'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[bkahler]

A sneak peak with the bumper sorta installed. I think it's starting to look pretty darn good for a 45 year old vehicle



I'm extremely pleased with how well the reproduction front valance (lower banana wrap) fits. Without Martin's help, having access to the reproduction parts never would have happened. Thanks Martin!

Brad

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

A sneak peak with the bumper sorta installed. I think it's starting to look pretty darn good for a 45 year old vehicle

Attachment 342413

I'm extremely pleased with how well the reproduction front valance (lower banana wrap) fits. Without Martin's help, having access to the reproduction parts never would have happened. Thanks Martin!

Brad

Its getting to that time you you are going to have to name her/him/it.

But seriously any 'help' I give, gets paid back; and then some!

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Outbackga

What fence?

Sorry for the hijack, Brad, I just had to comment on this beauty. What a rare Bird, so very well kept/restored!!

[Outbackga]

Thanks, 22 foot Cayo 1973

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by Outbackga

Thanks, 22 foot Cayo 1973

Very nice

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by bkahler

A sneak peak with the bumper sorta installed. I think it's starting to look pretty darn good for a 45 year old vehicle


Brad

Damn, Brad that really looks good. You know Bumpers tell the story of the vehicle and yours is too straight for comfort. Is it the original?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Damn, Brad that really looks good. You know Bumpers tell the story of the vehicle and yours is too straight for comfort. Is it the original?

That's the original front bumper. I have a couple of older pictures showing where it appears to be bent but when I took it off and laid it on the floor it laid nice and flat

The rear bumper was a different story. It had a nice twist on the drivers side. Fortunately Martin found a couple of NOS rear bumpers and sent one my way.

[bkahler]

I finished fitting the front bumper today. It's sort of a jigsaw puzzle compared to the original installation due to the in-flexibility of the fiberglass front valance. The old ABS valance had plenty of give so it could be twisted around brackets. Definitely not so with the new fiberglass piece. I copied how the bumper was mounted to Martin's Bella and it worked out very well. I've ordered some nice 1/2" stainless button head screws for the final installation.








I'll set the valance and bumper aside for now and won't re-install them until after it's painted. I've got one more task to do and I'm moving it outside, hopefully this weekend.

Brad

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

I finished fitting the front bumper today. It's sort of a jigsaw puzzle compared to the original installation due to the in-flexibility of the fiberglass front valance. The old ABS valance had plenty of give so it could be twisted around brackets. Definitely not so with the new fiberglass piece. I copied how the bumper was mounted to Martin's Bella and it worked out very well. I've ordered some nice 1/2" stainless button head screws for the final installation.

Attachment 342717Attachment 342718

Attachment 342719Attachment 342720

Attachment 342721Attachment 342722


I'll set the valance and bumper aside for now and won't re-install them until after it's painted. I've got one more task to do and I'm moving it outside, hopefully this weekend.

Brad

Looking great Brad

[bkahler]

Ok, the Argosy is parked outside now



I've been dreading this moment since the day I moved into the shop in September of 2015. It's hard to believe it's been over 3-1/2 years since then. The good news is if there are leaks, with the Coosa board floor there won't be any damage. Right now about 1/3 or so of the interior skin has been removed. I plan on removing the rest for the remodel and at the same time see if I can identify any potential leaks. There is supposed to be heavy rains today and tomorrow so I shouldn't have long to wait!

Now to clean up 3 plus years of mess in the shop and then move Peanut in for some work.

Brad

[martin300662]

Congratulations Brad!

Any chance of some photos of your MH and Peanut side by side?

[bkahler]

I snapped these this morning. One of these days I'll find a spot to park them side be side for better pictures.

[martin300662]

Sweet!

[bkahler]

We had a good downpour that lasted for about a half hour this morning. I had been waiting for a good downpour so I could evaluate just how well the Argosy was sealed from the elements.

The good news is the windshield gasket doesn't appear to be leaking!

The bad news is there are lots of leaks elsewhere

In a half hour this drip on the drivers side led to this puddle.


The same drip on the passenger side led to a similar puddle.


I'm not sure yet where these two leaks are coming from but my best guess would be the Jack antenna or else the air conditioner gasket.

The cockpit window tracks sealed just just fine, however the bedroom window had a huge puddle in the track itself that then spilled over the sides. Not sure what caused this but will definitely have to figure it out.


When I installed the tail light housings from an Airstream trailer I custom cut closed cell foam gaskets in the hopes that they would seal properly. The drivers side seemed to do ok but the passenger side has a pretty good drip associated with it. I may have to rethink how to seal the housings


The leaky tail light gasket leak led to a nice puddle on the floor and also a small river inside the bottom channel.


Another area of concern is the pano windows and for that matter all the fixed pane windows. Here's a drip somewhere around the rear pushout window and the passenger side pano. There is a possibility this leak could be associated with the rivet holes from the rear rub rail that has been removed.


Even if the rub rail was installed the rivets used are not sealed in anyway so water could easily wick through the holes. I've seen that happen in several places over the years.

And yet another leak on the drivers side pano towards the front. This leak appears to be coming right through the gray track that the window sits in.


A small bit of good news is the gaskets I made for the reverse lights seem to be working. Once the Argosy is painted I will be using double sided tape in place of paper gaskets for the reverse lights. That should help even more.

Needless to say I've got a lot of work ahead trying to get all of these leaks fixed. I can't really start installing the interior until they are fixed. I do plan on removing all of the interior aluminum panels which will give me the opportunity to track down all leaks. We'll see.....

Brad

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by bkahler

...

And yet another leak on the drivers side pano towards the front. This leak appears to be coming right through the gray track that the window sits in.
...
Brad

Bummer, Brad. Short of tearing those windows apart, here is my somewhat "proven" way of dealing with those leaking stationary windows:
1. from the outside and inside use compressed air to try to blow out any dirt.
2. Use a spray bottle with chlorox and apply a fine spray to go in the tiny space. You have to kill the mold for any sealant to stick permanantly. Protect pure aluminum panels, since strong clorox may etch it. This needs to dry for a couple of days, best in strong sun light.

3. Clean the glass and grey gasket with Lacquer thinner and use tempro 635 gray sealant, not vulkem 112, its too gritty for this job and press it in the grey gasket as hard as you can. Yes, you can use masking tape to protect, but I use paint thinner to help thin the Tempro a little more while I clean it up.
This worked for me after I realized most stationary windows leak in MH's as well as trailers.

[martin300662]

If it is any help, I have had to do something similar to Peter’ method with one additional and one alternate step.

The additional step is to use Creeping Crack Cure before the sealant step.

The alternate was I had to use a different Sika urethane sealant due to availability in UK.

[bkahler]

Thanks Peter and Martin, that sounds like a good solution to solving the fixed window leak problem. I'm still reorganizing the shop so I won't be able to park the Argosy back inside until probably later next month after Peanut's been worked over. I'll worry about those windows at that time.

I was wondering if Creeping Crack Cure would work by itself but it sounds like Tempro is definitely needed. I'm going to finish ripping out the rest of the interior panels which should make it real easy to pin point any other leaks.

Thanks!

Brad

[martin300662]

I found the old gasket was actually pulled away from the glass in some places and below the frame in others so the sealant was needed as well as the CCC to prevent the water ‘pooling’.

Basically it needed to create a slope for water to run off rather than collect.

[bkahler]

Fortunately I don't think any of the gray track is pulled away on my windows.

I figure this water proofing effort is going to take most of the summer. I'd prefer to get it right the first time

[Isuzusweet]

How's that Coosa Kool-Aid Brad? Delicious isn't it.[emoji3]
As I've stated before....pricey, yes; but peace of mind is priceless.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony