Peanut lives on!

[jm2]

Brad, any favorite brand of silicone hose?

or, is a silicone hose just a silicone hose?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by jm2

Brad,
Martin,

just popped off the carpeted plywood passenger footwell panel, and the heater core hangs from two brackets onto the firewall. I can feel the heater core hoses entering from the front.

looks like 5 or ten minutes off, 5 back on. (famous last words!) taking the passenger seat out would give you some working room.

ymmv,
Joseph

Thanks Joseph.

Either later this week or weekend I'll look into pulling that footwell panel. I just finish mowing the middle pasture and I seldom feel all that great after doing so.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by jm2

Brad, any favorite brand of silicone hose?

or, is a silicone hose just a silicone hose?

Good question. Martin suggested using it in a previous conversation and I know Keyair ordered a bunch for his 345. I've not looked into who might sell the best stuff but will do so soon.

Brad

[GWallace]

Brad,
To remove the heater hoses from the heater core, I have found that it is easiest to remove the heater unit from the passenger foot well area.

1. First remove the four screws that hold the blower mother in place from the outside front and remove the blower.

2. Second remove the two Blower Resistor screws also from the outside front.

3. Third disconnect the heater hoses at the firewall junction. (My 77 Argosy20 came from the factory with the hose junction at the fire wall.).

4. Fourth disconnect the two nuts on the two studs sticking out of the top of the blower housing under the dash inside. Then one bolt that screws down into the blower housing. These three fasteners connect the blower housing to a galvanized plenum under the dash.

5. The heater assembly will need to be pulled downward enough for the two studs to clear the galvanized plenum. Once clear the heater should be able to pull backwards inside with the temperature control cable connected to heater valve.

6. Disconnect the cable from the valve and then the heater can be removed from the motorhome.

Gregg

[bkahler]

Greg, great write up!

I'm not sure how soon I'll tackle that task. I need to see where the radiator is leaking so we know whether to pull the radiator or not. Once I know what's happening there I'll know when to start tearing into areas that will need hose replacement.

The goal at the moment is to get the rear brakes repaired so I can hopefully determine where the brake fluid went. Once the brakes are done I can run the engine long enough to see what's happening with the cooling system. I'll likely have to pull the dog house cover to get a better view of whats happening.

Thanks!

Brad

[martin300662]

Today marked the start of scavenging parts from my 28th parts donor to try and resurrect Peanut.

Firstly, the battery tray. Turns out the key is the same as the generator cover I sent to Ben, so I'm really glad I copied that 'just in case'.



Took a few hours but eventually both the plastic box and door were removed. Only to expose a very wet/rotten wooded enclosure, which had obviously been leaking for a long while







Next up, off came the engine access panel and the grill.



Unfortunately to expose a radiator that has been leaking - guess Peanuts radiator will have to be re-cored rather than using the donor.



The air compressor looks new (although most of the fittings are old and rusty)



And the shower door is going to need a clean before it can be used.



Going back to AS NE for round 2 tomorrow

[bkahler]

Martin, I just realized the battery box from the donor is wider than the one in Peanut. Off hand I can't think of any reason we can't install the larger box in Peanut. I think the donor box would be nicer as it has a LOT more room for the batteries.



For some reason there is an inside trim strip that has been removed from Peanut's battery box which hopefully the donor still has.



This picture doesn't show much but there's a small puddle of water on the floor right below the air conditioner. My guess is the gasket between the shell and the air conditioner is rotted and needs replacing.



Cleaned the right hand rear brake backing plate and installed new shoes and wheel cylinder. Wouldn't you know it I spent 45 minutes installing the shoes the first time only to realize I had them reversed


The thicker longer pad goes to the rear and the shorter thinner shoe goes to the front. Surprisingly it took less than 5 minutes to swap the shoes around to their correct locations! Let's hope I can remember those installation tricks when I start working on the left side brakes!

I bought some brake cleaner to clean the drum before installing and once all the crap was cleaned away I found some nice rust pits The drums appear to have been turned at least once and with the severity of the pits we deemed it best to just replace the brake drums. Replacement drums should be at my place on Wednesday.



Weather and mowing permitting I might have the rear brakes complete by next weekend. Once the rear brakes are done I'm removing the drive shaft to have new u-joints installed.


Stay tuned....

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by bkahler

SNIP

For some reason there is an inside trim strip that has been removed from Peanut's battery box which hopefully the donor still has.....

There is something strange going on as the donor battery box (ie the wooden structure the plastic box fits in) is the same size as the door frame. Actually the reason it was such a pain to remove is the frame of the door was screwed directly into the wooden structure using 2 inch screws, pinching the body panel between the two, there is no gap.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

There is something strange going on as the donor battery box (ie the wooden structure the plastic box fits in) is the same size as the door frame. Actually the reason it was such a pain to remove is the frame of the door was screwed directly into the wooden structure using 2 inch screws, pinching the body panel between the two, there is no gap.

I assume you're referring to the outer skin that was sandwiched between the door frame and the wood.

The gap in the pictures I posted is on the inside. For some reason that is a one inch gap along the top of the box on the inner skin. I don't understand why it was made with the gap but it looks factory to me.

Assuming we use the donor door which is larger we'll have to make a new wood box anyway. I'm betting the wood box in Peanut is rotted just like the one in the donor.

[GWallace]

Brad,
On the rear brakes. You might want to check the clearance between the cylinder bleed port and the leaf springs. On my 20 there was not room to attach a bleeder hose for bleeding. I removed the four bolts on the backing plate to get enough clearance for bleeding. That means the drums have to off of the axle. Take a look before you install the drums.

[GWallace]

Also, when you do get the drums reinstalled, the replacement axle flange gasket is a Felpro No 55350 for installing the axles.
Gregg

[shepherd57]

Brad

On the 28 I took apart it had the same gap at the battery box. It looks like Airstream just cut the hole oversized and used strips of alum to close the gap.

Airstream quality control again

[Philuk]

Just an observation, but on my 75, 20ft the batterys are at the front behind the drop down panel

[shepherd57]

Yes I had a 75 26ft and the battery's were in that same place behind the hood

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by GWallace

Brad,
On the rear brakes. You might want to check the clearance between the cylinder bleed port and the leaf springs. On my 20 there was not room to attach a bleeder hose for bleeding. I removed the four bolts on the backing plate to get enough clearance for bleeding. That means the drums have to off of the axle. Take a look before you install the drums.

Yeah I'd noticed how tight that area was! Poor design if you ask me.

I have a Mityvac with some right angle fittings that I plan on trying.

Thanks!

Brad

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by GWallace

Also, when you do get the drums reinstalled, the replacement axle flange gasket is a Felpro No 55350 for installing the axles.
Gregg

Gottem already, thanks!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by shepherd57

Brad

On the 28 I took apart it had the same gap at the battery box. It looks like Airstream just cut the hole oversized and used strips of alum to close the gap.

Airstream quality control again

Gee, why doesn't that surprise me!

I've got plenty of scrap aluminum interior skin laying around so I guess I have what we need to fill the gap.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by shepherd57

Yes I had a 75 26ft and the battery's were in that same place behind the hood

I believe 74-76 Argosy motorhomes all had the batteries up front like that. I'm definitely moving mine to the side compartment where the black water tank used to be.

I prefer to have the front area accessible for maintenance work.

[martin300662]

Maybe Airstream prep'ed the inner skin for the larger battery box, but had a supply of the smaller boxes to use up - who knows!

My '78 donor has inner skins that are trimmed to the edge on the box and the existing 'door' trim comes down to meet the carpet on the battery box.



That said Bella still has the battery tray under upfront behind the engine access panel, and a single chassis battery sits there. The two house batteries are in the new pull-out tray, in the lower compartment level just forward of the rear wheels on the drivers side.

[martin300662]

Rough day trying to remove parts from the donor.

Lets start with the positives.....the fridge vent door is off. Took longer than expected (the theme for the day) as not only was it riveted to the outer skin, it acts as a closeout and the inner return was also riveted (luckily nowhere as frequently) to the inner skin.



Next up were the two grill end castings....there are only three rivets showing from the outside so that will be easy right? Well the three visible rivets (all the way through) are complemented buy around a dozen 'blind' rivets which go through the outer skin from the inside, and there is no access to drill. Only thing I could do was lever open a gap and then cut through them.









Now the not so good.... Despite a few days of soaking in penetrating fluid, the bolts on the bumpers will not budge with hand-tools. Its time to get serious and I will take my Honda 2000i next time to be able to run something with some torque/able to drill out the bolts.

One job I was able to do with hand tools was start to remove the drivers side rear banana wrap. The donor as the original ABS molding, and it is disintegrating in my hands. I wasn't planning on it, but it looks like a new one will have to be ordering.