Hi! We're new here :-)

[terrytrouble]

In the last week we bought our first Airstream...an '76 24ft Argosy. We found it on CL here in the Northwest. We went over the very next night and bought it. What the heck did we get into!? Lol...in pics its not so bad, but this community knows different! We are not purists, so this AS will not be restored to its original glory but hopefully...better than! We are a family of 5 that live in the Seattle area. Our hopes for this trailer are to totally gut the interior. That includes pulling the interior skins, replacing insulation (bad smell), reinstall the skins and repaint them with a nice warm color. We will be replacing the front goucho with a banquet. New cabinetry throughout. New 10gallon hot water tank, furnace and a new AC unit. The PO tore it out and replaced it with a skylight. The twin beds will have new bunks above them. The bath vanity will be resurfaced. All the floors will be replaced, not sure if the sub floor needs to be done just yet. We do know that the dividing walls need to be replaced as well. Whew! That's not so fun now that I have typed it. Here's the kicker...its got to be done by June! Wish us luck! P.s....thank you to all...I've already learned so much from reading thru the threads. P.s.s The family just came up with her name... Kalakala (Seattle's First Ferry, if you Google her, she looks similar to an AS) She's our first trailer and will hopefully take us to many new places!

[Airslide]

Welcome to the Airforums Bamrabnw! We are glad you found us... Your new project sounds like fun! and it has to be ready by June?

We will be there in spirit.. and we love pictures!

Welcome aboard!

Vinnie

[CanoeStream]

Nice report bamrabnw. Welcome to the forum!

[DKB_SATX]

Welcome fellow Argonauts! We really enjoy our '75 Argosy24 and have found it to be a fun and relatively reliable trailer. Lots of good work was done by the previous owner, and I'm working on maintaining all that while improving it further, so we were able to camp in ours early on.

You have set yourself quite a task for June. How much time do you have to work on the trailer in a normal week? Is it close to your home so that it's easy to get to for short tasks?

I wish you luck, and look forward to seeing pics of your progress! None of the work is rocket science, but some of it may make you practice your cursing skills.

[zlee]

Welcome! Wow, that's a pretty big plan! (Personally, since I love long showers, I'd put in a tankless water heater.) Looking forward to the pics of your rehab, you've come to the right place to get answers to any of your questions, people here are so great about helping out.

[terrytrouble]

I'm very thankful to have an extremely talented hubby when it comes to things like this. The trailer is parked on our property, so we only have to travel out the back door. Well, June is our goal. School is out then and we have short summers here in the NW. Not to mention we have plans to go on a long trek, following the inlaws in their fancy fancy coach, maybe up to Canada? I discovered last month while building a walk in pantry in our house, that we work well with deadlines and schedules. I'm hoping to get the whole project down on paper once we can get back into it. We are experiencing a nasty little snow storm right now. I have a few interior pics posted right now. Will definately take more for everyone to follow. Thanks for the warm welcome!

[ROBERT CROSS]

At least the axles look good..... Where's Andy?

Nice looking Argy....hope the resto goze well.

Keep posting.

Bob

[DKB_SATX]

Well, checking out your posted pictures, I can see why you want to repaint the interior walls... the previous owner really liked BLUE eh? Our interior skins are the original not-quite-white that manages to be bright (when clean) without being cold.

It's amazing what changes from year to year... our '75 has hinged doors for the upper lockers except the end cap, while you have the tambours like a silver trailer.

As to the June deadline... well, do the structural and systems stuff ASAP (insulation, plumbing, checking the subfloor, etc.) and then at the very worst you can do what lots of people have done and use it on the first trip as a "tin tent" with a less-than-complete interior but functioning plumbing, fridge, etc.

It looks like there's a padlock hasp on the door. Is this because the lock is broken? Or is the whole latch non-functional? There's a nice modification done by many people (including the previous owner of my Argosy) that adapts a residential deadbolt to secure the door of Airstreams and Argosies from the '70s. The mechanism goes into the trailer wall, and the bolt throws into the door. You can shave down the bolt so that the hole in the edge of the door can be smaller.

[utee94]

Welcome, your new trailer actually looks reasonably well cared for, so that's a good starting place. I really like the Argosys, love that huge panoramic window!

All new cabinetry? I have no idea why you'd want to replace that (glass?) tiled counter and front faceframe in the galley!

I'd say your project timeline is ambitious even if your full-time job were renovating this trailer, but it's not impossible. I'm hoping for your sake you don't run into any rot in the subfloor, but I'd be willing to bet you're going to find some, and potentially some frame rot as well.

But all of these problems have been faced by other members of this community, so you've found the right place for information and support. Good luck with your reno, and please keep us all updated on your progress-- we especially love pictures!

Good luck,
-Marcus