Martin's Argosy Rebuild Thread

[martin300662]

Second shakedown trip with Bella this weekend. New gas cap means the tank is venting properly but the high idle appears to be getting worse when hot so next step is to put it in to get the timing and carb setup checked. Otherwise a beautiful weekend on Salisbury Beach campground with the NEU WBCCI (50 or so trailers as well as a couple of Interstates, a Legacy, an early 28 Excella and Bella), plus over 100 vintage trailers. Downside is we must have had 60-70 people want to come look at her, and many folks came back 2, 3, 4 even more times to look again and take photos.



Also getting used to having a small entourage of cars/trucks etc buzzing around us waving, hooting, taking photos as we drive along, but I think we set a new level for people wanting to take a look at her when a guy showed up on Saturday and asked to look inside. After chatting to him for a while it became clear he wasn't even camping. He had seen us drive past his house with Bella the day before, and had spent his Saturday driving around local campsite trying to find us.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Also getting used to having a small entourage of cars/trucks etc buzzing around us waving, hooting, taking photos as we drive along, but I think we set a new level for people wanting to take a look at her when a guy showed up on Saturday and asked to look inside. After chatting to him for a while it became clear he wasn't even camping. He had seen us drive past his house with Bella the day before, and had spent his Saturday driving around local campsite trying to find us.

You can't get a better compliment than that!

As for the high idle, it might be worth it to check to see if the bolt is tight that holds the distributor in place. If it's loose the distributor might be rotating slightly. Use a 9/16" wrench and give the bolt a tug to see if its tight.

[Philuk]

Welcome to our world Martin, expect the same over here when you arrive.When most people step inside the first thing they say is WOW !!!, so expect a double WOW !!! with Bella. ( ours is a little tired inside ) Last weekend we actually had a line of people round to the spare wheel wanting a look inside. & one lady even tried to stop Debbie getting in as she thought she was pushing in ! & as for traveling get used to being looked at & people doing strange things. A couple in a Austin Healey slammed their brakes on in frount of us so that their friends in another car could take their photo with us behind them ?? They then just waved & sped off.
We are off to the Enfield Pagent of Motoring this weekend A large show with quite a lot of American vehicles in a special fenced off area next to the show ring. You can see pics from last year on their website, although we did not get our pic taken ( we are not polished but painted, get used to the comments of 'ruined that Airstream by painting it ' )
So enjoy a new chapter in your life .
Phil

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Second shakedown trip with Bella this weekend. New gas cap means the tank is venting properly but the high idle appears to be getting worse when hot so next step is to put it in to get the timing and carb setup checked. Otherwise a beautiful weekend on Salisbury Beach campground with the NEU WBCCI (50 or so trailers as well as a couple of Interstates, a Legacy, an early 28 Excella and Bella), plus over 100 vintage trailers. Downside is we must have had 60-70 people want to come look at her, and many folks came back 2, 3, 4 even more times to look again and take photos.



Also getting used to having a small entourage of cars/trucks etc buzzing around us waving, hooting, taking photos as we drive along, but I think we set a new level for people wanting to take a look at her when a guy showed up on Saturday and asked to look inside. After chatting to him for a while it became clear he wasn't even camping. He had seen us drive past his house with Bella the day before, and had spent his Saturday driving around local campsite trying to find us.

And I missed the inside tour!!!! 😕

Absolutely stunning to see it live. Truly beautiful - congrats!!!

[SteveSueMac]

Deleted double post

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

And I missed the inside tour!!!! 😕

Absolutely stunning to see it live. Truly beautiful - congrats!!!

We came around to take a look at the Tin Goat's new door but missed you as well!

We will be at the Diamonds in the Rough rally so can catch up then.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by Philuk

Welcome to our world Martin, expect the same over here when you arrive.When most people step inside the first thing they say is WOW !!!, so expect a double WOW !!! with Bella. ( ours is a little tired inside ) Last weekend we actually had a line of people round to the spare wheel wanting a look inside. & one lady even tried to stop Debbie getting in as she thought she was pushing in ! & as for traveling get used to being looked at & people doing strange things. A couple in a Austin Healey slammed their brakes on in frount of us so that their friends in another car could take their photo with us behind them ?? They then just waved & sped off.
We are off to the Enfield Pagent of Motoring this weekend A large show with quite a lot of American vehicles in a special fenced off area next to the show ring. You can see pics from last year on their website, although we did not get our pic taken ( we are not polished but painted, get used to the comments of 'ruined that Airstream by painting it ' )
So enjoy a new chapter in your life .
Phil

Maybe we will join you at Enfield next year Phil!

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by martin300662

We came around to take a look at the Tin Goat's new door but missed you as well!



We will be at the Diamonds in the Rough rally so can catch up then.

Let's make this the first thing we do! See you then!

[Philuk]

That would be great Martin, look forward to it
Phil

[martin300662]

Bella is getting plenty of use, but we have had to delay shipping to Europe until I am sure all the annoying issues are resolved. There are two real 'pains' that so far a couple of mechanics can't get there heads around.

The fast idle does not appear to be something simple (gas cap changed, timing has been checked, chokes are coming off as they should, idle adjusted correctly) and also seems to be related to the load the engine is under; for example Bella can be ticking over fine when sitting in drive and held on the brake, and then races when I put here in neutral - happy to listen to any suggestions.

She had new wheels and tires for the Get Together; I noticed the fronts (and in particular the passenger front) was not holding pressure. The shop worked on the valves and now claim they are holding pressure but we noticed about half way home from the Get Together we started to get a lot of road vibration (through the whole cab but especially the steering) between 25-35mph; above 35mph and it disappears. Feels like the front tires are made of concrete, and it is getting worse. Certainly even when the pressures are correct the vibration is still there. Bella already has new SuperSteer bellcranks, new suspension, brakes (disks, pads and calipers), bearings, steering dampener etc but also has centramatics both front a rear - any suggestions?

[Isuzusweet]

Martin

A PO installed a brand new set of Hercules tires on our 1995 Jaguar XJS convertible. I noticed a vibration and steering shimmy at speeds only between 100-110 kph. I had the wheels rebalance after having the rims refinished, painted and tires remounted. The vibration continued and was discovered to be a bad tire that was completely out of round. The tires can be balanced, sort of, but once out of round they wear differently and quickly go out of balance again. A new set of Pirelli's solved the issue once and for all.

Cheers
Tony

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Bella is getting plenty of use, but we have had to delay shipping to Europe until I am sure all the annoying issues are resolved. There are two real 'pains' that so far a couple of mechanics can't get there heads around.

The fast idle does not appear to be something simple (gas cap changed, timing has been checked, chokes are coming off as they should, idle adjusted correctly) and also seems to be related to the load the engine is under; for example Bella can be ticking over fine when sitting in drive and held on the brake, and then races when I put here in neutral - happy to listen to any suggestions.

She had new wheels and tires for the Get Together; I noticed the fronts (and in particular the passenger front) was not holding pressure. The shop worked on the valves and now claim they are holding pressure but we noticed about half way home from the Get Together we started to get a lot of road vibration (through the whole cab but especially the steering) between 25-35mph; above 35mph and it disappears. Feels like the front tires are made of concrete, and it is getting worse. Certainly even when the pressures are correct the vibration is still there. Bella already has new SuperSteer bellcranks, new suspension, brakes (disks, pads and calipers), bearings, steering dampener etc but also has centramatics both front a rear - any suggestions?

Centramatic claims that their balancers start to work at ~35 mph...

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Bella is getting plenty of use, but we have had to delay shipping to Europe until I am sure all the annoying issues are resolved. There are two real 'pains' that so far a couple of mechanics can't get there heads around.

Sounds like a long test drive to Kentucky is in order.

The fast idle does not appear to be something simple (gas cap changed, timing has been checked, chokes are coming off as they should, idle adjusted correctly) and also seems to be related to the load the engine is under; for example Bella can be ticking over fine when sitting in drive and held on the brake, and then races when I put her in neutral - happy to listen to any suggestions.

Sure sounds like a vacuum leak to me. Possible sources could be the port between the carburetor and the distributor, transmission servo (you replaced this already), carburetor ports and the intake manifold itself could have a bad gasket.

She had new wheels and tires for the Get Together; I noticed the fronts (and in particular the passenger front) was not holding pressure. The shop worked on the valves and now claim they are holding pressure but we noticed about half way home from the Get Together we started to get a lot of road vibration (through the whole cab but especially the steering) between 25-35mph; above 35mph and it disappears. Feels like the front tires are made of concrete, and it is getting worse. Certainly even when the pressures are correct the vibration is still there. Bella already has new SuperSteer bellcranks, new suspension, brakes (disks, pads and calipers), bearings, steering dampener etc but also has centramatics both front a rear - any suggestions?

When did you take the first trip with the new tires? I know you swapped tires and gave Peanut Bella's old tires. As Tony mentioned out of round tires can cause vibrations at various speeds. If Bella road fine before and the only thing that's changed are the tires and wheels then my first reaction would be the tires are at fault.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Centramatic claims that their balancers start to work at ~35 mph...

Good to know Peter

The vibration doesn't feel like normal tire balancing, more like consent chatter; imagine driving over a very corrugated concrete surface - actually feels harmonic rather than out of balance!

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Sounds like a long test drive to Kentucky is in order.



Sure sounds like a vacuum leak to me. Possible sources could be the port between the carburetor and the distributor, transmission servo (you replaced this already), carburetor ports and the intake manifold itself could have a bad gasket.

I will check this out Brad. Bella is back in the shop now so won't be for a few days.

Originally Posted by bkahler

When did you take the first trip with the new tires? I know you swapped tires and gave Peanut Bella's old tires. As Tony mentioned out of round tires can cause vibrations at various speeds. If Bella road fine before and the only thing that's changed are the tires and wheels then my first reaction would be the tires are at fault.

This only started after approx 700miles on the new wheels/tires, for the first 700miles the new wheels/tires were absolutely fine. To me seems to be getting worse; and is definitely related to road speed, if I drop in neutral it is still there, if I take my foot off the gas it is still there.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

I will check this out Brad. Bella is back in the shop now so won't be for a few days.

Forgot to mention the gasket between the carburetor and the intake manifold.

This only started after approx 700miles on the new wheels/tires, for the first 700miles the new wheels/tires were absolutely fine. To me seems to be getting worse; and is definitely related to road speed, if I drop in neutral it is still there, if I take my foot off the gas it is still there.

The out of round tires I had on the 310 were noticeable from the get go. I wonder if your tires are starting to break down internally?

You might also try rotating the tires front to back to see if that makes any difference.

[martin300662]

Hmmm......valves changed, two days in the tire check tank shows no drop in pressure or evidence of leakage, and it is being reported that there is no surface vibration now - could it have been that simple?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Hmmm......valves changed, two days in the tire check tank shows no drop in pressure or evidence of leakage, and it is being reported that there is no surface vibration now - could it have been that simple?

There's always a first time for everything

Hopefully your problem is solved.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Good to know Peter

The vibration doesn't feel like normal tire balancing, more like consent chatter; imagine driving over a very corrugated concrete surface - actually feels harmonic rather than out of balance!

Martin, just a wild guess here:
Did it sound like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhP4dslxY2M

if so, you need different pads with a tighter fit and a clip

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Martin, just a wild guess here:
Did it sound like this

if so, you need different pads with a tighter fit and a clip

I will check it out Peter, but a better description would be it is like driving on a rubble strip!