My new project - Argosy 24'

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

So just a little update for those of you keeping tabs on my progress. I have taken an axe to the back bedroom and started building a custom frame for the bed, which will be queen sized with the head on the drivers side. During the day the bed will fold up to two sixty inch wide couches with a shelf along the back. I still have to finish up the framing this week. Also this week I have to investigate my side mirrors (thank you brad!), put in the new distributor, and put together the tail lights. Please give me your comments if there is something you think I should do, I'm open to suggestions!

Matt, nice to see you're making progress!

What are you going to use to support the mattress across the hallway opening? Can't wait to see the framing when it's done. I do like the idea of being able to make couches out of that area when you want to.

How are you fastening the wood to the walls? Airstream mainly used rivets to hold things in place. They also used screws but I always find large headed rivets along side screws. I think the screws were used to initially hold something in place during assembly and then large headed rivets were used to provide the actual strength required to hold something in place. The coach will flex while driving and screws don't allow for flexing like rivets will. Just something to keep in mind.

Let me know on the mirrors when you're ready.

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
I have supports that will fit into the existing frame to support the center of the bed. I just need to cut out a key so they went slide around. As far as fattening to walls, there are supports that are screwed into the aluminum siding that are under the frame. The frame screws down into these supports. I think the way I have it built will allow for the flexing of the cabin, only one way to find out.

I'm hoping to pick up a fridge this weekend but the guy selling it seems a little flakey. I got part way through my one hour drive there to find out that he was unavailable to show me the fridge. It was a nice Norcold from the late 90s for $100! If that doesn't work out then I don't know what I will do, keep looking I guess.

[bkahler]

If the fridge works that's not a bad price at all. Hopefully it's as good as you're hoping. I'm a fan of Norcold also. We bought a Winnebago motorhome in 2003 that had a new Norcold in it and when we bought our 310 we swapped fridges so we could keep the Norcold.

Any decision on mirrors yet?

Brad

[mprokop87]

The fridge doesn't work according to the guy, he says the power board is bad. He said it used to work until he tried to change a fuse and crossed some wires, blowing out a few components on the power board. I believed that until yesterday when I called him to let him know that I was on my way. His wife answered and gave me some excuse that he had to take the girls to dance (or something like that) so he wasn't home. The real kicker is that I could hear him in the background and his wife was addressing him directly... pays to cover the phone up.

The more I thought about it the more I think I am just going to look elsewhere. I do not need to buy something that I cannot fix. Im fine with fixing the power board but if he messed up the cooling portion then I could be out time and money. I will either buy an electric fridge and put it in or keep looking for a used RV fridge.

[bkahler]

Yep, someone like that I would steer clear of!

I think you're smart to keep looking. I would however shy away from a normal fridge and find a true RV fridge. I think in the long run you'll be a LOT happier with the right fridge in place. One thing to remember with a true RV fridge it will cool while driving (as long as you have propane) and while parked and not plugged into shore power. On trips that can make a big difference. A normal fridge like you use in your house has to have 120/ac so unless you're plugged in you won't have any cooling. Just my $0.02 on the subject

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
Do you still happen to have the taillights from your 345? It looks like the individual lenses might work for the rear lights for my Argosy. Could you compare them to yours and see if that's true and if you are willing to part with them let me know for how much.

Also, in the next few days I am going to go ahead and order the mirrors that you linked me.

Thanks
Matt

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Brad,
Do you still happen to have the taillights from your 345? It looks like the individual lenses might work for the rear lights for my Argosy. Could you compare them to yours and see if that's true and if you are willing to part with them let me know for how much.

Matt, those tail lights are long gone. Sorry I can't help you there. I am curious as to where you managed to come up with tail light assemblies for your Argosy. The ones on mine are cracking and they were only used on the 74 models so finding something to replacement them with is pretty high on my list.

Also, in the next few days I am going to go ahead and order the mirrors that you linked me.

Thanks
Matt

Sounds good. I'll see what I can do to get the parts done as quickly as I can.

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
I searched for my tail light for a good 4 months before I cam up with one. At one point I put up a classified ad and someone saw it. He had one that came off of a camper, year unknown, and only wanted $40 for it. The measurements that he sent me matched up to the size of my Argosy so I decided to take a gamble on it. After paying $100+ to ship it from Georgia to here I held it up and it fit!

There is a crack or two on it but nothing that cant be fixed with a little fiberglass and body filler. I knew about the cracks before I bought it but I wanted to snatch it anyway because of how hard they are to find. If I were you I would put up an ad on the classified site and watch it and other sites (ebay, craigslist, etc...) religiously. You weren't the first person to ask me about it so I am assuming something like that will go fairly quickly. I will keep an eye out for something for you but just be ready to pay a good chunk of money for shipping.

In your searches if you happen to come across the actual tail lights let me know. I only have the plastic housing (See picture). I think that Argosy/Airstream used the same lights in many of their RVs so as long as I can find something I will be happy.

[mprokop87]

Forgot the picture....

You will notice that I am also missing the letters so if anyone has them I would be more than happy to take them off your hands!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Forgot the picture....

You will notice that I am also missing the letters so if anyone has them I would be more than happy to take them off your hands!

I think you got incredibly lucky with your find! I think you're right, the bases and lenses should be a lot easier to find than the main housing. I'll let you know if I find anything.

My worry isn't the housing similar to what you found, its the lenses that seem to be non-existent. You can see the difference between mine and yours. If you ever see any like that snatch them for me!



Brad

[mprokop87]

So a nice little surprise came in the mail for me today, my new mirror mounts. Brad, thank you for making them for me, they look great. I wasn't planning on doing any work today but I was way too excited. I have a long and narrow drive way so backing up while trying not to hit a tree is not the easiest task. They look great!

[mprokop87]

Not sure why the photos never show up right from my phone but here they are.

[bkahler]

Great! Glad they worked out

It's always nice to see a plan come together

Brad

[ViewRVs]

Originally Posted by bkahler

I think you got incredibly lucky with your find! I think you're right, the bases and lenses should be a lot easier to find than the main housing. I'll let you know if I find anything.

My worry isn't the housing similar to what you found, its the lenses that seem to be non-existent. You can see the difference between mine and yours. If you ever see any like that snatch them for me!

Attachment 176539

Brad

The lenses for my 1977 were:
Monarch 9074 (Grote 90742) turn, brake
Monarch 9075 (Grote 90752) reverse

Both were available from my local NAPA store. Brad's look different than my 1977 light bar.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by ViewRVs

Both were available from my local NAPA store. Brad's look different than my 1977 light bar.

Fred, from everything I've been able to research on your website the 74 Argosy Motorhomes were different than all the other Argosy Motorhomes. Although further research on your website indicates that the 72 & 73 Argosy trailers may have used the same tail light assembly.

All I know is they are as rear as hens teeth

Brad

[mprokop87]

A quick update as to what I have been up to. Last week I did not get much done because I took my wife to Toronto for a little getaway. This weekend I got a bunch of small things taken care of. First, I got my water heater installed with new PEX plumbing. I was going to run PEX all the way up to the sink but I found it too difficult to get under the bathroom to run the lines. I got one line run up form but cannot find the room to run the other line. For now it will stay the way it is.

Lately I have been having some issues with the engine running well. Its had a lot of trouble starting and running smooth. The past 2 weeks I have not been able to get it started unless I toss some extra gas into the carb. So I pulled both fuel filters and the fuel pump. Tomorrow I will run out and pick up a new pump and filters, hopefully it will help!

I also pulled the furnace out today and this is where I am going to need some advice. When I looked into the duct work I notice mouse poop and remains. There are two hoses that run to the back. One of the goes into the bathroom and I think I can pull the whole thing out easily and replace it. The other one runs under the floor and to the back room. I am not too sure how I can pull it out to replace it. Any ideas? My dad mentioned just using a vacuum to suck out the garbage and use a sanitizing spray as a last resort but I really just want to replace everything. As far as the furnace goes I could not get it to light. The fan would turn on but I could not hear the ignitor so I am going to buy another. Does anyone know if there are any other parts I should replace? It all appears to be in decent shape.

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Lately I have been having some issues with the engine running well. Its had a lot of trouble starting and running smooth. The past 2 weeks I have not been able to get it started unless I toss some extra gas into the carb. So I pulled both fuel filters and the fuel pump. Tomorrow I will run out and pick up a new pump and filters, hopefully it will help!

If that doesn't help, consider a carb rebuild. I would have never thought it myself until I had issues with mine totally not starting and I researched here and found a lot of people suggesting a carb rebuild. I had it done and man, what a difference.

I also pulled the furnace out today and this is where I am going to need some advice. When I looked into the duct work I notice mouse poop and remains. There are two hoses that run to the back. One of the goes into the bathroom and I think I can pull the whole thing out easily and replace it. The other one runs under the floor and to the back room. I am not too sure how I can pull it out to replace it. Any ideas? My dad mentioned just using a vacuum to suck out the garbage and use a sanitizing spray as a last resort but I really just want to replace everything. As far as the furnace goes I could not get it to light. The fan would turn on but I could not hear the ignitor so I am going to buy another. Does anyone know if there are any other parts I should replace? It all appears to be in decent shape.

Not sure what the two hoses are that run out of the back of the furnace. I would expect propane lines to be run separate to the water heater and fridge. I'd consult my service manual, but it's in the moho out in the barn right now. If this is still an open issue for you next weekend, I'll make a note to get the manual and see what it shows for propane routing. I assume based on your description that you have the rear bedroom floor plan?

Regarding the blower and no ignitor, I was in the same situation when I bought mine. I thought the furnace wasn't working because the ignitor never hit. When I set out to fix it, I turned the furnace on and let it run a bit to verify the issue. I then marched through the troubleshooting guide and when I got a bit inside, I noticed things were warm. So, with the front cover off and the heating chamber exposed, I turned it on again. Whadda ya know...it worked just fine! Turns out, the ignitor was just soooo quiet that I couldn't hear it. The ignitor on the (replacement) furnace in my Airstream trailer is so loud you can hear it anywhere in the trailer. Not so with my original furnace in the moho. There's a flame sight glass on the front of the furnace (at least there is on mine). Make sure it's rather dark, turn the furnace on, and then lay down on the floor and make sure you're getting a good look at the sight glass and verify no flame before you tear it all out.

[ViewRVs]

What brand of furnace is it? If it is a Sol-Aire, you are probably out of luck.

[mprokop87]

To answer a few questions, its a Suburban furnace and the two hoses that I am talking about are 4or 6inch wide ( I can't remember) and are used for the ducts. The other thing that could be going on with the ignition is that there is air trapped in the line. Right now I want to get the ducts cleaned out because I do not want to make myself or my wife sick by running the furnace with that stuff laying in the ducts.

As far the engine goes, the carb is fairly new (was replaced just before the beast was parked). I still have the original quadra-junk sitting on the floor in a box. If nothing helps (fuel filters, fuel pump, distributor) then I will rebuild the carb. I am hoping that I can get all the engine stuff done this week if my work schedule isn't too bad. We have some deadlines approaching so I may be stuck late a few nights.

Ill keep you posted.

[ViewRVs]

You can clean the ducts with a dryer vent brush and a leaf blower. I'd put a nylon stocking on one end to catch the junk. Try the leaf blower on the ends and blow the dirt back towards your furnace (the open hose with the stocking!).