'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[martin300662]

Will be glad to get Peanut out of your hair Brad.

Great news that yours is not feeling too neglected!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Will be glad to get Peanut out of your hair Brad.

Great news that yours is not feeling too neglected!

Nah, the Argosy isn't really being neglected. The real problem is I kept putting off all the other little (and big) activities that needed to be done around here which meant I've gotten SO far behind on everything else something had to give.

With luck this fall will allow for more time on the Argosy

Brad

[bkahler]

As I mentioned in some previous posts, my plans for late summer or early fall are to hopefully replace the dented left rear quarter panel and an 8' section of the drivers side lower middle panel.

During recent discussions with Peter he mentioned there was a scarcity of Olympic rivets which prompted both of us to start checking with suppliers. As most of you already know, you use Olympic rivets when performing exterior panel repair work. I did a quick inventory of the Olympic rivets I had on hand and realized I probably didn't have enough to do the panel repair work.

I placed orders with two different companies and they were both canceled. I then found a source through Amazon that has actually provided shipment tracking information and I had a conversation with a supplier this morning that confirmed he could ship the rivets that I was trying to order. So I should now be set with a cache of around 600 Olympic rivets on hand.

Here is the Amazon link and here is a link to the other vendor, Jay-Cee Sales & Rivets Inc. Part # RV6607-5-05W.

Both of these rivets have the little rubber o-rings that need to be removed before using the rivet.

Brad

[bkahler]

Well, it's been a while since I posted any update to my Argosy build. I haven't really spent any time on it the last few months, too many other things taking up my time. However, since moving Peanut out of the shop I've started cleaning, organizing and throwing away a bunch of junk that I've accumulated over the years.

I spent today organizing the area of the shop where all of the Argosy parts are stored and after clearing some space I decided to spend a couple of hours tackling the window install in the door I will be putting on the Argosy. The original door was badly bend from someone using a crowbar to get inside so I had previously installed the door from my old 310 (it got a 345 door!). But as luck would have it I managed to buy a door from a 78 Argosy (thanks John!) so I opted to use that door instead as there were issues with the 310 door even though it was better than the original door.

My original door had a window but the 78 door didn't so I had been planning to swap the window from my original door to the 78 but just hadn't gotten around to it. Well, today I got a good start on completing that task. Previously I had removed the inner panels from the 78 door and the window from the original door.

So today's task was to locate the opening in the new door and then cut and fit the window. Cutting the aluminum with the snips I had turned out to be a challenge. I could only cut about an inch before I had to provide a relief cut along side it. The skin is just to stiff otherwise.

The next task will be to actually install the window. I counted 56 rivets in this window! I'm glad I stocked up on Olympic rivets recently





Brad

[PeterH-350LE]

Good to see you tackle some project on your Argosy! Yes, no joy cutting that aluminum with snips. I prefer my Bosch jig saw with a fine metal blade for the round corners and Air shears for the straight runs. They are inexpensive, but require a beefy compressor to run them continuously (130-140 psi)

[bkahler]

Morning Peter.

I have a pair of electric sheet metal shears from Eastwood that I could have used, however they were up in my garage and I was too lazy to take the time to go get them!




The window is ready to rivet in place, all of the holes of been drilled to 5/32" for the Olympic rivets. Sometime this week I'll actually rivet the window in place.




As part of cutting the hole in the door skin for the window I have to use the upper interior panel from my original door because it has the trimmed opening for the window. My original skin was filthy dirty and I figured it would likely never come clean. Needless to say I was really surprised when I tried using Simple Green at full strength. The panel came out close to spotless. I didn't get a picture of the panel completely cleaned but I did take a shot highlighting the difference between clean and dirty




Brad

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Morning Peter.

I have a pair of electric sheet metal shears from Eastwood that I could have used, however they were up in my garage and I was too lazy to take the time to go get them!

Attachment 376767


The window is ready to rivet in place, all of the holes of been drilled to 5/32" for the Olympic rivets. Sometime this week I'll actually rivet the window in place.

Attachment 376771Attachment 376772


As part of cutting the hole in the door skin for the window I have to use the upper interior panel from my original door because it has the trimmed opening for the window. My original skin was filthy dirty and I figured it would likely never come clean. Needless to say I was really surprised when I tried using Simple Green at full strength. The panel came out close to spotless. I didn't get a picture of the panel completely cleaned but I did take a shot highlighting the difference between clean and dirty

Attachment 376764


Brad

Just remember to install the roller-blind before refitting the inner skin Brad. Ask me why? Because I have a nearly 're-canvased' blind sitting waiting to be refitted next time the inner skins come off as ASME 'forgot' it install it last time and they can only be fitted when the skins are off.

[bkahler]

Martin, that's a good reminder! While doing some reorganizing last weekend I did find the new roller-blind sitting on a shelf. However I neglected to pull it down so it would be handy, maybe I ought to do that

Thanks!

Brad

[bkahler]

I did find this picture that I took as I was removing the window from the original door back in 2013. Looking at this picture now I realize I have to move the aluminum mounting strip from my old door to the new door.





I would have to say the insulation in the door is just a little bit disappointing. It obviously didn't stand up well to the rigors of time




I do plan on doing a little better job of insulating than Airstream did


Brad

[bkahler]

As I was trying to figure out which door hinges to use on the new door I discovered an interesting detail. The original trailer hinges (suicide doors) had the hinge pins installed from the top. That way the wouldn't vibrate out while driving.

Looking at the hinges on the door currently on my Argosy which is an 84 310 door it also has the hinge pins installed from the top although they are the normal (non suicide type) door. So in reality there is a difference between trailer and motorhome doors.

Oddly enough I have three different sets of Argosy motorhome door hinges, all of them have the hinge pin installed from the bottom. That tells me that Airstream used trailer hinges on all of the Argosies and sometime early in the Classic production they switched and put the pins on top.

Just a bit of trivia

1984 310 hinge viewed from the top.


Argosy mh hinges viewed from the top.



Brad

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by bkahler

As I was trying to figure out which door hinges to use on the new door I discovered an interesting detail. The original trailer hinges (suicide doors) had the hinge pins installed from the top. That way the wouldn't vibrate out while driving.

Looking at the hinges on the door currently on my Argosy which is an 84 310 door it also has the hinge pins installed from the top although they are the normal (non suicide type) door. So in reality there is a difference between trailer and motorhome doors.

Oddly enough I have three different sets of Argosy motorhome door hinges, all of them have the hinge pin installed from the bottom. That tells me that Airstream used trailer hinges on all of the Argosies and sometime early in the Classic production they switched and put the pins on top.

Just a bit of trivia

1984 310 hinge viewed from the top.
Attachment 376818

Argosy mh hinges viewed from the top.
Attachment 376819
Attachment 376820

Brad

Airstream would never ever use hinges with the pins installed from the bottom,haha

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

I did find this picture that I took as I was removing the window from the original door back in 2013. Looking at this picture now I realize I have to move the aluminum mounting strip from my old door to the new door.


Attachment 376782


I would have to say the insulation in the door is just a little bit disappointing. It obviously didn't stand up well to the rigors of time

Attachment 376783


I do plan on doing a little better job of insulating than Airstream did


Brad

Hmmm...

Bella has a thermoformed plastic insert that acts as a window close-out between the outer and inner skins as well as housing the roller blind. Looks totally different to your setup Brad.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Airstream would never ever use hinges with the pins installed from the bottom,haha

Peter, I'm not sure what alternate reality you're living in but in my reality they did

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Hmmm...

Bella has a thermoformed plastic insert that acts as a window close-out between the outer and inner skins as well as housing the roller blind. Looks totally different to your setup Brad.

Bella is a 75 model year and mine is a 74 and I believe a very early 74. My Argosy had a lot of strange little features not found on any other Argosy that I've seen.

The door window was not installed with buck rivets or olympic rivets. It was installed with typical pop rivets. Yet the interior panel had rolled edges around the window opening which tells me they had to have done that at the factory.

I'd like to see a picture of your window close-out.

Brad

[martin300662]

Bella's door did not have a window at all, so I bought a damaged door from a classic (bottom half was damaged and so the window and internals was moved over to Bella's door).

Trouble is I never took a photos whilst it was apart, but remember there being a ABS panel between the skins.

We have a storm coming through UK for the next few days, but will try and get a photo later in the week.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Bella's door did not have a window at all, so I bought a damaged door from a classic (bottom half was damaged and so the window and internals was moved over to Bella's door).

Trouble is I never took a photos whilst it was apart, but remember there being a ABS panel between the skins.

We have a storm coming through UK for the next few days, but will try and get a photo later in the week.

That explains things! The 84 310 door is just like you describe for Bella's window arrangement.

On my original door the opening that was cut out in the inner skin has a rolled edge on it that was fabricated with some sort of bead roller.

[mayco]

Window is looking great Brad.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

Window is looking great Brad.

Thanks Mike

[bkahler]

While working on the window installation I realized that the upper left side of the door had a gradual bend in it that if left would keep the door from closing properly. The bend kinda looked like the door had been stepped on at some point.

Knowing I couldn't install the door the way it was I figured I better straighten it now while the inner skin was removed and before the window was installed.

The first step was to trace the shape of the door frame of the Argosy using a 2x6. I then cut the curve using a bandsaw and verified that it matched the curve of the door frame. As a secondary check I compared the pattern to the original door screen door and it matched perfectly.

While comparing the pattern to the new door I found that the lower left side edge also had a bend to it. The pictures below give an idea of what I was dealing with.











I still have a little more straightening to do on the upper left side but not much. I will probably wait until I can trial fit the door to the Argosy before I try and tweak it anymore.

Fortunately door straightening didn't turn out to be quite as difficult as I was thinking it would be, just lots of trial and error fitting


Brad

[mayco]

I’ve needed to tweek my door several times in order to get the fit and latch function working better. I’ve always done it with the door in place on the rig but I sure like your jig there Brad. Good thinking. Clamps are our friend , never have too many clamps!