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Old 04-03-2016, 07:40 AM   #21
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1975 20' Argosy 20
Chestfield , Kent
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Why do these Argosy's always look so much better in photos????

Or put it another way, the most recent custodian of Peanut certainly was economic with the truth (verbally and in photos), for example she shared the damage on the front passenger side but not that 'someone' had reversed into 'something' and hit the 3/8" steel plate of the spare wheel carrier hard enough to bend it and push the carrier into the back panel (not just bending it but actually puncturing the panel). Also the bodywork around the driver rear banana wrap is missing (although someone has covered the area with a aluminum panel.

Unfortunately this is just the start of tails of neglect....Peanut arrived along with a bucket of cleaning products - pity the PO never used any of them it is filthy inside. Also Peanut appears not only to have been used near the sea, it looks like it may have spent some of the last 5 years in the sea, as the generator compartment floor is non-existent replaced with a couple of 6 x 2 s and the generator is held in with a ratchet strap.

This just leads us to the the mechanical issues. Needless to say it isn't a good sign when 3 different tow truck companies are needed first to haul away and get it running (the shop that got it running actually claimed if I fitted new tires I could have driven to Brad's.....utter BS as will become apparent in the next sentences). The second hauler couldn't get his trailer to Brad's house but as the shop had said 'if it had new tires it could drive the 800 miles to Kentucky', dropping it off nearby and driving the last few miles won't hurt, would it? Well after Peanut was dropped and Brad found it had NO brakes (there wasn't even any fluid in the MC), an open fuel line leaking under the 'titter-tottering' generator, and found the stack of receipts from where the PO had tried (unsuccessfully it appears) to cure an acute overheating problem. Meant Peanut arrived at Brad's on a third trailer.

So I arrived after the 16 hour drive from Boston to find Brad already up to his elbows in fuel lines, coolant and brake fluid. Worse I had only driven down to drop the wheels and pick up the valance for Bella (AS NE start spraying color tomorrow), before turning around and driving back (2000miles in 36 hours is not recommended, especially as the last 700 has been in a blizzard following a plow).

Suffice to say more issues are coming to light, but at the moment Brad is fixing them faster than finding them so the list will get smaller just it appears to quick fix and back on the road has suddenly become a 'project' and I am off over to AS NE to drop off the valance and start taking/sending photos of replacement parts of the donor to Brad...seems like the donor may also be heading to Kentucky just to patch up Peanut!
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Old 04-03-2016, 10:15 AM   #22
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1974 20' Argosy 20
Richmond , Kentucky
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Martin's should be frustrated. The shear neglect by the PO and the fact that there were a lot of details left out of the auction listing is pretty amazing

With that being said I do feel for what Martin paid for Peanut it should still turn out to be a decent deal. It just means there's a lot more work than anticipated to get it to that point. Having a donor with most if not all the parts he needs will help tremendously.

I will say that if Martin had tried to drive from Florida to Kentucky he wouldn't have made it. Between the brakes being absent, the radiator leaking and the u-joints that are toast I don't think he would have made it out of Lakeland.

The major issues before it can be driven are:

Brakes fixed
Radiator pulled and repaired/replaced
Bella's old tires & wheels installed
Gas tank dropped and cleaned
High engine idle

Here's a few pictures illustrating the damage and neglect.

Front end damage.
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Rear end damage.
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Damaged fridge access cover.
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Steps missing pieces and non-functional.
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Shower curtain and much of the interior needs an extreme cleaning job.
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Obvious signs that the radiator is leaking.
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Old 04-03-2016, 10:25 AM   #23
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The generator compartment is really scary. I'm pretty sure that if Martin had tried to drive Peanut from Florida to Kentucky the generator would have fallen out onto the road.

At first glance it looks like the generator is strapped to the compartment floor with a ratchet strap and wood supports.
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Someone obviously had the generator out in order to put the wood planks in place. Why didn't they fix the floor then?
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Closer inspection with the wood removed reveals a severely rusted compartment floor.
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Even closer inspection shows the generator floor on the left side is only held in place by a 1" long piece of metal attached to the side wall. That 1" was all that was keeping the 250 lb generator from falling to the ground.
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I really don't think the generator would have made it a hundred miles before the bouncing and jostling finally broke that last 1" section of rusty metal.

Pretty scary if you ask me....
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Old 04-03-2016, 10:33 AM   #24
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As far as the brakes go this might be a clue as to why the master cylinder was empty. The wet spot on the drum is moist indicating it's fairly recent. I haven't' seen any fluid on the ground which leads me to think the fluid was gone before the shop picked Peanut from the sellers place.

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Needless to say I'm hoping the brake shoes aren't ruined.

It's time to re-read the manual to refresh my memory on how to get the drums off
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Old 04-03-2016, 12:50 PM   #25
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1975 20' Argosy 20
Chestfield , Kent
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From what Brad has posted it would certainly be a different proposition if the parts donor Argosy didn't still have....

The bumper, grille end, banana wrap and maybe even the panel from the donor.



]

Same with the rear panel, spare wheel mount, bumper and rear drivers banana wrap.



(does a little repair first!)

Replacement fridge vent



Replacement battery cover



Replacement bathroom door





Plus it has a set of vacuum operated steps, a good radiator, and a decent generator floor



Plus someone with the know how of Brad!!!!!

Don't think the gas tank from the 28ft will fit in Peanut though - it is huge!

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Old 04-03-2016, 12:55 PM   #26
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I just finished pulling the right rear brake drum and unfortunately the stain on the brake drum isn't brake fluid, it's gear oil. The axle seal is shot and needs to be replaced. It appears that the brake shoes do have gear oil on them which probably means the shoes should be replaced. In my previous post I stated it was the left rear drum where in reality it's the right rear that I'm working on.

The rear end brake job that the seller alluded to turned out to be just having the drums turned. No other work was done to the rear brakes that I can see. They obviously didn't bother replacing the rear seal while they were in there.


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While removing the brake drum I noticed this.
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The tail pipe is resting within an inch of the rear brake line

I'll get that corrected when I replace the rear brake hose.
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Old 04-03-2016, 01:12 PM   #27
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Add the license plate light and generator mounts to your lists of donor parts

If the generator floor is solid it will be a simple matter to cut it out. Peanut's generator compartment side walls will need some repair work but nothing significant. Do you know if the donor generator is or was operable?

Do you know the capacity of the donor gas tank? I measured Peanuts and it's definitely a 50 gallon tank. Dimensions are roughly 50" x 11.5" x 21.5".
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Old 04-03-2016, 01:29 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Add the license plate light and generator mounts to your lists of donor parts
Could push the boat out and get a nice aluminum one from VTS



Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
If the generator floor is solid it will be a simple matter to cut it out. Peanut's generator compartment side walls will need some repair work but nothing significant. Do you know if the donor generator is or was operable?
I have never used it but it was supposed to be working, I remember the PO saying it was difficult to start though

Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Do you know the capacity of the donor gas tank? I measured Peanuts and it's definitely a 50 gallon tank. Dimensions are roughly 50" x 11.5" x 21.5".
I will measure it when I am next over there Brad....next job is to find out if it still starts and runs (I drove it off the trailer when it was delivered to AS NE) because if it does it opens up more options for getting it shipped.
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Old 04-03-2016, 04:02 PM   #29
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Quote:
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....next job is to find out if it still starts and runs (I drove it off the trailer when it was delivered to AS NE) because if it does it opens up more options for getting it shipped.
You could find some brave sole to drive it from Massachusetts to Kentucky
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Old 04-03-2016, 04:11 PM   #30
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Yeah, it kinda goes without saying that you almost have to bear in mind that fixing what is wrong with Peanut would apply to any 30+ year old motorhome, as that's usually why the PO's are selling it in the first place; that's if the PO even knew the extent of some of the problems.

I'm glad she has found a good home.

Cheers
Tony
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Old 04-03-2016, 04:38 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
You could find some brave sole to drive it from Massachusetts to Kentucky
No worries we just need ~7000 people to chip in a dollar for one of these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2016-27-...oAAOSwEeFU4-4Y



And Chevy to donate a nice shinny 3500HD for all the good work we are doing with their products, of course if those nice people at Ford wanted to give a F-350 for competitive testing that would work as well
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Old 04-03-2016, 05:32 PM   #32
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That would certainly do it! Let me know if you get Chevrolet or Ford to donate a vehicle. I'd be happy to do the driving

Here's a shot of mine being transported on a 24' gooseneck trailer.
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Old 04-05-2016, 10:08 AM   #33
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Ok I'm a little stumped on how to replace the heater hoses where the hoses travel inside the heater box itself.

Looking at this picture below you can see where the heater hoses pass through two holes and into the box.
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There is enough other stuff for me to deal with at the moment that I haven't had the time to really look into the problem. The question I have is how do you get access to the heater core to replace the rubber hoses? As you can see in the picture above someone has cut the hoses coming out of the box and spliced in new hoses from that point to the engine.

My first thought is there might be access to the hose connections once I pull the fan motor/blower out.

Any suggestions?!!

Brad
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Old 04-05-2016, 10:39 AM   #34
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I found this in the 1977 Owners manual Brad - seems to all come out from the passenger foot well - seems crazy to me but who knows!

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Old 04-05-2016, 11:19 AM   #35
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The 310 and 345 that I'm familiar with all came out through the passenger foot well as well. So far I don't think I need to mess with the heater core, just the heater hoses. I'm thinking if the radiator needs to get pulled then replacing all of the heater hose at the same time just seems to make sense. Do you want to use regular heater hose or silicone style heater hose?

Looking at the diagram it would appear the heater hoses might be accessible from the where the heater blower opening is.

If I get some time this evening I might try removing the blower to get a peak inside.
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Old 04-05-2016, 11:21 AM   #36
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If its the same as the 310, I believe the whole box pulls out from the footwell. No way I could get my hands in there next to the heater core to disconnect the coolant hoses. I can see them, and the valve, but very tight on the side of the core.
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Old 04-05-2016, 11:29 AM   #37
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Mike, according to the directions provided in the picture supplied by Martin it says from the front engine access compartment a) disconnect heater hoses at core outlet.

If your 310 has the heater motors accessible from the passenger compartment then it's not the same as this one. The single blower motor is removed from the engine compartment.
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Old 04-05-2016, 11:50 AM   #38
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Quote:
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Do you want to use regular heater hose or silicone style heater hose?
Whatever is going to be the easiest to fit and last the longest Brad (hopefully those two options aren't mutually exclusive!!!!)
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Old 04-05-2016, 12:05 PM   #39
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Whatever is going to be the easiest to fit and last the longest Brad (hopefully those two options aren't mutually exclusive!!!!)
That probably means silicone hose. In this case I don't think they are mutually exclusive
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Old 04-05-2016, 03:24 PM   #40
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Heater core hoses

Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Ok I'm a little stumped on how to replace the heater hoses where the hoses travel inside the heater box itself.

Looking at this picture below you can see where the heater hoses pass through two holes and into the box.
Brad,
Martin,

just popped off the carpeted plywood passenger footwell panel, and the heater core hangs from two brackets onto the firewall. I can feel the heater core hoses entering from the front.

looks like 5 or ten minutes off, 5 back on. (famous last words!) taking the passenger seat out would give you some working room.

ymmv,
Joseph
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