Busy Time

[Philuk]

A busy couple of weeks, first fitting orange trim to air conditioner cover on roof, breaking fridge outlet cover in process, ( another repair to do ), then off for the yearly roadworthiness test ( MOT to us ) which it passed , then on to easter weekend to The Motorfest show at Weston Park, where our Argosy won the trophy for best Motorhome/camper, I think they were just fed up seeing VWs. As you can see from the photos when we woke up on the Monday we could not see out of the windows as a storm had been in overnight, we had to be towed off the show field backwards by a tractor.( the show was cancelled ) but we had a good time & as a shakedown was a successful weekend. The Argosy ran well & performed as it should.
Last weekend my eldest daughter & I fitted the new hot water tank & controls, I still find it hard to believe that you can still get exactly the same parts that fit straight in 40 years after they were made !!!I got the tank & controls sent over from the USA as it worked out cheaper than getting them over here ( go figure!! ).
Now for a question ? where can I get the trim bits for the interior that I have put pics of ? I cannot seem to find them anywhere.
A quiet weekend this weekend as all of us laid low by a flu bug that's going around, but out a a show next weekend so heres hoping we are better by then.
Brad & Martin, love what you are doing to keep these Argosys alive, keep up the great work !

[dennis3751]

Try C and G Trailer Service in California cgtrailer.com for web site and cgtrailer@yahoo.com for email. Rod and Darlene had that flat trim material for our '76 Ambassador a few years ago so it may still be available. They have quite a bit of "new old stock" parts since the company has been around since the '60s. Good luck.

Dennis

[bkahler]

Phil, good to hear the Argosy did well at the show! I would have to say that show field looks more like a lake.

I looked several years ago for those trim pieces and didn't have much luck. Hopefully the contact info that Dennis provided will be able to supply supply what you need.

[martin300662]

I will check in my parts donor when I go over later - looks the sort of thing that will break in removing though?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by martin300662

I will check in my parts donor when I go over later - looks the sort of thing that will break in removing though?

Yep, the stuff is brittle as heck. I was unable to remove any from my Argosy without it breaking and cracking.

[Isuzusweet]

The end cap plastic covered aluminum moulding is DOA and as Brad stated, can't be removed at all without trashing it, but I did find a possible replacement, however it is only 3/4" wide. I'm still looking, but the other option is to make your own and take some flat aluminum, cover with leather and rivet in place.

http://www.prvparts.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=m53

There is also this moulding which can flex around curves BUT I'm unsure how the cover is applied as it may slide on instead of snapping on, but I will talk to the Richeliu people to find out. It is an inch wide though which is closer to what we have.

http://www.richelieu.com/ca/en/categ...6/sku-PBBR1000

Nice to see Bella will have friends when she moves back to the old country.

Cheers
Tony

[Philuk]

Thanks for the replys ,I have sent off an email to the people that Dennis suggested, & yes the stuff is pretty brittle, it falls apart as soon as you look at it ! Some more pics from the easter weekend, parked up with a friend who has a Winnie, us in the show ring with the other winners, & what we saw when we opened the curtains the next morning.

[martin300662]

Checked out the donor and the majority of the trim has hardened (turning brown) and become brittle.



However there are one or two short sections which hadn't been exposed to UV so were still the original off-white colo(u)r and flexible. Just out of curiosity I measured one of the sections and it is 3/4" so wouldn't the stuff Tony found work?

[idroba]

I owned a '75 GMC motorhome which had the same plastic covered aluminum trim materials. As I recall, no one on the GMC forums had found a source for this external press on material. That was as of several years ago.

The other internal trim that you showed is readily replaced with thin strips of plastic laminate cut to the interior track size, or, even easier, cut down vertical venetian blind slats. They are available in many textures and colors and can be used to really dress up your Argosy interior. It is easy to cut the blind slats to any size you want.

[martin300662]

Has anyone tried this vinyl cover sold on ebay?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231285585715...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Philuk]

Great find Martin ! I will let one of you guys over there try it first, we are going to a show at Enfield at the end of the month, where there is a big autojumble & a couple of trim suppliers , I will try & get them to have a look for me. I think the main problem that I have is knowing what all these trim bits are called.
Taking the Argosy ( after 3 years still not got a name for it ) into a local primary school on Wednesday , so that the pupils can do a project on it.
By the way Martin did you get me the heater control off your donor or shall I get one off that internet auction site.
If the photos have attached they are of the only other 2 Argosys that I have met up with in the UK, the 24ft one lives down in Cornwall, the 20ft one did live up in Yorkshire but I think the owner sold it & I have heard nothing since.

[martin300662]

I have searched around the parts pile that were removed from Bella and there is no sign of the original 1975 heater controls. I am negotiating with AS NE to let me leave the '78 donor in place for a couple of months to be able to continue to take parts off of it for Peanut (our '77 20' currently 'parked' at Brad's place) and if they agree then I can try to get the ones from the donor, but the dash (and almost all the interior) from '78 onwards is very different from the earlier models and I'm not sure it is the same as you are looking for?

I just ordered a short length of the vinyl cover (it appear to mainly be called (vinyl) aluminium trim cover, and is differentiated from (vinyl) aluminium trim insert, because it goes 'over' not 'into' the aluminium trim) and will test it out on the donor - if it works I need a load for Peanut!

[german6563]

Hallo martin
I have the same problem I have solved that by cutting formica wide, and the good thing is that you have a variety of colors

[Philuk]

Thanks Martin, if it works I will also need a load for our Argosy ( still no name ), as for the heater control I have ordered one off ebay us, it is a new old stock one so I will still be missing the knob.I am fairly sure that Fords in early 70s over here had the same controls but so far have drawn a blank.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by martin300662

Has anyone tried this vinyl cover sold on ebay?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231285585715...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The cover listed above does fit the 3/4" extrusion used to between inner panels in the Argosy - I bought a short length and tried it is various locations on my parts donor 1978.

That said it is much thicker than the original cover and it needs to be worked to become pliable enough for the return edges to sit comfortably under the raised sides of the extrusion.

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by martin300662

The cover listed above does fit the 3/4" extrusion used to between inner panels in the Argosy - I bought a short length and tried it is various locations on my parts donor 1978.

That said it is much thicker than the original cover and it needs to be worked to become pliable enough for the return edges to sit comfortably under the raised sides of the extrusion.

Photo of the test piece of trim in place for illustration.

[martin300662]

For those folks based in the UK, I think I have found another source of the trim cover.

I was searching for some other parts but found this vendor who sells white and cream in 8ft (2.4m) lengths.

https://www.static-caravan-spares.co...tre-Cream.html