Martin's Argosy Rebuild Thread

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Danec020

I agree with Martin! Hopefully I am stable enough to deal with mine. :/

My guess is the jury is still out on a lot of us

[martin300662]

So a quick update on work to get Bella road legal in the UK.....

Firstly the painful. Even though Bella was under guard at the port in the UK, we have found that all my tools vanished between Newark and Liverpool. If the cost of replacement wasn't enough (and the missing tools included a brand new $300 Viair 40047 400P-RV kit), they also included the special tool to remove the wheel nuts, so work has come to a halt until I can source a replacement.

The not so good....even though the GearVendors was installed only 4 months ago, and at the time the trans was inspected, levels checked etc. The sump pan gasket is leaking and she has dropped oil over the shop floor. Also the emergency brake system, checked and replaced last Jan, is not working, and the mechanic that did the brakes reported that the steering pump was leaking/belt slipping and was fixed. Apparently the 'fix' included wedging a bar between the reservoir and the motor to act as a lever and tighten the belt, and in doing so has buckled the reservoir which now needs replacing.

The plain ugly..... Bella is badly failing emissions. This does not sound drastic but the carb has been rebuilt by Dick Paterson, so should be sound. The shop is checking the engine to make sure it is sound, and the issues is just ignition/carb. My concern has been the old 350 doesn't have a lot of miles but is 40 years old. I needed the motor to be standard for importation but we could be looking at a 350HO/Holey swap sooner rather than later.

Of course none of this was expected as Bella has gone through 4 shops in the last 12 months alone and each time the remit was 'report anything you see, not just the work she is no for', and I was expecting a simple change of the lights.

[SteveSueMac]

Oh man - when it rains on Bella, it pours! You are one dedicated gent! Airstream should present you with an award for most persistent, loving resto!

Good luck to you and Bella!!

[bkahler]

If the power steering pump reservoir looks like the one in Peanut you might have a hard time finding a replacement unit. When I was trying to replace Peanut's power steering pump I couldn't find a complete unit, I had to buy just the pump and reuse the old reservoir.


I'll start looking around to see what I can find.

The parking brake issue is somewhat baffling, there isn't a lot to the system.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by martin300662

.... and at the time the trans was inspected, levels checked etc. The sump pan gasket is leaking and she has dropped oil over the shop floor. ....

Martin, Before you pull the pan, have someone check the speedometer gear housing seals (there are 2 seals). They are notorious to harden and leak and make it appear like the pan gasket is leaking. A very easy and cheap fix.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Oh man - when it rains on Bella, it pours! You are one dedicated gent! Airstream should present you with an award for most persistent, loving resto!

Good luck to you and Bella!!

We will get there!

I was hoping the shop would take its time in making the changes as we don't move into the new house until Thursday, and there is nowhere to park her until then....but can do without the extra work needing to be done!

[bkahler]

This should be the power steering pump that you need.

I'm rather surprised that there are still some out there.

Brad

[Isuzusweet]

Bloody hell Martin. Bella isn't willing to go off into the sunset without a fight is she! Just getting revenge for 1812 and you Brits/Canucks burning down the Whitehouse and all public buildings in D.C .

Adds a whole new meaning to "keep a stiff upper lip" my friend.

Cheers
Tony

[martin300662]

The spline lug nut socket and the replacement steering pump are on order (yet another big thank you to Brad for finding the part and offering to receive them and ship on).

Our run of bad luck has continued this evening when our dog Missy had a stroke, and although we rushed her to the vet, she didn't make it. 14 years old which is ancient for a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Relocated from the UK to the US and back....twice, she had her own passport. Our constant companion and occupier of the 'dog house' whenever we went anywhere in Bella. Hasn't really sunk in yet, but it will.

[Danec020]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Martin. It's hard losing a companion after they've been with you so long. We recently had the same happen. Best wishes.

Dane

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by martin300662

The spline lug nut socket and the replacement steering pump are on order (yet another big thank you to Brad for finding the part and offering to receive them and ship on).



Our run of bad luck has continued this evening when our dog Missy had a stroke, and although we rushed her to the vet, she didn't make it. 14 years old which is ancient for a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Relocated from the UK to the US and back....twice, she had her own passport. Our constant companion and occupier of the 'dog house' whenever we went anywhere in Bella. Hasn't really sunk in yet, but it will.

So sorry to hear about Missy 😢

They so crawl in to our hearts - it aches when they leave that spot. I hope years of happy memories help you through.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Martin, Before you pull the pan, have someone check the speedometer gear housing seals (there are 2 seals). They are notorious to harden and leak and make it appear like the pan gasket is leaking. A very easy and cheap fix.

Leak seems to be coming from the pan seal Peter.





Although the shops definition of a significant oil leak seems different to mine....leaking yes....significant? It is a 40 years old trans for heavens sake!

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Leak seems to be coming from the pan seal Peter.

Although the shops definition of a significant oil leak seems different to mine....leaking yes....significant? It is a 40 years old trans for heavens sake!

Could also be the governor cover gasket or bolt seal. I had to replace my bolts with pan style bolts to get them to stop leaking.

[martin300662]

Changing topic, I went and collected the portable transformer we are going to use to connect Bella to UK/European shore power today.

I bought a commercial, 'site' (as in, designed to be used on a construction site) 3KVA transformer when Bella first arrived, and made a adapter using a 30amp (US RV plug) dogbone and fitted a 16amp (UK 110V) plug just to get us going, but these site transformers are not capable of delivering good stable power over long periods.

So Marc Harris from the Europe unit WBCCI specified and then built a portable transformer from a 3KVA Airlink toroidal transformer (rated for constant output) into a Pelican case fitted with a European style shore connector on the supply side and a regular 30amp outlet for my Furrion 30amp cable....very neat and only weighs about 25lbs so easily carry-able, and most importantly means no need to change any coach wiring within Bella.

[bkahler]

Very cool!

What's the paddle lock for?

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

What's the paddle lock for?

It serves two purposes, the first is to stop anyone opening the case and poking around inside! The more useful is that gives an anchor of a lock and chain to stop someone walking off with the transformer (same issue that folks have when leaving a generator unattended).

[bkahler]

Makes sense. That would suck to have something like that walk off.

[german6563]

Hello Martin
You are in the right topic that I am looking for some time. The transformer you bought is 220v-110v 30 amp? How many watts are those 30 amp?
And with that transformer also reach for the air conditioning?
Herman

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by german6563

Hello Martin
You are in the right topic that I am looking for some time. The transformer you bought is 220v-110v 30 amp? How many watts are those 30 amp?
And with that transformer also reach for the air conditioning?
Herman

Hi Herman, Happy New Year!

Airlink make a range of transformers up to 10KVA, specially for powering American appliances either in the UK or Europe (here is the link to the European page http://www.airlinktransformers.com/a...ge_converters/), however this is only part of the calculation.

If you take the example of one of their 6KVA units, it gives 52amp and 120v, almost the same as the 50amp campground supply BUT needs a 26amp/230V supply. Most campgrounds in UK/Europe only have a 16amp/230V max supply (and often it is lower). It doesn't matter what your transformer will convert it will trip the circuit breaker in the supply.

If you work backwards....the most that will be supplied to the campground is 16amp/230V so the biggest transformer that will stay under that is 3KVA (as I have), which gives 26amp/120V or about 3KW.

This is enough to run a 13.5K AC (with the compressor start-up load) which is at about 20amp, but not if you were using a hairdryer/heater/kettle at the time.

And remember....this gives 120V/50Hz shore power but all appliances have to be able to run on it, it is different from the 120V/60Hz in the US. If you want to plug in any 230V appliances you will need a separate circuit. Which is why many people add a transformer for AC, fridge etc, but also a 230V circuit so you can use local appliances (kettles/hairdryers which don't come dual voltage)

[german6563]

Martin
Happy New year too
thanks for tip.
only I would like running the AC the rest I have in 12 volt and 220
Herman