Just bought my first Argosy for $120!

[GlenCoombe]

Just yesterday I was re-doing some of my trim inserts. Nice to see you have a helper.

BTW I got the trim in both sizes from the PO who hadn't got round to it so the fact that I've waited 4 years isn't the end of the world. Nice to see it in orange.

Keep up the great work.

[sharbours]

Wow - it looks great! Did you repaint the whole thing, or just the endcaps? What kind & color of paint did you use? We've used a Krylon spray paint on the endcaps, but the color doesn't match very well.

The fabric for the curtains & upholstery is really neat; your wife did a great job! We're also thinking of replacing the foam for our cushions with something a little more sturdy. Where did you get yours?

Glad to see you've gotten so much done - can't wait to see more pictures!

[projector]

A previous owner already took care of the orange in ours. There is evidence of it on the underside of tables etc. Luckily I didn't have to make the decision. They also painted our dash neutral tan in an attempt to match the seats he put in...it's close. Looking at your photos I realized I'm missing the flip down drink hold tray thingy over the motor box. Something I plan on making, now I have a reference.

It looks great! Keep it up.

[Ganaraska]

How to clean a mucky steering wheel, get some waterless hand cleaner of the white creamy type (not the orange gritty stuff). Smear it on the wheel and leave it for an hour. Then wash off with a rag and some hot water.

This will get it perfectly clean without damage to the plastic.

[projector]

[QUOTE=Ganaraska;850851]How to clean a mucky steering wheel, get some waterless hand cleaner of the white creamy type (not the orange gritty stuff). Smear it on the wheel and leave it for an hour. Then wash off with a rag and some hot water.

That's a good tip, thanks. Ours has gotten better with use, probably from grit from my hands, but the center is still pretty bad.

[RichHog]

Give us a running total on what your $120 Argosy cost with your upgrades. Hopefully you'll stay in the "what a deal" mode for years down the road.

[gmehal]

Originally Posted by nohillgrish

You are making amazing progress. Thanks for the detail of projects tackled and results. Just curious about the before and after exterior cleaning photo's. I understood you to say you just gave it a good cleaning. However, in one of the photo's it looks like windows are taped off as you would for painting. Whatever you've done, the "after" photo looks great!!

Yes we did "krylon " a few spots including the rear cap. The color we got, Ivory I believe, matches pretty well. The whole MH really needs a new paint job but for now touch ups is all its getting. We also did the lower skirt and mid stripe. We got some paint mixed from Napa auto parts, metallic brown. We then used a sprayer and did it in the driveway in a few hours. That with the touch up, orange strip now its bearable. We still need to do something with the front cap. We will be doing a vinyl wrap on that part so stay tuned that should be interesting.

[gmehal]

Originally Posted by sharbours

We're also thinking of replacing the foam for our cushions with something a little more sturdy. Where did you get yours?

Glad to see you've gotten so much done - can't wait to see more pictures!

Local foam place cut us new foam from the originals, not cheap but sooo worth it

[gmehal]

Originally Posted by Ganaraska

How to clean a mucky steering wheel, get some waterless hand cleaner of the white creamy type (not the orange gritty stuff). Smear it on the wheel and leave it for an hour. Then wash off with a rag and some hot water.

This will get it perfectly clean without damage to the plastic.

OH MY GOD THANK YOU!! Thats probably the only thing I havent tried. Ill report back with photos of that one!

[gmehal]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Give us a running total on what your $120 Argosy cost with your upgrades. Hopefully you'll stay in the "what a deal" mode for years down the road.

So far I say we have invested maybe 2-3k, the most expensive being the Fuel injection kit at $1400

Depending on fixability of the furnace, water heater and AC were looking at another 1k to complete.

Still a bargain in my book

[sharbours]

Originally Posted by gmehal

Local foam place cut us new foam from the originals, not cheap but sooo worth it

We're local too - what's the name of the place?

[projector]

Originally Posted by gmehal

So far I say we have invested maybe 2-3k, the most expensive being the Fuel injection kit at $1400

Depending on fixability of the furnace, water heater and AC were looking at another 1k to complete.

Still a bargain in my book

I'm watching this myself. We bought ours cheap and I'm hoping to stay in the $4000-$4500 after setting it up. I'll race you.

[gmehal]

Originally Posted by sharbours

We're local too - what's the name of the place?

I believe its "A1 Foam" in SE

[DEITZ645]

Suburban furnace is odd. With gas on at main and thermostat set to on the fan blows nut no heat. Simply cannot figure out how to light the damn thing. Seems like its an auto ignition because theres no manual lighter etc. Any thought would be great.

It could be the sail switch (long metal paddle attached to a microswitch) that senses airflow from the blower fan. If it isn't working the gas solenoid will never open and the ignitor will not spark. If you remove the front access cover on the furance there is a sight glass on the lower left where you can see the burner assembly and the ignitor / thermocouple will be in the same general area. If it is a Suburban NT-30 I think the direct replacement is an NT-30SP. Since it it about 35 years old it may be better to replace it. Removal is fairly straight forward; TURN OFF PROPANE, disconnect 12V plug on right side of furnace, disconnect flare fitting gas supply at furnace, remove two mounting screws on inside of furnace, and remove one long screw from intake/exhaust vent on exterior of RV, then is should slide right out.

[gmehal]

Think I figured out the heater issue from talking with another Argosy owner in Canada with the exact same model. Seems like the ignitor and reset switches are missing from mine!.. Who knows but I think that mystery is solved.

[gmehal]

Well alot has changed from my last post including our maiden voyage! Here's the rundown.


Not sure if I mentioned this before but we tried upgrading the old quadrajet carb to a throttle body injection kit. To sum up an excruciatingly long and expensive story we are now back to a new Holly carb and electronic fuel pump and it works great! Right out of the box it was literally slapped on in a couple hours and immediately ran perfect! all we had to do was adjust the idle speed. Here are some pics of the "Professional Products Powerjection 3" kit. We went thought 3 of these kits with each one having an issue, 3 strikes and your out I say! A new intake plenum was used because the height changed with the Fuel injection kit. Im still using this with the new holly carb.

You can also see how we insulated the doghouse cover. There was no insulation and the heat buildup and noise was terrible. Adding this made a HUGE difference. We used a spray glue which initially worked but later started to fall off. We have since then used some large washers and self tapping screws to secure it.


Installed new front brake pads and lines overall.

installed new carpet tiles in the Moho, not exactly the color we wanted so we might redo it but it works for now. Did that in about a day and the doghouse took a day as well.

Cleaned the water tank, what a job. Did what everyone said using bleach. Then all these black bits of crap kept coming through the system. MANY tanks later there are still a few black bits that come through but we can live with it. I think because nobody drained the tank for a couple years all the black goo just grew in there. FYI also used a half cup of dishwasher powder. That really worked well after a few days of sloshing around.

Noticed that there the transmission has NO kick down switch. Going up a large hill fully loaded I was just waiting and waiting and waattiiingggg for the trans to down shift but no luck. I did it manually and then stopped at a service station. Guy looked under gas pedal and said there was no switch there, guess I have to hunt that down! Also developed a trans leak on our first trip. Discovered that I apparently was never really getting the trans hot because when looking at the dipstick after hauling with a full load I noticed it was WAY overfilled therefore it was spilling out. Note to all, check trans fluid after a fully loaded pull uphill to put some real heat into the trans. The leak eventually stopped and I took out a pint when I got back so all is well.

Cleaned the steering wheel as per someones advice. Used the non water based hand cleaner and it worked great, for a while A month later its getting sticky again.

Replaced all window seals and schledge. Schledge was easier than I thought but the vertical seals were a bitch! Left a few out due to difficulty. The outer rain seal also docent fit all that great and ends up being a rain catch! Got it from Inland RV and am wondering if its the right stuff. They also didnt send me the right amount for all my windows. If you order from them I suggest you measure exactly how much you get. I was short 3 Side windows and more! Ii have yet to call them on this.

More in next post....

[gmehal]

Outer poor fitting rain seals

[gmehal]

Also from Inland RV was installed the Orange trim strip. I am very dissapointed with this product from them! First off again they sent me the wrong amount. Need another 6 ft to complete and they will only sell 50ft rolls!!!!!!

Not only that but the color almost immediately fades. This really pissed me off.
After 6 weeks in cloudy portland during the winter it lost easily 35% of its color if not half! Check out the difference in the photos!

[gmehal]

Installed a weld on rear roller to the bottom of the trailer hitch, now when it drags at least it rolls.

Installed Roof rack which now hold spare tire and more in cargo basket. Also installed roof box. Now theres plenty of storage. I bought a collapsable ladder from home depot which extends to 13ft and collapses down to 3.5ft. to get to the rack. In the hitch is the 4 bike carrier.

[gmehal]

Figured out a way to retrofit some. Seems like nobody makes direct replacements. I found some in a truck stop for $10 a piece. Slightly trimmed the housing on all 4 sides, took out existing lens and glued the round tailight to the square lens. Wired us and wa la! LED tailights!