't find Dalton AZ on the map, is the coach near Prescott?

Maybe I could look at it with you.

Cheers Richard

[SteveNdebbie]

Originally Posted by tevake

There is truth and experence in the comments above.



But it sounds like you are trying to look at the project realisticly, and have most of your rebuild team in house, sort of.



I would want to see as much of the chassis and mechanicals as possible before even dragging it out of there.

Lots of the classic motorhomes have been in hibernation for parts of their lives and come back from it. So there may be hope.



If you haven't been looking at the market for a while, It may pay off to check it out a bit. I doubt the argosy is going to disappear any time soon. We have been seeing some pretty good looking deals lately in the classic motorhomes for sale thread. Also over on airstream addicts they turn up too.



If the main goal is to go RV ing, it may be cheaper and quicker in a coach with less needs



Part of a sheet of plywood, a large floor Jack, couple of jack stands, and a bright flashlight could make things a bit clearer as to the condition down below.



You could air up the tires and fill the holes under the wheels while it is off the ground.



Don't let the buzzards put you totally off, you will find them very helpful if you do take the plunge.



Welcome to the forums, hope to see you joining the fun.



Cheers Richard

Enjoyed your post Richard. Keepin' it real.

[SteveNdebbie]

And, by the way, we are far from Arizona and for now the buzzards can stay there. Thanks for the offer!

[SteveNdebbie]

First off I found out that when making my account late at night I incorrectly put my home state as Arizona. Maybe I subconsciously was trying to keep people away from the Argosy. Not quite sure how to change my information. Anyway, saw the motorhome again today and in the two weeks since we last saw it the owner decided to tow it out of the woods where he could work on cleaning it up some and now speaks of making it more sellable. It does look considerably better but it still has not been started because he is concerned about water been in the gasoline that has been in the tank for 10 years and would want to siphon out the gasoline first. There also has a crack in the windshield which I will show a picture. He talks of replacing the window and looking to see why the vinyl floor was bubbled up. He got the generator to start up once and feels that once he gets a new battery and new gasoline that the engine should work fine. He put new brakes on it 10 years ago which have not been used. The tires still held air. The edge on the front was used to pull a large boat out of the water and the bumper looks loose. Inside they removed the dinette and upper cabinetry to make more space and no longer have the originals. The rear twin beds were converted into a queen platform. Now what say ye?

Steve

[heyraylata]

Go for it! It's just time and Money! looks better than mine did when I started.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by martin300662

My 'stock' answer, each time this question is raised......

If its complete, if it is free, if you spend $2-3 per mile to get it hauled home, if you have up to 2000 hours spare time (or want to pay a shop for 2000 hours work), if you invest $10-15K in parts, you will then have a $10-15K motorhome.....

Unless you want that pain, I would say spend the $10-15K on a complete, running, in regular use Argosy and then concentrate on keeping it on the road.

Even the scrap value in these is the parts, and it is a huge about of work to dismantle (ask Brad) and it will cost you money (in my case $1300) just to get rid of what is left after windows, doors, etc are removed.

So the current owner has done the first 2-3 hours of the 2000 hours for you, but in doing so has found another $2000 repair (the windscreen).

He is obviously trying to polish some value into it but nothing has changed from my original message. Everything is doable, do you want to spend the time and money doing it?

Don't be 'romanced' in to this, it is still a long, long way from being able to use for traveling, and if you try to use it without doing the work then expect to be towed home each time, or worse. It will need all the suspension, all the steering, all the brakes, any air bags, the engine, the trans, the dash A/C, the fuel tank, all the fuel lines gone through before it can even be driven. At that point you have an aluminum tent until you make sure it does not leak, replace any rotten floor, go through the house power (converter/12v/mains), house propane, house A/C, water/plumbing, before you get to the 'interior design'. Until all of that is done it is still a 'parts donor', throwing a bucket of water over it doesn't change anything other than the chance of the owner hooking a victim.

[Boom Sounds]

He is obviously trying to polish some value into it but nothing has changed from my original message. Everything is doable, do you want to spend the time and money doing it?bing, before you get to the 'interior design'. Until all of that is done it is still a 'parts donor', throwing a bucket of water over it doesn't change anything other than the chance of the owner hooking a victim.[/QUOTE]

Experience is the best teacher.

[bkahler]

Steve, take Martin's advice. The seller might have saved you closer to a day or so instead of the 2-3 hours Martin suggested but that all depends how fast you work

Keep in mind there are levels of rebuild/restoration that you could undertake. There's Martin's Bella which would by anyone's standards be the top end of the scale and then there is everything else. Take into consideration your needs and wants and maybe come up with a plan that will get what you want without breaking the bank or cause you too loose interest.

Do the absolutely necessary stuff for safety and dependability, after that everything else is just icing on the cake


Brad

[SteveNdebbie]

I agree 100% with your assessments and advice. It's interesting how something that he was neglecting or planning to scrap now suddenly has value to him once we showed some interest in saving it. I agree that what he did doesn't change anything as far as the value. I was also wondering if anyone has had a problem with mold issues or allergies with these older motorhomes or travel trailers. After we were inside it my wife and I both had a bit of a headache.

[martin300662]

Unfortunately these old MH leak, which means the majority have issues with rotting wood/mold in the ply floor (same as the trailers). Add in most of the original fabric was based on glassfibre, and the walls are insulated with old style glassfibre insulation and there are a lot of potential issues if you have sensitivity. Add in the walls are clad in vinyl coated aluminum which also seems to support the growth of mould and you really do need the scrub down everything before spending much time inside one that has been neglected.

[SteveNdebbie]

Thank you all for participating in this thread on the forum.. after weighing the positives and the negatives, I chose not to buy the Argosy (Boom Sounds owes someone a tenner). It would be too much for me to take on. I think we will look for a late model airstream trailer, 16-22 footer, maybe a few years old. We own a 2011 Acura MDX that is rated towing 5000 lbs. But who knows, this is all s process. The owner of the Argosy appreciates that our interest helped him bring it out. I will share this site with him ( the buzzards may want to watch for this!). Then he can decide what he would like to do. Thanks again!

Steve

[Boom Sounds]

Fair play, send me your PayPal address x

I think you've made a sound decision


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