'73 Argosy 20.....Bought!

[MotorSeven]

I'll start a new thread on this. Well we drove down and looked at the 20 footer described as "excellent". This is a term subject to interpretation. What we found was a mostly orignal interior, a sound but painted(poorly) exterior....

The good:
light rust on the toungue and bumper
belly pan intact with 20% rivets corroded thru
roof in very good condition
new Coleman Mac last year
axl still has life left...approx 3-4 inches between rim and fender well
good tires
floor solid
water tank intact
newer water pump working
black/grey intact
all windows/screens intact and working(only one locking mech snapped off)
bathroom intact
cushions all there but covered with scary colored materials
all doors,closets,drawers intact and in good condition
new(er) drapes
countertop good
front door/screendoor good
12/110 converter working
lights all working inside and outside(even the tag light)
original awning works and in decent condition!
no rear floor separation/frame straight
very few mildew spots on ceiling/walls
smells........ooohkay for a 34yr old unit

The bad:
fridge not working/interior very good, exterior frame rusted alot
stove door broken on one hinge, other hinge frozen in closed position
furnace does not work/ no fluid in radiatior, lots of rust
water heater rusty, would not fire...kinda scared to try
original propane bottles replaced with newer opd's(good&bad)
plumbing fixtures all need replacing
window seals eventually will need replacement
exterior has several minor dings and scratches(one 10" easy dent), but the worst is a crappy paint job that looked to have been poorley prepped.........
no rock guards
toilet slightly leaking at top when flushing
brakes had no signal to controller(could be the corroded plug)
bathroom/kitchen original 12v lights replaced w/ fluros
missing the hitch and arms for the load leveler system
leaking knife valve on grey/black tank(at leat i hope that is the prob)
battery condition unk, compartment door locked...no key

Soooo, i know i know, what was the price? Well it started a 5k, and after alot of negotiations we settled at $3,250. It was more that i wanted to pay, but it was "here" and there is nothing on it that i don't think i can fix. Towed like a dream behind a full size chevy p/u. Got it home and tossed out the carpet and pulled up the original vinyl. Pulled off the sofa cover(canary yellow) and, viola.....original un-molested sofa ! Didn't get so lucky with the dinette....took off the(King Arthur maroon paisley drapery pattern) covers and found foam in ok shape.
Turns out that there was zero propane in the bottles, so i will clean up the fridge & water heater and try and fire them up. I think the furnace is toast(ha), and the stove questionable. The skylight w/fan looks original, but it would not open(stuck) and the fan did not come on. Toilet gets a re-build.

We are going to get the interion done first, then do the exterior later, because we are retiring and moving to TN next month and will live in the 20 footer while we build an apt in a steel building, which we will live in while we build a log home, which......... . Anyway, after those projects get done, the exterior will get stripped and painted. We plan on dragging the Argosy back and forth to Manitoba quite a bit.
OK...where is the switch for the vent hood?????? My wife and i looked all over and gave up....
I'll shoot some pic's today before too much work gets done and post'em later.

Ahhh, the smell of bleach in the air.......................

RD

[overlander63]

As a former Argosy 20 owner, I can probably help you with some of these issues.
Your switch for your stove vent should be inside the cabinet over the stove, an is a combination lever for the vent and switch for the fan.
Our Argosy axle had plenty of space over the tire, but was frozen in place. We had to replace it, pretty easy to do.
Your furnace may be one of the "recall units". Look for cracked rubber inlet and outlet hoses between the furnace and the side of the trailer.

[MotorSeven]

Ok Overlander, i'll check 2morrow and see.......thanks, and a warning, i may have a few more q's soon . The fender/wheel spacing looks like this.....

RD

[MotorSeven]

As promised.....

[MotorSeven]

vinyl floor is on the way up and out........

[str8strm]

Looks like a fun project. Keep us posted.

[MotorSeven]

Terry,
So it has a switch to turn the fan on when the damper is opened....hmmm, i have nothing, so i'll check it for power.
Does the roof vent have a cut out switch also? Vent lid is stuck, fan does not come on...all look original.

Furnace recall? Yep, the gasket is very cracked. I did get the Surburban to fire up, but i don't think i could sleep worring about that old thing. I may just pull it out and use a Mr.Buddie when dry camping, and a ceramic when on shore power.

I'm hunting parts for the avocado green Magic Chef stove door/hinge/spring. Door is off on one side and stuck on the other, so i'll pull it out today. Other than that it is in pretty good shape.


I fired up the water heater, and was grinning, while it ran....then..."Boof", water everywhere in the bathroom. Turns out the thermostat didn't tell the burner to shut off...expanding scalding water can really blow a flex line! Someone had cut the copper HW line DIRECTLY UNDER THE CONVERTER , and used flex line & hose clamps to go on to the sink. When i found this i just looked at it and thought, "You gotta be kidding me"..........

Any tricks to get the discoloration/stains out of the plactic bathroom sink/surround?

That's it for now....

RD

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by MotorSeven

Terry,
.....
Any tricks to get the discoloration/stains out of the plactic bathroom sink/surround?

That's it for now....

RD

Look up "Bathtub Refinishing" in your yellow pages. You can have your sink, shower/tub, toilet all redone and they'll be boooootiful!

Paula

[BIGED52]

RD, I may be able to help you with parts for the stove. I have one that I picked up for parts. It has already given up the stainless steel cover to Juels' Argosy and a burner went to Sequiacoasts' stove. But every thing else is still on it. The oven door is stainless but you can change out the front panels on these ovens very easily. The hinges are in great shape (very little rust) and operate great! the top burner area is in great shape except for the one missing burner the stovetop is stainless with very lite rust and should clean up fine if you want to change the look of your unit. Knobs are fair to good condition. The interior of the oven looks very clean for a '68 trailer it came from. Let me know if you are interested in anything and I will see what I can do for you. Ed

[sequoiacoast]

My stove was easy to fix. I also had a hinge that came off the spring, or more accurately the spring had rusted.... When you take the small doors off the side you'll see what I mean.

I have the stove in the classifieds.. too bad we're so far away!

I love the wrap around windows, it looks like a great project!!

[mandolindave]

My advice is to think about a new fridge. My 73 era fridge was oozing amonia gas.

I would check the toilet for the water problem. It is hard to get all the water out of the valve and it freezes and breaks during the winter months.
.......................MD

[balrgn]

Nice lookin rig, check out my pages for a few hints and ho to's

[MotorSeven]

Ok,
The fridge is working very well on 110v. I took the door off and wire brushed the face frame behind the door that was really rusted. It's primed and will get painted 2morrow. I'll check it on propane also.

Hosed down the water heater thermostast connections with WD-40 and it is working correctly.

Thanks for the stove parts "offers' but i broke 3 bits tryng to get the side panels off. The thing is so rusty there is a hole thru from the bottom, so it is going to get deep sixed. I had an idea....what about a 3 burner cook top, with a microwave below??? Cook tops are alot cheaper and we need a micro, but with the limited counter space this may be the way to go.....who really uses an oven while camping???
If anyone needs some '72 Magic Chef stove parts let me know, i'll send them for the cost of shipping.

I'm painting tha inside of the front cap(abs). Home Desperate & Lowes don't carry Krylon(i know that they used too) Fusion. I used a Valspar brand(Lowes) of plastic paint, and i'm not too impressed. The nozzel shoots it out in a spot pattern, instead of a fan pattern, so the finish is spotty. I will try the Rustolem brand(Home Desperate) next, becaue i picked some up tonight.

I'll update some pic's soon........

RD

[safari57]

Originally Posted by MotorSeven

Ok,


I had an idea....what about a 3 burner cook top, with a microwave below??? Cook tops are alot cheaper and we need a micro, but with the limited counter space this may be the way to go.....who really uses an oven while camping???


RD

That's what I'm going to. I've got my micro in a cupboard right now and we use the oven for storage. This spring I'll punt the stove/oven combo and put a sunken counter top 3 burner in and move the micro below it. There was a thread recently about how many used their oven, though, and it was amazing how many do. We do the majority of our cooking on a portable stainless BBQ set up under the awning and seldom use the stove top. When roughing it the BBQ works fine for a faux oven. For us and our type of cooking at least.

Barry

[SilverToy]

Hi all !

Glad that you found that Argosy that was calling to you!!!!And that you heard it, and then saved it! Kuddos coming! I know that there are possibly, a zillion or more things that can trip you up, discurage you, and make you want to check the whole banggum thing!!!!

But, stay with it!!!!!!!!!! There are LOTS of people that what what you have, that need that thing you have, they can't - it's your after all!!!!!

Just as many people have something close to what you have and tey can tell you stories (with Photos often) that can make the 10001 projects seem so much easier and even fun.!

Nothing like an AirStream!

Axel
SilverToy

Enjoy!!!!!!

Axel
SilverToy

[mandolindave]

As I said, my 1973 fridge was oozing deadly amonia gas ( a goldish green crud ) but could still freeze milk and eggs on a moderate setting . You all might want to monitor for that condition .

[MotorSeven]

Dave, i inspected it and found no leakage, but will monitor it.

I had fixed the vaccum tower leak on the toilet, but now the knife valve is leaking, so i ordered a new Sealand Traveler Lite low profile from CampingWorld on sale for $131(Thanks Janet).

After the stove was out, i juuust haaad to do it, i had to stick my hand down there in the corner next to the wall that backs up to the shower, and yep, my finger poked theu the plywood . I had really expected to find more rot in other places, so this is not so bad. The tub enclosure looks to have a poor design with alot of seams that require caulk. So the "Q" is do i pull the pan out now, or stuff some insulation down there to keep the draft out, and fix it later? I stood in the shower, and it took all 225lbs ok. It looks like the pan comes out easy enough, but the belt looking flange that has the 1" plastic cover is NOT going to come out intact. I'll have to think this one over......

Ok, the outside "Rub Rail", i searched and it appears to come only in orange? I'm not an orange kinda guy, can i get it in black? I found a rubber insert at a boat place, but it only comes in a 50' roll and it's $100.

I decided to do the cooktop/micro thing, so i will post before and after pic's. It should get done next week.

Thanks for all the responses/info....hope i don't wear y'all out!

RD

[str8strm]

.....taken delivery of the new toilet. Bend a small straight blade screwdriver to 90 degrees 1/4" from the tip, put it in the gap and you will scrape out ALL kinds of toilet paper that gets stuck in there when people close the valve too soon and trap TP. The first time it happened we believed the RV place and bought a new toilet, the second time we asked here and got the easy solution!!

[MotorSeven]

Oh i tried that first, no go! I wish it was that easy.....!

RD

[MotorSeven]

Thanks Andy, that IM cost me $200...... !

So i called Inland RV, because Andy said that they had the black beltline insert. I talked to Chris there, and suprisingly she had almost everything i rattled off. She also patiently waited while i ran out for measurments and kept adding stuff to the order! So this is what i have on the way:
50' of insert-Black!
window/door and compartment seals
3m glue for above
porch light lens
window latch/cam
screen door access cover

I am hunting down a used cook top, so when the toilet gets here i should be able to put this thing back together......

RD