minuet 7.3m owner in need of parts

[uglyduck24]

HI, I'm the new owner of a 1979 Argosy minuet 7.3m which I bought in south Oregon and towed back to British Columbia. It was a 'gutter' to begin with so I haven't found any big surprises yet, but will need some help from members to locate some parts. The previous owners did not take care of it! They painted the entire trailer by hand in peachy pink, including most of the windows and all of the lights. The inside had vinyl stuck on everywhere, and an actual house porcelain toilet! Yuck! In the last 2 weeks I've had it I've pulled the interior, down to the ribs, and some of the floor. A lot of rivets I must say. I really am impressed on how well these things are built. I was surprised to find the front and rear exterior shell 'caps' made of steel, not aluminum, which will make repairing some of the front end damage quite easy. The rear floor is rotted and have pulled most of it and cut out the black water tank. I don't find the layout especially appealing on my version, rear bath, bunks on each side, etc. I didn't like the idea of having a compound curve over your head in the shower, and the fact that you have to walk very close by the bunk bed sleepers in a midnight walk to the washroom. I think my new layout will be quite appealing, but it will cut down on spaciousness to a degree. Anyway, I'm in search of an upper door hinge and lockset, front right curved glass window, and screen door frame. I don't mind paying for shipping if someone can offer it to me cheap enough. Thanks in advance and look forward to browsing your knowledge and keeping you up to date on my progress. Kevin

[CanoeStream]

Hello Kevin -- A hearty welcome to the Forums to you (and it sounds like family too). At the Midwest Forums Rally there was a family of four with two young boys in a Minuet. Looked like it worked just fine! One of the nicest re-do jobs was a 1968 26-footer that didn't try to stay original to the interior decor, curtains, etc. They did retain the lightweight partitions and cabinetry however.

Note Kevin Allen's (overlander64) Argosy brochure pics: http://www.airforums.com/photo...c=3178&userid= You will see that the option to the twin beds was a foldout double from one side.

Not just because it's an Argosy, but SmokelessJoe has a large number of posts on his redesign and repositioning the black tank from the aft bumper area: http://www.airforums.com/forum...kelessjoe.html

My take on your plan? The bed setup you've drawn takes a lot of space for one of the areas you use least during the day. I'm going to reference the bed layouts in current trailers:
Bambi -- http://www.airstream.com/product_lin...mbi_plans.html
Safari -- http://www.airstream.com/product_lin...ari_plans.html
1. Fore-and-aft queen bed orientation as you've drawn it doesn't occur until trailers reach the 28' length. The wheel wells can take no load of little feet on them, so would be better if out of the way under cabinetry. The wheel wells get in the way of any usefulness to your space alongside the bed as drawn. I sure think you'd be challenged to access any storage under the bed sides.
2. The current 16' Bambi and 20' Safari have sideways 48" x 78" beds. Probably a bit skinny on width but very space saving. A double bed is about 54" wide, a queen about 60". Pick a width you want. Customizing sheets in some fashion may be a given. Some folks don't like making these beds, especially as tight as the bulkhead is on the 16-footer. You'd also have to get inventive to not lose all the storage space underneath.
3. The sideways queen in a 25' Safari for instance seems to show space around the foot of the bed -- in actuality only enough for tightrope walking. Your Minuet width might work pretty well with a full width bed. You may end up looking at custom mattresses (eg, http://www.bearbeds.com/).
4. My opinion of the corner bed (19' Bambi, 25' Safari SS) is that some couples find the curve leaves one partner very short of space. Others are perfectly happy.

I'd suggest visiting a dealer with a number of the above units on the lot so you can try before you buy (well, build...). Or try a rally. I'd think you'd have a larger and more user friendly galley if you elected to do something along the lines of option 2 above.

[CanoeStream]

Let me edit this post. How far from the inside rear wall are the aft and forward edges of the paired, rear side windows? (eg, as seen on floor plan for 7.3m (24') Minuet here) Your scale seems to suggest a bare 48" or so to the aft window edge. Hmm... I'm suspecting you want privacy back there somehow. Might have to get creative. Thanks