'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[bkahler]

I think I'm getting real close to declaring victory on water leaks in the front of the motorhome

We had a real gully gusher a little while ago so I went and stayed inside the motorhome looking for leaks. I've definitely stopped the windshield leak (Thanks Peter!) and the leak I had due to the weep holes not being present on the drivers side cockpit window is now gone. That's a big relief

But, there's always a but isn't there!, there are still two leaks associated with the drivers cockpit window. The first is due to a design flaw by Airstream on the early Argosy cockpit window installations that was later rectified on the Classic series.

If you look at the picture below you'll see a drip forming on the bottom of the aluminum channel. Water gets to that point because of the holes drilled in the aluminum window frame underneath the window seal/track. Nothing wrong with having a drain hole in that location, in fact it's a good idea. The problem occurs because the aluminum channel directly below has no place for the water to go. So it puddles up in the low point of the channel which in my case is the rear corner because my front end is currently up on jack stands. You can see the puddle forming in the second picture.



In the picture below the channel circled in red is the channel that fills with water dripping through the drain holes in the channel directly above. Like I said those holes are a good thing, if they weren't there the water that wicks through the seals would end up running down the walls inside the coach. The problem lies in the fact that the channel circled in red has no place for the water to go. The blue line indicates where the cockpit inner wall is placed and sealed with vulkem. Once that channel gets full of water it runs down on the inside of the wall right onto your wood/carpet floor. The fourth picture shows the inner skin installed so you can see how that lower channel would overflow right into the coach.



When the coach is fully assembled (mine obviously isn't!) you don't see that lower channel because of decorative wall panel that is installed. The only way you'll know you have a problem is when your cockpit floor starts getting wet. The solution for the Argosies is to drill additional holes through the lower channel so the water can drain. In an Argosy the area below is open so the draining water won't be a problem. However on the Classics Airstream filled the area in the green circle above with aluminum sheet.



In the later Classic series Airstream fixed this problem by drilling a hole in this channel and attaching a drain pipe that ran down below the aluminum sheet that was added which drains the water below floor level. This allowed any water that weeped through the drain holes to exit the coach without causing damage. You can see the drain tube added by Airstream in the later coaches.



I would venture to say in a Classic if you have good window seals and still have wet floors its a good possibility that your rubber hose is plugged, likely due to mud daubers.

As for my second water leak it's being caused by improperly sealed Olympic rivets. In the last two pictures you can see a water drop being created at the end of an Olympic rivet. I hadn't noticed before but my drivers cockpit window has apparently been removed and re-installed at least once before. There are rivet holes that have no rivets in them and the whole window has been riveted in place with Olympic rivets. The passenger side doesn't have any Olympic rivets and there is no water leaking in on that side.



Fortunately the Olympic rivet leak will be an easy fix, at least compared to the other leaks that I've been fighting

In case you haven't been counting I have now found four different leak sources on the drivers cockpit window. The missing weep holes, the poor design allowing water to drip inside the coach onto the floor, leaking Olympic rivets and the PO added screw holes for mirrors on the window frame.

Brad

[MrJ]

Are the week hole covers needed. I have leaking issues with my 76. I've not tried to locate all the leaks yet.



[QUOTE=bkahler;1345566]Finally got around to cutting the weep holes in the drivers side cockpit window that Airstream conveniently left out

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by MrJ

Are the week hole covers needed. I have leaking issues with my 76. I've not tried to locate all the leaks yet.

I'm pretty sure the Argosies did not have weep hole covers installed originally. My understanding is their function is to keep bugs from crawling up into the weep holes. The covers have little screens inside. From what I've seen on the 345 and 310 the covers are pretty much useless and being made of plastic deteriorate and break over time. I have no plans to try and install any on my Argosy.

If your Argosy is anything like mine then the leaks are going to be fun to find and at times difficult to fix!

Brad

[MrJ]

Let me re-ask that.

Are the weep holes in the cockpit windows needed? I have leaking on both sides. Carpet/metal gets all wet.. BAD.. I saw how you cut weep holes in the sides.

Originally Posted by bkahler

I'm pretty sure the Argosies did not have weep hole covers installed originally. My understanding is their function is to keep bugs from crawling up into the weep holes. The covers have little screens inside. From what I've seen on the 345 and 310 the covers are pretty much useless and being made of plastic deteriorate and break over time. I have no plans to try and install any on my Argosy.

If your Argosy is anything like mine then the leaks are going to be fun to find and at times difficult to fix!

Brad

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by MrJ

Let me re-ask that.

Are the weep holes in the cockpit windows needed? I have leaking on both sides. Carpet/metal gets all wet.. BAD.. I saw how you cut weep holes in the sides.

Do you not have weep holes in your cockpit windows? On my 74 Argosy, the passenger side had weep holes from the factory but the drivers side did not. That is why I put them in.

Another detail that needs to be checked besides the weep holes is you need to see if there are drain holes in the bottom of the window frame on both sides of the divider (front to back divider that separates the window panes).

What I found is without the weep holes on the drivers side and without enough drain holes in the bottom channels of the window frame the water will soak through the window track and eventually overflow into the coach.

Unfortunately it's not quite as simple as I made it sound above. The above statement works fine for my 74 and possibly 75 & 76 models. However at some point Airstream redid the walls in the cockpit and adding a drain tube that runs down below floor level.

I'm going to have to take a bunch of pictures and provide a better description of the differences and what to look for. I might be able to get that done this weekend.

Brad

[bkahler]

No real progress to report, mainly due to other small projects that I'm trying to wrap up before winter.

One project that isn't necessarily a small one is this:



We've had this trailer since around 2003 or so. It was a mess when we got it and it didn't get any better sitting unattended for the last 10 years. So rather than try and sell it in such poor condition I opted to dismantle it and sell off the good pieces. At least this way some trailer owners will have the chance to make repairs to their own rigs.

Hopefully later next month I can start working on the dash of the Argosy. I'd really like to get that area of the motorhome done. We'll see...

Brad

[wxbuoy]

I definitely have to head out to Brad's Airstream restoration and salvage yard some day! Only problem if I drive the airstream it might be mistaken for a salvage!

[mprokop87]

Brad,
What size is the awning on that thing? I'm looking for a 14' awning for my argosy. I'm assuming it would be the same curvature but I might be able to cut the tube down if needed.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by wxbuoy

I definitely have to head out to Brad's Airstream restoration and salvage yard some day! Only problem if I drive the airstream it might be mistaken for a salvage!

Just keep this in mind if you ever bring your Airstream for a visit

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Brad,
What size is the awning on that thing? I'm looking for a 14' awning for my argosy. I'm assuming it would be the same curvature but I might be able to cut the tube down if needed.

Matt,

The trailer is 31'. I'll measure the awning to see how long it is. I'm sure it can be cut down. I also have a new awning canvas (blue I believe) for it.

I'll let you know the length this afternoon.

Brad

[mprokop87]

Before you go off and do the work, what would you want for it?


I wouldn't need the new fabric because I am going to get a maroon one made up for my argosy.

[bkahler]

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year and a half since I updated this thread

Not much has happened for a while now. I'm still waiting to roll it into my shop so I can work on it in comfort. With luck it will be moved into the shop this summer. A lot has taken place over the last few years but I'm hoping I can start making progress soon.

Stay tuned....

[martin300662]

Looking forward to watching the progress

[wxbuoy]

We are looking forward to seeing the progress you make as well!

[Keyair]

Welcome back Brad!
I am behind too...
Down but not out!

[dadstoy]

Hi Brad! Hi Steve!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by dadstoy

Hi Brad! Hi Steve!

Nice to see everyone is still hanging around and working on their rigs

If I don't do something soon with the little Argosy it will sink into the ground

[mprokop87]

Glad you're back! Looking forward reading about your progress!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Glad you're back! Looking forward reading about your progress!

Unfortunately I'm not necessarily able to work on what I would like right now. Come h*ll or high water, this coming winter the Argosy is going to be in the shop so I can work on it

[ViewRVs]

While in the area, I stopped in to check on Brad's progress and remind him what a fully assembled unit looks like!

Monique and I had a great visit with Brad before heading south.