'74 Argosy 20' Motorhome restoration/rebuild

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Gypsyrose15

What kind of batteries did you put in your MH? I have a 77 Argosy 28 MH.

Well, at the moment I don't have any batteries installed. My Argosy has never been on the road since I've owned it. I think group 24 batteries are standard and I believe originally all the motorhomes would have had standard lead acid batteries. I will be installing AGM style batteries when I buy them later this year. More specifically I will probably be using the Optima Yellow top batteries for the coach and a Red top for the engine starting battery.

Brad

[Jjona5]

Cool we ordered one group 24 battery just to get it running and we might go a different direction later. Thanks for the help.

[alhamilton]

Originally Posted by bkahler

One of the things I salvaged from the 345 was the steering column, steering wheel adapter and the Classic style aftermarket steering wheel. The steering column has been installed for a long time now. The steering wheel however had the cover badly torn and some sections where missing so it just sat on the shelf while I looked for options.

Over the past few years I had been keeping watch on ebay for a usable steering wheel but nothing ever really looked appropriate. Fast forward to last fall and in talking with a co-worker it turns out he and his wife had taken up leather-working as a hobby.

I asked him if he would be interested in replacing the cover on the steering wheel and he said "SURE!". Well after many months of being his work que they finally finished the steering. It ended up looking pretty darn good! The color is a nice dark brown which should go good with the rest of the interior.

Attachment 285138Attachment 285139Attachment 285140

He did the leather cutting and fitting and she did the stitching. I guess after she was done she told him that if he EVER brought home another steering he better find a different place to sleep

One more problem resolved

Brad

Great story Brad!~!

[Boom Sounds]

Nice. I must get one of those wheels, for some reason mine has a crappy GM one, despite the coach having almost all the options. They were made by Motalita, a British company. I think they were also very big in France, so you can probably pick them up on French eBay for a song.


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[Boom Sounds]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142372202955

Hmmmm.......I reckon a boss might fit that


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[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Boom Sounds

Nice. I must get one of those wheels, for some reason mine has a crappy GM one, despite the coach having almost all the options. They were made by Motalita, a British company. I think they were also very big in France, so you can probably pick them up on French eBay for a song.

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I don't think the 16" steering wheels installed by Airstream were made by Motolita but I could be wrong. I never did look to see if there is a manufacturers mark on the adapter hub on mine, might have to do that

My original steering wheel was a GM wheel and it was so deteriorated from the heat that when you gripped it your hands turned black and felt sticky!

Brad

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by Boom Sounds

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142372202955

Hmmmm.......I reckon a boss might fit that


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I bought one of the Mota Lita wheels for my MG and was disappointed to find the wood rim plywood was rather than solid walnut. Other than that it is a nice wheel.

[Boom Sounds]

Hey - thanks for the tip. For info, I live 100m from the original MG factory in Abingdon. It's MG central. Let me know if you ever need anything and I can ask about for you!


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[bkahler]

Back in the 80s and 90s I restored a 64 Triumph Spitfire and managed to come across one of the factory optional wood rimmed steering wheels. The factory wheel was solid and not veneered.



While it looked nice I got tired of the slippery surface and on all of my other cars I've opted for leather style of steering wheels.

Brad

[Jjona5]

Originally Posted by Boom Sounds

Hey - thanks for the tip. For info, I live 100m from the original MG factory in Abingdon. It's MG central. Let me know if you ever need anything and I can ask about for you!


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Small world. I have an MGB.

[Smartstream]

In spite of all the idiosyncrasies of British sports cars it's hard to beat the pure fun of driving one. I have a Mk I MG Midget with side curtains and a whopping 53 hp. It's great because I can run it up to 5000 rpm on every shift and never get a ticket because it will barely keep up with an old VW bug. I can barely get into second gear in my Vette without getting a ticket.

Thanks for the offer but it's not really in need of anything other than fresh paint and finding some time to go play with the little guy.

[bkahler]

The last major task I had to complete before I could start the engine again is now done! After the installation of the 4L80e transmission I had to figure out how to cool the transmission fluid. The radiator shop that checked out my radiator said the core is new but they didn't like the condition of the lower tank where the transmission lines were connected. They suggested that I not use that feature. So that left me with trying to figure out what size of cooler to buy, where to mount it and how to mount a cooling fan.

I opted to go with a B&M 70266 8" x 11.25" plate style of cooler with a 20,500 BTU Rating. Added to that I used a 6" high volume fan to blow air through the plates. I found good reviews on it so I figured it was worth a try. Normally a cooler sits in front of the radiator. I opted instead to mount the cooler tucked up under the floor back by the gas tank.

First task was to fabricate a mounting bracket and then figure out a way to mount the fan.


Once the bracket was fabbed and painted I had to squeeze it up above the low pressure fuel pump.


Once the cooler was mounted I then spent a bunch of time running 3/8" steel lines from the transmission to the cooler. It took a lot of bending and tweaking to get the steel lines routed properly and in place.



I need to do a bunch of wiring, extend the headers and temporarily install a pair of glass packs and add all the fluids to the various systems. After that I can start it up

To actually drive it I still have to re-install the gas tank, replace the pinion seal and install the driveshaft.


Brad

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

In spite of all the idiosyncrasies of British sports cars it's hard to beat the pure fun of driving one. I have a Mk I MG Midget with side curtains and a whopping 53 hp. It's great because I can run it up to 5000 rpm on every shift and never get a ticket because it will barely keep up with an old VW bug. I can barely get into second gear in my Vette without getting a ticket.

Thanks for the offer but it's not really in need of anything other than fresh paint and finding some time to go play with the little guy.

My 64 Spitfire had 63 hp and managed to make it up Loveland Pass in Colorado in 2001. That was a blast

Brad

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by bkahler

My 64 Spitfire had 63 hp and managed to make it up Loveland Pass in Colorado in 2001. That was a blast

Brad

Going up is one thing....coming down with four little drum brakes....

I remember the smell of our brand new 1972 VW Westphalia's brakes coming down some pass in the US; so totally roasted the brakes, that we had to get a brake job in the next town. It was hot and we were a loaded family of four with all our gear. Dad was trying to nurse the clutch and the brakes on the way down but decided brakes were cheaper to fix.

Looking good Brad.

Cheers Tony

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

Going up is one thing....coming down with four little drum brakes....

The Spitfire had large front disc brakes, stopping was never an issue with the car.

I remember the smell of our brand new 1972 VW Westphalia's brakes coming down some pass in the US; so totally roasted the brakes, that we had to get a brake job in the next town. It was hot and we were a loaded family of four with all our gear. Dad was trying to nurse the clutch and the brakes on the way down but decided brakes were cheaper to fix.

I think your Dad made a wise choice!

Looking good Brad.

Cheers Tony

Thanks!


Brad

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by bkahler

The Spitfire had large front disc brakes, stopping was never an issue with the car.

Brad

My bad, I actually had to look it up. Triumph changed to front disc brakes on the TR3 in 1956. I would have thought that was way too early. I remember Jaguar was touted as being the first to include disc brakes on their C-type cars in the mid 50's. I would have thought the production cars would have been a decade or so later.
Heck more than a few US cars had front drum brakes even in the late 60's (69 Dart, base and GT had drums; it wasn't until you got to the GTS trim that you got front discs).

Cheers
Tony

[Smartstream]

Come on guys running up hills with 63 hp is child's play. This here is fun.



All of 20 hp and we don't want to discuss brakes.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

Come on guys running up hills with 63 hp is child's play. This here is fun.

Attachment 285475

All of 20 hp and we don't want to discuss brakes.

Depends on your definition of fun...

[bkahler]

I didn't spend a lot of time on the Argosy this weekend but I did get a couple of things done and tinkered with a couple of others.

First I did a final fit of the instrument panel. Now the dash and the rest of the interior ABS parts can be sent out to be painted.



Next I cleaned removed all the staples and carpet tack strips from the doghouse cover and then installed the seal around the doghouse cover opening. The cover fits nicely and it appears that it will seal quite well.



Yesterday I received the spacer that I ordered for the Jensen radio. The spacer keeps the radio from seating all the way into the pocket. I needed to do this due to the flip up screen bumping against the dash when fully open. Peter pointed out to me that there are also adjustments that can be made to keep the screen from opening to far so between the spacer and the settings I shouldn't have any more issues.



With the doghouse cover in place I did a trial fit of the glove box door. I had hoped there would be no interference with the doghouse cover but it's beginning to look like I'll have to do some adjustments to the door or else fabricate one that will work. At the moment since I'm getting ready to restart the engine this just isn't a high priority. More on this later.


Brad

[bkahler]

Got brakes!!

One of the necessary items needed prior to attempting to get the Argosy to go forward and backward on it's own is to have working brakes

Not having anyone around handy to help me bleed the brakes I decided to try the gravity bleed method. This method entails filling the m/c reservoirs and then opening the bleed screen on the farthest wheel cylinder or caliper and letting gravity pull the fluid through the system. I opted to try the front brakes first so I filled the reservoir, stuck a hose from the bleed nipple down to a small baby food sized jar and opened the bleed nipple.

I figured it would probably take a while so I busied myself with another task and after about 15 minutes decided to take a peak at the jar, surprise surprise the jar was half full of brake fluid! Buoyed by this success I moved over to the drivers side caliper and repeated the process. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes the jar was half full. For some reason I looked under the front of the motorhome and saw a small puddle of fluid and thought CRAP I've got a leak

Turns out I hadn't tightened one of the fittings going to the brake proportioning valve. Tightened it up and no more leaks in front. I then peaked under the rear and saw another small puddle. Again it turns out I hadn't tightened the feed line where it connects to the T on the differential.

The only problem I had with this method was the right rear wheel cylinder didn't seem to want to flow so I ended up pumping the pedal a few times and other than creating a small mess fluid started to flow.

The brake pedal seems to have a solid feel to it so now I'm one step closer to going forward and back.....

Needless to say I was quite surprised at just how easy it was to bleed the brakes. I think I'll be using this method the next time I need to bleed the brakes.

Brad