'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[Danec020]

Looks like you got a lot of things done over the holidays Brad! Loving being able to follow along with the rebuild process and getting to see how you and Martin are handling things.

Now that you got your new tank in did you see if the fuel pump you have will sit at the right height? I think I remember you guys saying that the one you had should work perfectly since it actually sat a little lower than the original once you compared them.

Keep up the good work sir! She will be on the road in no time with progress like this.

-Dane

[bkahler]

Dane, from the looks of things I don't think I'll be going the in-tank fuel pump route. Since I will eventually have two tanks I think it will be easier if I go with an arrangement similar to this diagram.


If I can have the drive train done by summer I'll be happy

[bkahler]

Martin, Joseph, Fred and myself have been having an offline discussion on adding a steering stabilizer to the early Argosy motorhomes. This information probably only applies to the 74 and 75 model years with possibly the 76 years as well.

The early Argosies did not come with provisions for a steering stabilizer. The benefits of having a stabilizer should be pretty obvious so I plan on adding one to mine and I believe Martin is planning to as well.

There are a couple of problems in trying to add the stabilizer. First is the bell crank on the passenger side did not have the extra arm that the stabilizer connects to. This is easily overcome by spending around $300 with SuperSteer. Second there is no hole in the front frame for the stabilizer to bolt to and lastly there is no access in the front of the frame to allow access for installing the nuts and washers on the end of the stabilizer shaft.

So if your early Argosy is completely intact in front you likely will not be able to get the front access hole cut in the frame as I feel the only way to get the hole cut is using a cutting torch. However in my case and Martin's the front valances have been removed which provides easy access for the torch

With all that being said here's some pictures detailing the issues and what I feel are reasonable resolutions. This first picture is looking down from inside the engine compartment about where the evaporator box is located. The picture was taken about 3' up from the front frame member and gives a view that shows where the valance is in relation to the front frame member. The white part of the valance is below the front frame member so from below you couldn't really see the front of the frame with the valance attached.



If the front section of the motorhome was removed this is the view you would have of the valance and it's relationship to the frame.



This is a view from inside the right front wheel well looking down at the front frame member. The white strip with the two brown spots is the edge of the valance. The picture really doesn't provide a good perspective as it's actually closer or tighter confines that it looks. Access from above to change remove the nuts on the stabilizer shaft is probably not going to work.



Looking at it from below it seems to look the same but in reality while I was laying under the motorhome I was able to reach my hand up from below to the front of the frame member so access from below to the front of the frame is doable. I'm pretty sure that's how the Classic motorhomes are set up as well which is for access from below.



Will all of that being said this picture shows where the hole needs to be drilled for the shaft of the stabilizer. Pretty straight forward and easy to do.



The rectangular opening drawn on the tape in this picture is the approximate size and location of where the front access hole needs to be cut. As I mentioned earlier with the front valance on the coach there would be no way to cut this access hole. With the valance removed it's very doable to cut the hole.


Martin's front framework has been constructed slightly different but not enough to be a problem. At least that's my opinion!

Years ago I changed the steering stabilizer on my 310 and remember it being a bear of a job that I invented a few new words for. I would imagine that once the valance is installed on my Argosy and I need to replace the stabilizer I'm sure those words will be spoken again

Brad

[martin300662]

Its 2 am local time where I am, but jet lag has set in and I'm flying back to the east coast tomorrow so not forcing myself to sleep...instead being more productive by stewing over the steering damper conundrum.

So, why cut the access hole and drill the mounting hole, which will still result in a nightmare to remove once the valance is reinstalled, when really the damper just needs to be located and have something to push and pull against, and that can be achieved by welding a 'loop' on the return face large enough to take the top nut and a spanner to tighten?

[bkahler]

Martin,

I had just typed out a long reply trying to explain why your solution would reduce the stroke of the cylinder to much on a left hand turn and would bottom out when it hit me!

You dont need a U shaped bracket, just a flat plate with a 1/2" hole in the center of the plate to stick the shaft through. Then drill a 1-1/2" hole in the frame where the shaft goes, fasten the shaft to the plate and bolt the plate over the 1-1/2" hole. The plate only needs to be about 3/16" thick. To remove the cylinder just unbolt the plate frome the frame to gain access to the nuts on the backside.

There would be no need for access from the front at all. I think it will work!!!

I hope this makes sense!

[martin300662]

Yep, makes sense Brad....although I think I may still have the issue of needing the new bell crank arms. The shop just installed new Henderson bell cranks but said the arms were 'OK' so I kept the originals. At least where everything has just been apart should been they arms separate from the cranks easily.

[bkahler]

Martin, do you know for certain that your's does not have the arm for the stabilizer?

I know mine didn't but that doesn't mean someone didn't use one from a later coach at some point in the past.

[martin300662]

No Brad other than the shop reporting 'there was nothing to bolt it to (which could mean either the arm or the hole). I'am not going to order new ones until I pick Bella up and look for myself.

The first task I have after picking Bella up is taking the box of worn out parts back to Airstream NE and see if the can explain how they are supposed to have made sure everything was roadworthy and serviced yet the new shop has had to change most of the braking system etc because it had failed.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

No Brad other than the shop reporting 'there was nothing to bolt it to (which could mean either the arm or the hole). I'am not going to order new ones until I pick Bella up and look for myself.

Makes sense!

The first task I have after picking Bella up is taking the box of worn out parts back to Airstream NE and see if the can explain how they are supposed to have made sure everything was roadworthy and serviced yet the new shop has had to change most of the braking system etc because it had failed.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting

It does make you wonder what if anything else they might have missed.

[bkahler]

Another modification I am making is for the front bumper mounts. The old style of mount used a piece of channel that fit inside the bumper and then the bumper bolted to the channel on the top and bottom with four bolts. The 2" square tube support had large ears on the end that made it extremely difficult to get the front valance on and off. I trimmed the ears off of the tubes but it was still difficult because the tubes were still sticking through the front of the valance.



What I'm going to do to solve that problem is to shorten the 2" tubing about 1" which will keep the tube from sticking through the front of the valance. I've already fabricated L braces that will bolt to the 2" tubing. The bumper will then bolt to the short leg of the L.


This means the hole in the front of the valance can be smaller and the L bracket can be removed if or when the front valance needs to be removed or installed.

I'm going to recommend when the front valance mold is made that the holes in the front are left out during mold making process. The necessary openings can easily be cut as required when the valance is fitted to the coach.

[martin300662]

Sounds a good idea Brad.

I still have the 'bunny ears' although it looks like the support bars have been removed/repaired/rebraced in the past so may not be exactly in original position. Simply maintaining the indent but not cutting out will allow the actual hole to be cut as needed.

[bkahler]

Front supports have been trimmed and the L bracket has been tweaked to match the slight angle of the bumper. All that's left is to bolt the L brackets to the supports and the holes through the front of the bumper to the L bracket.


One thing about having the engine and transmission removed, you can get some pictures from some pretty unique angles!

I plan on holding off drilling the holes through the front of the bumper until the valance is refitted because the bumper may need to pivot up or down slightly to match the valance.

It was a busy day today. Along with working on the front bumper I worked at finishing up the doghouse frame inside the cab. I've got one piece of 1"x1" tubing to weld in place on the firewall and that will wrap up the structural part of the doghouse.

It's tiring climbing in and out of the engine compartment from the doghouse. I must have climbed in and out 50 times today!


I'll get pictures of the doghouse when I'm done with the structural work.

Brad

[bkahler]

Martin,

I was looking through the 74 Argosy owners manual and found this tidbit. Apparently the 24' 74 Argosies had battery trays.


I measured the opening where the battery tray in the picture above is located and it's 8-3/4". I think most batteries are roughly 7-1/2" high so it's a close fit for those batteries.

What size gray water tank(s) did you put in your's?


Brad

[bkahler]

Spent some time yesterday trying to figure how to fabricate the framework for the storage compartment. Based on Martin's description of how his compartment was modified to accommodate the batteries, etc this is what I've come up with so far.

This is a cross section view of the frame work. The 1x2 tubing at the top is the floor frame of the Argosy. In theory this will give me about 11-1/2" from the compartment floor to the top of the opening. More than enough for the installation of a battery tray.


This just shows the tubing arrangement for the compartment floor. The floor itself will likely be 16 gauge steel sheet.


I haven't quite worked out the details for how the back of the compartment will be attached to the floor above but I do have some ideas. I'm also considering not using the original gray water tank due to it's size and shape. I started looking for alternatives over the weekend and have found a few that might work.


Brad

[bkahler]

Steve, you might find this picture interesting.


This should give you a good idea as to how much clearance there is between the top of the air filter housing to the doghouse cover. The engine in the picture is a 350 but I think the carburetor deck height is the same between the 350 and the 454. Also this is the earliest style of doghouse so I don't know if the newer styles provide more or less clearance.

The round cylinder in the center of the cover is for some sort of table post. I think Airstream might have had an accessory table that sat on top of the doghouse so the driver and passenger would have a table.

To give you another idea of the clearance, the one in the picture is a standard air filter housing. The 345 I dismantled came with an extra tall air filter housing. The housing was about 1" to 1-1/2" taller than stock and it fit under the newer style of doghouse cover.


Brad

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

What size gray water tank(s) did you put in your's?

I will check when I go pick Bella up Brad....I was supposed to go Saturday but didn't feel great and it wasn't safe to drive!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

I will check when I go pick Bella up Brad....I was supposed to go Saturday but didn't feel great and it wasn't safe to drive!

Bella wasn't safe to drive or you weren't safe to drive?!

When do you head overseas again?

[martin300662]

Definitely me Brad; I could stand without loosing balance - and no alcohol was involved!

Actually I have no more oversees travel planned until April, but then very little of my travel is actually booked more than 2-3 days in advance so it hardly counts as being 'planned'.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Definitely me Brad; I could stand without loosing balance - and no alcohol was involved!

I went through something similar back in 2010 after a roll over car accident in Massachusetts. A visit to the hearing specialist and $50 later I walked out of her office cured!

Actually I have no more oversees travel planned until April, but then very little of my travel is actually booked more than 2-3 days in advance so it hardly counts as being 'planned'.

So the odds are you'll be on the road again in the near future

[bkahler]

I spent an hour or so last night trying to figure out the best place to locate the ECM for TBI system so I needed to do some mock up work in the cockpit. Where the cardboard is in the picture there will be a cover/hatch for access to the wiring just above the doghouse. This is the same area on the Argosies and Classics where the glove box is located. I plan on using the glove box door with the inner cup holder section removed which in effect just makes it a door. There is plenty of room in this area for the ECM and other associated relays, etc.


And for the heck of it I also temporarily installed the evaporator/heater box cover and side panel. I had forgotten how much the side panel protrudes into the cockpit, about 4" or so. The few times I sat in the passenger seat I don't remember the 4" being an issue and if I remember right the Classics have a side panel that protrudes about the same amount so I guess I shouldn't be to surprised!


I did notice the fit of the original side panel was horrible. I'll do a better job of getting the panels to fit if for no other reason that I know it's done right

It was actually kinda nice to be putting stuff back where it belongs, even if it does have to be removed again!


Brad