Argosy 20' MH restoration

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by chevy2man

Great job Yuki! Just curious to which A/C system you are using? It looks like a Vintage Air box to me.

Thank you
Yes, you are correct! I'm going to go with Vintage Air Gen-IV A/C system, new condenser and new compressor for my Argosy's climate control system.

[chevy2man]

Any updates on progress?

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by chevy2man

Any updates on progress?

Sorry for lazy updating..
I'm spending some time for my project, but it's not big deals. These are my recently tasks below.


I removed front fender trims, because paint remover and debris were left between body and the fender trim.
The fender trim was fixed with screws but it was not easily removal.. The screws were cut its head so I was not be able to turn it.


I think this is not good solusion, however cut the fender trim around the screws because of making space.



Then piched and turned the screws with a plier.


Anyway, some screws didn't go through the body so I didn't need to remove the all of those.



This is a compartment door where is behind the rear tires at the driver side.


It has a hinge but fixed with screws. I want to convert to openable door so I'm going to add door lock handles instead of screws.


I can access to a leaf spring shackle from the compertment door.
I'm going to install a diesel water heater above this area probably it will be a maintenance door for the heater and water drains.


The last one.


I'm making mud flap brackets in wheel wells.
I don't like rust, water sprash makes rusting and messing with around the tires. I need to shield a frame, suspension compornents and subfloor from the water sprash.
I'm going to install PVC mud flaps surround the tires!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

I continue working on my Argosy in 2021.
Hope the Argosy will be able to move by the end of this year..

I installed locks for a rear compartment door.



It's just making three holes for each lock.


Then, I removed propane tank brackets.
The original propane tank has gone already but its brackets are remained.
I'm not going to use any gas powered equipment so I don't need those.



I cut the bracket with an angle grinder, then used a cold chisel for removal.


I'm making insulation for subfloor.




It is not hard to do because I can crawl under the floor to making mark on the insulation.


I'm going to make underskin and subfloor at the rear section.
Then paint the frame, install a motor and drivetrain!!
Ahh! I should replace leaf spring bushes too..

I will be busy this year as well!!

[chevy2man]

Looking good!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by chevy2man

Looking good!

Thank you!!
How is your Argosy's work going??

[chevy2man]

Originally Posted by GREEN ARGOSY

Thank you!!

How is your Argosy's work going??

It’s been basically non existent. [emoji22]. Work has had me pretty busy this last year with the Pandemic. Hopefully can get some things done this year.

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by chevy2man

It’s been basically non existent. [emoji22]. Work has had me pretty busy this last year with the Pandemic. Hopefully can get some things done this year.

Sorry to hear that. The pandemic has been affecting a lot of things in Japan as well. However I'm working every day at Tokyo..
Anyway, I'm looking forward to your update!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

I was going to paint my Argosy, because I love painted Airstream (a.k.a. Argosy) . And it seems like more "car", I like American cars so I planned to paint my Argosy by brown metallic and cream yellow that is like Chevy pickup trucks.

But I don't have enough space for painting the rig in my garage, so I decided to polishing it.


Anyway, I can see lots of scratchies and bruises on the body surface.. It might be hard to make mirror finishing.


I got new tool! This is a polisher made by Makita. It must work hard for us!!


I polished the front and driver side courner.


Before


After


Yes, I know it. Polishing work is not easy to do, it is like a long journey.. I can't find the final destination never.



I'm going to polish front part of the coarch, then install wiper pivots, wiper motors before a firewall is placed. I think it is good oppotunity to insatll those parts.

[bkahler]

Wow! That is quite a change in plans! These rigs really do look great when polished. Of course you're young with lots of energy to make it happen

Looking forward to seeing it when it's parked outside with the sun shining on it.

Brad

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Wow! That is quite a change in plans! These rigs really do look great when polished. Of course you're young with lots of energy to make it happen

Looking forward to seeing it when it's parked outside with the sun shining on it.

Brad

Yes, it's definitely quite changed my plan! My arms are sore from little polishing work already..
I'm concerned about processing galvanized steel caps and a plastic tail light cover.

[Surfrider]

Hi-
Were you able to ship your argosy to japan in a shipping container?

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by Surfrider

Hi-
Were you able to ship your argosy to japan in a shipping container?

Hi,

Sorry, I didn't import my Argosy by myself so I'm not sure.


It probably came to Japan by a Ro-Ro ship (roll-on/roll-out ship). Many import cars have been coming by Ro-Ro ships over here! Also passenger cars or motorcycles are loaded into a 20' or a 40' container for shipping!

I can't imagine loading Argosy in a container!
A freight company shows a dry container (40' HC) dimension is below.
Intenal length : 12,032mm, Internal width : 2,350mm, Internal height: 2,695mm (Sorry for in metric)

My Argosy's car inspection certificate said "Length : 6,200mm, Width : 2,420mm, Height : 3,006mm". It might be rough measurements, I think the width is between the side view mirror and the side view mirror.


I think if your Argosy can move, using ro-ro ship is easy way for the shipping. If not, using a flat rack container or anything like that?

By the way, I saw a Rolls-Royce Cullinan on a flat rack container at the Narita Airport freight terminal. It's a definitely luxury car so it came by a plane!!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

There's plenty of scratches on the body because this is an Argosy, so it's hard to make a mirror finish.
I have tried many abrasives but it's not working well because of scratches are so rough!


Therefore I decided to use an angle grinder and a coarse abrasive.
This abrasive is common style in Japan, I often use it when polishing motorcycle or car parts.
Also this disk that is called "Sisal disk" makes very strong cutting force!





It's strong but rough finishing, so I used other disk, abrasives and polishing tools.


I polished the front passenger side of the coach today anyway my arm hurts very much..


To be continued...

[GREEN ARGOSY]

It's time for installing windshield wiper pivot shafts and motors! There is no fire walls I can install those components easily!


The original pivot shaft is bent so I bought it from MILL SUPPLY (it's two years ago..)


Also the pivot shaft was fixed just one screw, other was broken and left in the bracket.
This picture is seeing from the pivot shaft hole.


The new pivot shaft came with pivot bolt but it's diffrent shape as at the original drivers side one so I reused that. The passanger side pivot bolt is same as the new one.


I installed the pivot shaft fixing with nuts and bolts instead of screws. It should be better.


However, I want to more firmly or securely fix it. So I bought two of hardware kits. I needed the largest nut (Silver nut) becuse of using two nuts for one pivot shaft.





The body is sandwiched by two nuts.
It's definitely fixed!!


The mission is completed.
I checked the motors with a DC power supply, it was working well.


I'm going to paint headlight housings and a grille and install it, then put fire walls in the coach next time!

[martin300662]

These are great reference photos Yuki.

Thank you for posting

[bkahler]

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by martin300662

These are great reference photos Yuki.

Thank you for posting

Hi Martin,
If these photos are useful to someone I'm very glad!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Attachment 393119

Attachment 393120

Attachment 393121

Wow!! That's nice, I will send a PM to you later!

[GREEN ARGOSY]

I polished and painted front grill and headlight bezels, BUT.. I found a little problem on it.


The grill should have three tabs at the upper and bottom side, but mine had just one tab at the bottom.



I made three of new tabs by aluminum flat bars, it will work well!


They are ready to go!! It looks very nice, clean and shiny!



The grill and headlight bezels were installed on the rig.


Next, we can install headlight brackets easily before when fire walls are placed, so I do it even if wouldn't need headlights for a while.



She got the eyes!!




These are fire walls. Of course I painted it, and filled some holes by aluminum plates.
I don't need the original blower motor hole, heater hose holes and etc..


The fire walls was placed in the coach.
I'm going to caulk the seams of the wall then rivet or bolt it.



My Argosy is becoming like a car!