My new project - Argosy 24'

[bkahler]

Matt,

Hopefully you're parked on the side of the road because you wanted to take a picture of your Argosy and NOT because you're broken down

Glad to hear you're licensed and legal. Now the fun begins

Brad

[mprokop87]

Life has been super busy. I pulled my boat out of storage last week and found that I have several hundred in repairs that awaited me. Well parts are on order and I started the disassembly. Once that was done I got back to the Argosy.

Last Wednesday I took it for its official inspection once I repaired some of the lights and got the license plate holder/light installed. I was really suprised when the guy told me that it passed because NY is a bunch of sticklers when it comes to the annual inspection. Since then I have been driving it around town to make sure that everything is functioning properly. The only issue that I came across so far was that a little air in the brake system had made its way up to the master cylinder and drained the reservoir for the rear brakes, which forced me to have to bleed them yet again. These are the pain in the butt ones because of the location of the bleeder, leaf springs, and rear axle. All complaints aside, it is done.

Today I clamped down all of the PEX plumbing that I put in over winter and turned on the water (while crossing my fingers). Nothing happened. Literally nothing. Turns out that all the valves that I installed for winterizing, draining, and emergency shutoff were in random positions. Once I moved the emergency shutoff to 'ON' the water started flowing! I had one minor drip that I will try to fix tomorrow. I also managed to fill up my holding tanks to see if there are any leaks. I guess we will see tomorrow!

[mprokop87]

I'v e managed to find some time this weekend to spend working on the Argosy rather than on the landscaping or house/truck repairs. I went to the local hardware store to puck up some oak 1x4 and 1x2s to use as a frame for the fridge. Once I got the base built I figured that I can easily install the fridge and build the cabinet around it. So far I have the fridge attached on the bottom and the right side so it stays in place. I had to make a custom curves piece of wood to go against the curved side of the wall which took some time. I have the rest of the frame cut out but not installed yet. The only other thing I need to cut out is the 1/4" oak panelling for the side and top. Hopefully I will get to that this week.







The wife and I are trying to go camping in the 1000 Islands in late August, so I need to hustle to get all the basics working, which includes a bed, toilet, shower, and stove top. The other thing I need to check is how well it can haul my boat. It's not exactly a light boat so i am a little worried about hills. The boat is a 20' long Searay and is powered by a 350 v8 so it has some weight. I've got faith in her but I will put her to the test in the next week! Wish me luck!

[cwf]

Way to go!

[mprokop87]

Here she is, all hooked up. I took it about ten miles and did just fine. A little sluggish but fine!

[bkahler]

Cool

I'm betting you'll find that all the hard work you've done to the Argosy was worth it.

If it seems sluggish it's likely because from the factory it wasn't really tuned for performance. Get some good headers with a decent flowing exhaust and a better ignition and you might see a little more oomph. We tow a 3500 lb race car/trailer combo behind the 310 and even in the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland it's not been a major issue. Yeah you lose some speed but overall it's not bad.

Did you add an electric brake controller for the trailer brakes? That's probably the only thing I would caution about. I found in the 310 if the trailer brakes aren't working for some reason you know it pretty quick when trying to slow down.

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
As far as the ignition goes, the timing is not right. When I was going up hill I noticed that the engine was missing on one cylinder. I've got a brand new distributor sitting on the front seat, once I get the interior a little further then I will throw it in.

There is a brake controller in it but I disconnected it when I redid the brake lines. It was an older type that connected right to the brake lines but I am planning on getting one. That also means that I should put brakes on my boat trailer because there are none. I was surprised when I bought the boat that there were none because the whole package weighs well over 4000lbs.

With that being said, I was impressed at how well it stopped. I knew that the boat was back there but I didn't have that "oh sh*t" feeling like I do when the boat is hauled with my Town Car. Yes, a Lincoln TC. I think the argosy will be fine without trailer brakes (for now) but I will definitely put them on.

[bkahler]

Matt,

Seven cylinders might get you there but not near as fast as eight would! If you can find a way I'd suggest putting the new distributor in before you leave. You might find it a more enjoyable trip if it was running better.

I've bought from Etrailer before and was happy with their prices. I've never been a fan of trailer brakes that tie directly into the vehicle brake lines. To me that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

That really surprises me that your boat trailer doesn't have brakes. I think most state laws require brakes on trailers over 2000 lbs.

Brad

[mprokop87]

I'm not a fan of the brakes that tie in directly either, that's why I removed it. The less that I have to deal with vehicle brakes the better.

As far as the trailer brake go I am totally in your side. My boat trailer was originally made for a much larger boat but was chopped off just after the rear axle. Both axles were replaced but brakes were never put back on it. My truck has fairly heavy duty brakes so I never bothered to invest in them for the trailer.

[bkahler]

Matt,

You can read about our trip of a lifetime and you'll know why I'm a big fan of trailer brakes

I used to like the inertial brake controllers until I tried to make a slow moving stop down an icy hill in a small town towing a trailer with a dodge power wagon on back. Since I was going so slow the inertial brake controller didn't kick in and I had enough weight to push me right through the intersection.

My next brake controller will not be the inertial type!

Brad

[Wazbro]

Most boat trailers use surge brakes and don't need a brake controller.

Electric drum brakes don't seem to do well when dunked in water on a regular basis (at least not salt water like where I normally fish) if you are thinking about putting them on your boat trailer.

Hydraulic disc is best to use, either with surge or electric over hydraulic (which would need a brake controller).

[mprokop87]

We are all fresh water up here in the finger lakes however I would still get the hydraulic brakes for the boat. right now I am leaving the trailer the way it is because my truck does a fine job stopping it.

I do plan to get a nice brake controller for the argosy because I would like to haul my wife's car behind it when the boat in not in tow.

On a side note, I managed to almost finish the cabinet for the fridge today. It is all assembled except for the top. For someone that has never done any wood working before I am impressed with myself. pictures will follow soon

[mprokop87]

Here is a picture of my 95% finished cabinet. Just missing the top.

[mprokop87]

Today I took some time to get the new distributor installed after the poor performance that I had while towing the boat. And I am glad that I did it. The install did not take too long and went easier than I had anticipated, first time that happened since I have owned it. The only trouble that I am having is that there is no easy way to see the timing marks and I did not see any marks on the underside of the engine. Looks like I am going to have to do some research on this. I know that I started a thread a while back about the issue so it looks like I will have to revisit it.

Anyway, the engine fired up right away and I adjusted the distributor to the sound that I thought was best. Since it was dangerously low on fuel I took it for a spin to pump in $75 worth of gas (just over 19 gallons) and did a little tour around the village. We have some steep hills here so I tried it out there and she seemed to have plenty of power compared to before.

Finally something goes right!

[bkahler]

Matt, glad to hear the new distributor helped.

Hopefully others will chime in but from what I remember the critical thing to setting timing is making sure you're not pinging under load. There are ways to set your timing by looking at vacuum readings and you can also try and find a lower timing mark and install it.

The lower timing mark is installed at the lower right (when facing the water pump) of the engine. It's mounted to two of the oil pan mounting bolts.

I just checked on ebay and didn't find any listings.

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
I've been looking for those timing marks and have yet to see any pop up. I have to take the front wheel off some time soon so I am going to see if I can get a small mirror into the opening so I can look at the timing marks on top. In not too concerned right now because it is running pretty good. I wish I would have done this a while back.

Now to get the carb tuned up so she ain't running rich and I'll be good to go.

[perryg114]

Loosen the distributor, start it, put it in gear with your foot on the brake and adjust it so it does not ping when the gas pedal is on the floor. Don't hold the gas down long or you will overheat your transmission. Tighten the distributor bolt. Sometimes with the crappy 87 octane gas it is going to ping under full load no matter what you do.

Perry

[mprokop87]

I finally went to pick up my toilet that was waiting at the local RV dealership. When I acquired the RV, it had nothing in the bathroom so I had been looking at posts for a while that talk about suitable replacements. Like most people had decided, I bought the Thetford Aqumagic V low profile white foot flush toilet. The tub that I have in my Argosy does not allow for a perfect fit but if I push back the front of the toilet a little, it will scoot right in there and bolt down nicely. I did not have the right plumbing parts for it so I will pick up the right hoses and adapter tomorrow. I know that its white and everything else is not but I plan to paint the bathroom to bath the toilet. I can't stand the look of all the original plastic in the Argosy!

At least I have a toilet!

[slickandrews]

Wash (scrub) that cruddy plastic with HOT water and some TSP (tri sodium phosphate)... Let it dry.
Wipe everything down with naptha on a clean, lint-free COTTON rag...Let it dry, too.

Tape off everything that you DON'T want painted, and then shoot everything else with a GOOD QUALITY spray paint.

We used Duplicolor "Truck,Van & SUV" paint with excellent results. They happened to have an off white that was really close to the original color of the ABS plastic... It even has held up in the sink, and we use the heck out of it!

By the way... The MH is Lookin' GOOD! Keep on it, and let's all us Argosy-ites
meet up sometime and camp.

CHEERS
Chris

[mprokop87]

A little update since it has been a while...
I have slowly been working away on the Argosy because I have been spending most of my time on my boat while the weather is nice. I have managed to fix up some of the electrical between the 12v coach and engine harnesses, installed an Intellipower (9200 series I think) inverter (its so quiet!), and finished up the plumbing work. All I have left for plumbing is to mount the two freshwater tanks but I am having a little dilemma. I was given these two older 18 gallon holding tanks but the plastic fittings that are used to screw the water lines into are cracking and leaking. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to repair or replace these? I do not want to purchase new tanks if I dont have to because these are already fitted for the rear bed that I am building.

This is not related to the plumbing but I had been trying to figure out why it was never charging the batteries so I tore apart the existing 12v electric work that someone had done to her and replaced it with what I thought was a simple system. I tested a bunch of other stuff and could not get any charge to the motor battery. I was trying to figure out how to replace the alternator regulator when I realized that there was no belt going to the alternator. Since I saw several different belt sizes on Rockauto I decided to just go to the local store and fit the belts in the parking lot. The closest parts store that was open on a Sunday was just about a half hour away, the drive went great and I turned plenty of heads in the Argosy. Put the new belt on in the parking lot (its the 46 inch one just incase you are wondering) and drove home, and the alternator was working! It all went great till I started backing up my 300' single width drive that is all up hill. The Argosy just clonked out and I couldnt get it started for a few minutes. When I did get it running again it only lasted a few seconds. I let it sit overnight and worked on it yesterday. Turns out that the electronics in the brand new distributor that I put it had fried. I took all the old electronics out of my old distributor and swapped parts. Fired right up! Lesson learned: don't buy the cheap crap on ebay, buy the right parts! I foresee another distributor in the near future.

Hopefully this week I can finish the frame for the rear bed as I tore the old one out. Making this one out of solid oak. I will try to post some pictures soon.