'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

How is the overhead work platform working out for you Brad? I assume you used it when installing the ac unit.

I don't think I could have done the work without the platform. The arthritis in my knees makes any sort of kneeling somewhat painful.

I used the platform for all of the roof work along with all of the roof work done on Peanut. The platform was a lifesaver!

The other reason I built the platform is my Argosy only has three ribs inside and they are spaced between 32" and 46". It's virtually impossible to walk on the roof like it is the Classics that have ribs about every 16".

[bkahler]

Well, the Tail Light Wars are over

After much fiddling around and moving the housings this way and that I came to the conclusion that the best fit was obtained by the housings that Dean sent me.

I basically had four choices for tail lights and only the ones from Dean were a clear cut choice. The four choices were the original large ABS plastic housing that fits across the entire rear of the coach.




69-72 Trailer cast aluminum tail lights. This style is what I had previously fitted and was happy with. That is before I replaced the left rear corner panel.



Classic style tail lights









The Argosy style plastic housing was a non starter. I don't like the looks of that thing at all. My preferred choice of the cast aluminum trailer housings would not fit on the new panel and nothing short of replacing the panel (again) would allow them to work. So they are out.

That left me with using the classic style. I borrowed a set from an 83 Classic to trial fit and although there were identical in style to the ones that Dean sent me they were very obviously trimmed at the factory to fit the shell of the 83. Basically the edges were trimmed down probably 3/16" or more to get them to fit. Good or bad the 83 housings didn't fit well at all on the Argosy and there was no material that could be trimmed to make them fit. They didn't even fit well on the original passenger side panel.

That left me with trying to fit the housings Dean set me. After a little bit of fiddling around I managed to find a location that they seemed to fit fairly well. The extra width of the side walls seemed to help.

Oddly enough Deans housings fit both but the they seemed to fit the new panel a little better than the original passenger side panel.

Now the challenge is going to figure out how to make things water tight. Somewhere in my vast collection of junk I think I have the two interior cover panels from the 86 345 that I dismantled. I just need to find them......

The bottom line is I'm happy with the fit of the housings Dean sent so maybe I can now move on to more important tasks













Thanks Dean, I'll be in touch

[dadstoy]

Those tail lights look awesome Brad!

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Oddly enough Deans housings fit both but the they seemed to fit the new panel a little better than the original passenger side panel. ..

Looks great, funny how it worked out. Still planning that trip to the mothership to teach them a thing or 2, now that you have hard evidence?

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Well, the Tail Light Wars are over

After much fiddling around and moving the housings this way and that I came to the conclusion that the best fit was obtained by the housings that Dean sent me.

I basically had four choices for tail lights and only the ones from Dean were a clear cut choice. The four choices were the original large ABS plastic housing that fits across the entire rear of the coach.

Attachment 403895


69-72 Trailer cast aluminum tail lights. This style is what I had previously fitted and was happy with. That is before I replaced the left rear corner panel.

Attachment 403896

Classic style tail lights

Attachment 403897

Attachment 403887

Attachment 403888

Attachment 403889

The Argosy style plastic housing was a non starter. I don't like the looks of that thing at all. My preferred choice of the cast aluminum trailer housings would not fit on the new panel and nothing short of replacing the panel (again) would allow them to work. So they are out.

That left me with using the classic style. I borrowed a set from an 83 Classic to trial fit and although there were identical in style to the ones that Dean sent me they were very obviously trimmed at the factory to fit the shell of the 83. Basically the edges were trimmed down probably 3/16" or more to get them to fit. Good or bad the 83 housings didn't fit well at all on the Argosy and there was no material that could be trimmed to make them fit. They didn't even fit well on the original passenger side panel.

That left me with trying to fit the housings Dean set me. After a little bit of fiddling around I managed to find a location that they seemed to fit fairly well. The extra width of the side walls seemed to help.

Oddly enough Deans housings fit both but the they seemed to fit the new panel a little better than the original passenger side panel.

Now the challenge is going to figure out how to make things water tight. Somewhere in my vast collection of junk I think I have the two interior cover panels from the 86 345 that I dismantled. I just need to find them......

The bottom line is I'm happy with the fit of the housings Dean sent so maybe I can now move on to more important tasks


Attachment 403890

Attachment 403891

Attachment 403892

Attachment 403893

Attachment 403894


Thanks Dean, I'll be in touch

Those tail lights look nice!!
This article is very interesting for me, because I'm still thinking about tail lights replacement.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by dadstoy

Those tail lights look awesome Brad!

Yep, and they're brand new unlike the rest of the coach!

Thanks again!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by PeterH-350LE

Looks great, funny how it worked out. Still planning that trip to the mothership to teach them a thing or 2, now that you have hard evidence?

Me going to the mothership would be a complete disaster! If Airstream had to implement all of the changes I'd want done to improve the product they would go broke in a year due to the amount they would have to charge for each rig

There's a fine line between getting a product out the door and making a profit. I think I'd end up blowing that margin all to h@ll.......

[bkahler]

Been doing a little work on getting the tail lights installed. I found the inside ABS covers that cover the tail light assemblies.





These get fitted to the inside and were originally held in place with rivets and lots of Vulkem. I plan on using double side tape with a few rivets to hold them in place and then a lot of Trempro around the edges to make sure they seal well.

However, I first have to repair the plastic in a few places do to cracks and a couple of missing corners. I need to find a sealed jar so I can mix up some ABS slurry for the repairs.

[bkahler]

Got some more work done on the second doghouse cover. On Friday I picked up the new larger rolled corners and tack welded a pair to the second cover.




Next I started trying to figure out how to make the triangular cover that includes a curve on the bottom and is flat on the sides. I used one of curved panels that were to short just to see what I could accomplish. I started by flattening out the panel because the curve was to sharp. That got it close so I then cut the tapered sides and after some grinding, hammering and flattening I came up with something that is close to fitting.



I'll take what I've got so far to the fab shop and have the roll me a few larger panels with the curve that I developed on the test piece. It's a start at least


Also bead blasted and painted the gray water tank vent cover. It's ready to install so that should be happening in the next few days as well.




Oh yeah, the ABS slurry is cooking right now so possibly tomorrow I can start repairing the tail light interior covers.

[bkahler]

As near as I can figure the roof work is done. This vent fan used to be the old wet bath. Since the wet bath is moving farther back I debated on whether to just patch the roof but I decided to leave it in place and use it in conjunction with the Maxxair fan in the rear to allow for some air circulation inside the coach. Plus I'm planning on having the microwave right below the fan so it will serve as an exhaust fan as well.




The gray water tank vent stack cover is in place for the moment but since the plumbing is not installed I just used a solid rubber gasket to keep water from coming through into the coach until the plumbing is installed.




As near as I can figure other than having to remove and replace the vent stack cover when I install the plumbing everything on the roof is done and water proof

[bkahler]

Ernie stopped by today to help finish up the miscellaneous buck riveting that I had been putting off since the panels were installed. The biggest issue that was resolved was on the rib that had a flattened section where the outer skin was nowhere near touching the rib. In the picture below you can see the shims I had to put in place before it could be riveted. The top two shims are .200" thick and the bottom one is .160" thick. 1/2" buck rivets were needed to span the distance.




I also added a small patch panel in the back to cover the old license plate light assembly. I had to move the license plate because it interfered with the new 4" found reversing lights.

Once the tail lights and license plate assembly are installed it should be water tight enough that it can moved back outside. I've been working on the inside covers for the tail lights. Most of that work involves using the ABS slurry/glue to repair and build up sections of the covers. It's slow going because you can only do a little build up at a time and then you have to let it set for a couple of days to harden. I'm figure a couple of weeks or so and they will be installed.

[Eric F]

Neat that your generator is above the bumper. My 76 Argosy 24 has it mounted lower and the exhaust is out the left side, about a foot from the tailpipe. Maybe mine is lower because I have the mid-bath, rear-double-bed version.

How will you (1) handle the exhaust when the drawer is opened, and (2) lock the drawer from sliding out?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Eric F

Neat that your generator is above the bumper. My 76 Argosy 24 has it mounted lower and the exhaust is out the left side, about a foot from the tailpipe. Maybe mine is lower because I have the mid-bath, rear-double-bed version.

I'm guessing you have a Generac generator, if so that's what mine was originally. You'll probably find that the generator frame is welded to the truck chassis making it removal a royal pain.

I got lucky with my current Onan 6.5. It was in a 345 motorhome that I was dismantling. After much measuring I found that I could fit the Onan on drawer slides making maintenance of the generator much easier.

How will you (1) handle the exhaust when the drawer is opened, and (2) lock the drawer from sliding out?

The exhaust is disconnected from the generator by removing a band clamp (not shown in photo) and slipping the pipe out of the generator. Since the generator is above the bumper there's no way to leave the exhaust connected.

Everything else is setup to allow the drawer to just slide out over the bumper. One of the two drawer slides has a lock so when it is fully extended it will lock in place and when it's retracted it also locks in place.




Here's a short video clip of the generator running while extended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqhmUJYRJrM

[mayco]

Are you safe and sound down there in Kentucky Brad? Looks like horrible devastation. Hoping you and your property made it through unscathed.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

Are you safe and sound down there in Kentucky Brad? Looks like horrible devastation. Hoping you and your property made it through unscathed.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for asking, all is good here. We had some pretty high winds that left some minor tree damage. I've got most of it picked up and ready to dispose of.



I feel for the people in western Kentucky. They really got hammered and a lot of people died from the tornadoes.

[GREEN ARGOSY]

I'm glad you're safe.
I heard the news about the tornadoes last night, it said that Kentucky was severely damaged. This news reminded me of you, so I was anxious for your safety.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by GREEN ARGOSY

I'm glad you're safe.
I heard the news about the tornadoes last night, it said that Kentucky was severely damaged. This news reminded me of you, so I was anxious for your safety.

Thanks Yuki. I live in central Kentucky and most of the tornadoes occurred several hundred miles west of me in western Kentucky. We just had high winds and a lot of rain.

The tornadoes were the worst ever experienced in Kentucky. The death toll will likely surpass 100 once everyone is accounted for.

[Scbohorquez]

Hi all, I recently purchased an Argosy MH 1977 24’, during transport the generator door fell off and got lost (I drove all the way back and couldn’t find it) wondering do you know where I can find one?

3rd picture is the door that got lost 😞

Best Regards

Silvia

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Scbohorquez

Hi all, I recently purchased an Argosy MH 1977 24’, during transport the generator door fell off and got lost (I drove all the way back and couldn’t find it) wondering do you know where I can find one?

3rd picture is the door that got lost 😞

Best Regards

Silvia

Silvia, I hate to tell you this but that door is going to be near impossible to find. About all you can do is keep your eye on ebay and possibly call a place like Colaw's in SE Missouri. They are a salvage place for RVs. The odds of them having one are very slim but who knows, you might get lucky.

I wish I had a better answer for you.

It's always possible to have one made by a good sheet metal fabrication shop. I could take some detailed photos of the from Peanut that might help a fab shop.

Brad

[bkahler]

Yeah it's been awhile since I've had anything too update on the status of my Argosy. That's mainly because I've just got way to many other things vying for time right now.

If you're looking for an Argosy update you can stop reading here.....

This spring, before I started the shell repair work I made arrangements with my electric company to assist in removing the stand of 60ft tall trees that run along side my driveway AND power lines. The agreement was they would cut the top two thirds of the trees off and dispose of the limbs and all sections that would fit through their wood shredders and I would to be responsible for the rest of the tree that was below the power lines. That means I was responsible for delimbing and downing about 85 trees and disposing of the limbs and trunks.

They started the project in early March and worked for about three weeks, got about halfway done and then just disappeared! No indication of why they stopped or when they would be back. At this point I elected to wait on doing my part on the trees they had worked on because I had someone that wanted ALL of the trunks/logs but they wanted to load them all at the same time. Needless to say it was a rather frustrating summer waiting for the power company to return. In the meantime I decided to tackle the shell repairs on the Argosy, which I accomplished

Finally in October they returned and finished their part of the job. If anyone is wondering why I wanted the trees removed, it's because there is a pine tree disease running through the area that has already killed about a dozen trees on the property. My biggest fear was the strong west winds blowing dead trees down across my power lines. Normally tree removal is not a cheap process so if you figure the cost of 85 trees times X dollars per tree, you'll see why I jumped at the chance to have the electric company do two thirds of the tree removal at no cost to me. I've been told an 80 foot tall pine tree can cost as much as $1500 to remove. That should give you an indication of how much I saved having the electric company do the hardest part of the job.

Starting in early November I started delimbing the now shortened trees and hauling the limbs to the local landfill. To date I've made eight trips with an average weight of about 1100 lbs. per load. As near as I can figure I still have about 10 trips to go. Once all of the limbs have been removed and disposed of hopefully the logger will stop by and help me drop the trees and haul them away.