Dixie Dove
New Member
Posts:46
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| 22 Feb 2007 08:14 AM |
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I am in the process of trying to restore a 1978 Argosy (DixieDove). I bought this MH from a guy out in AZ and drove it 1600 miles back to Tennessee. When I first saw the MH out in AZ....after I had paid for it of course....I thought best thing I could do was to junk it right then and there. But since it was my "planned" way home I thought might as well give it a chance. I had Dillons RV go through it to fix anything that they thought might cause me trouble on the way home. After $5500 dollars I finally broke free of them and escape their clutches. I told the MH as I was getting ready to leave AZ...."I'm here to rescue you....you get me home and I will take care of you". Well....that MH ran perfect.....look like junk....but ran perfect. Not one bit of trouble on the 1600 mile drive.
Anyway.....First big project was to rip out the dash to overhaul it. I will try and send a before and after picture. The Dash is back in now. The project was pretty straight forward.....all I'd recommend to anyone doing it is to do a real good job of marking wires. I used different color tapes.
I guess I can't show picture.... I get message invalid file type....think that means too big of picture and I don't know how to change it...oh well....
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COOPERHAWK
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:850
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| 22 Feb 2007 08:47 AM |
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Do you use an image editer like
photoshop or the like. Go to edit properties and you can reduce
the image size to the desired dimensions. If you don't have one
there are two on the web that are excellent. One is GIMP and the
other is PAINT.NET. You can google them and download them for
free.
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1985 Airstream 345 Turbo-Diesel
VFW,Legion, NRA
FAA Air Traffic Control Supervisor (Retired)
http://www.cooperhawk.net
mailto:jimcooper@cooperhawk.net
"People are okay in ones and twos. After that number they tend to choose up sides and wear arm bands and berets." |
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allthingsclassic
New Member
Posts:38
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| 22 Feb 2007 09:35 AM |
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You can also create a blog so everyone can follow your restoration. That's one of the many great things about this site.
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Brian Paden
1992 Monaco Crown Royale
1985 Airstream 345 (For Sale) |
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Host
Basic Member
Posts:284
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| 22 Feb 2007 02:59 PM |
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OldFed,
When we were buying our 345 the delivery company refused to drive it to Louisville because the brakes were too spongy. The selling dealer installed new calipers, rotors and pads (to the tune of $1,200).
Once it was home I saw that the Master Cylinder was leaking, $50 a AutoZone and a couple of messy hours later it was good as new.
I will never take my rig to a dealer for service again. |
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Steven Webster
1986 Airstream 345 |
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Balrgn
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:801
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| 22 Feb 2007 03:56 PM |
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Wow, you are brave, Dash work can turn disastrous! Very nice all went well. If you have trouble sizing pics, E-mail them to me @ balrgn@comcast.net I'll shrink em down for ya. I love pics of campers!  |
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1977 Argosy 20
454 V8 Gas
Southern NH
Maintenance Analyst
www.balrgn.com |
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Balrgn
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:801
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| 22 Feb 2007 03:57 PM |
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OMG Steve! I can't imagine, I'd be seeing RED!
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1977 Argosy 20
454 V8 Gas
Southern NH
Maintenance Analyst
www.balrgn.com |
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Klattu
Basic Member
Posts:128
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| 22 Feb 2007 04:41 PM |
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I like the looks of your graphics.
Were you trying to sell a few days ago?
I saw one on another forum that is simular.
Really looking forward to your stories.
Tennessee...not far from us. |
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| 1989 Airstream 345 |
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Klattu
Basic Member
Posts:128
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| 22 Feb 2007 05:01 PM |
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Cool...I see you bought that one!
All the way out there in AZ.
What a great get to know you kinda trip.
502! wow
We want photos...lots of them |
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| 1989 Airstream 345 |
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Dixie Dove
New Member
Posts:46
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| 23 Feb 2007 07:53 AM |
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I will email you some picture....you can put in the forum what you think shouyld be there. I started down loading the web site that someone suggested..... but my computer got to the point where it was saying the web site is ran by some college students....and also gave a warning that the risk of virus was high....so I elected not to do that.....perhaps I'm paranoid when it comes to this computer stuff.
The DixieDove is starting to recover.... haven't done anything to the outside yet.....it still looks bad....but the insides is starting to recover from it's many years of neglect. I replaced the rear window yesterday ( it was broken).....Actually.....wife just told me that WE replaced the rear window...... truth be known....I couldn't have done it without her....LOL. I was expecting the window to cost a lot of money to fix..... but I took the frame to a glass dealer and they installed new tempered glass in it for $38 dollars. It was a little bit of a pain to get the little lip at the top of the glass to fit into it's slot....but once I did a little mod work it fit right in. Looks soooooo much better with the plastic plexi glass I had taped into place.
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Host
Basic Member
Posts:284
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| 23 Feb 2007 08:24 AM |
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It's good to be paranoid. You can upload photos directly into the gallery. As long as they are jpegs, or gif they should work fine. If the files are too big it will warn you about it when your try to upload.
To resize images I find using Windows Photo Editor works just fine. It's free and comes with Windows XP. You can also download it from Microsoft (I'm assuming you're on a PC here). Macs have similar built in utilities.
If you still have trouble, email them to me and I'll upload them for you: host@thisoldrv.com
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Steven Webster
1986 Airstream 345 |
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COOPERHAWK
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:850
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| 23 Feb 2007 08:33 AM |
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I suggested the GIMP and PAINT.NET,
and I probably should have mentioned that both are share ware being
developed by universities. I have both operating and have no
problem with virus's. They are meant to provide free alternatives
to Photo House and some of the other very expensive image
programs.
I do run both and would never suggest sometthng that I felt was
problematic. They are large programs however, and do take a
little time to learn. They also update them often so they are
still a work in progress. If you have a knack for programming
they will also download the software and you can add plug-ins and such
that you have developed.
Of the two PAINT.NET is the simplest to learn and use. The GIMP does a lot more though.
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1985 Airstream 345 Turbo-Diesel
VFW,Legion, NRA
FAA Air Traffic Control Supervisor (Retired)
http://www.cooperhawk.net
mailto:jimcooper@cooperhawk.net
"People are okay in ones and twos. After that number they tend to choose up sides and wear arm bands and berets." |
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Balrgn
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:801
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| 23 Feb 2007 11:51 AM |
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I uploaded a good one f the exterior for ya! |
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1977 Argosy 20
454 V8 Gas
Southern NH
Maintenance Analyst
www.balrgn.com |
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Dixie Dove
New Member
Posts:46
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| 25 Feb 2007 07:58 PM |
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I still could not post the pictures...Probably just me not knowing how to do it
Charles
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Host
Basic Member
Posts:284
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Balrgn
Moderator
Advanced Member
Posts:801
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| 26 Feb 2007 05:04 PM |
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Posted By OldFed on 02/25/2007 8:58 PM
I still could not post the pictures...Probably just me not knowing how to do it[/quote]
[/quote]
Charles[/quote]
It is a nice looking rig, Your gonna have fun in that rig!
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1977 Argosy 20
454 V8 Gas
Southern NH
Maintenance Analyst
www.balrgn.com |
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Dixie Dove
New Member
Posts:46
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| 26 Feb 2007 07:53 PM |
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I tried that big long web address you gave Steven and it didn't work....kept coming up ...could not find page. Thanks for trying to help Steven.
Gave the DixieDove a complete paint job on the interior.....actually it is just a primer coat but it is supprising how much nicer the insides look on the old Argosy. Bad thing is I can just barely hold the wife back from wanting to go in there and start decorating. Have to admit both of us are starting to get anxious to get the old girl up and running. I keep looking in my photo programs for hints on what I should do to reduce the pixels so I can post pictures,,....so far no luck
Have a great day
Charles
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Klattu
Basic Member
Posts:128
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| 26 Feb 2007 09:05 PM |
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Let us all know about your first trip out, maybe a few of us can join you. |
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| 1989 Airstream 345 |
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Dixie Dove
New Member
Posts:46
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| 27 Feb 2007 07:46 AM |
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Because of all that I still want to do to DixieDove....I don't really expect to make our first trip out until around June. I'm sure we will sleep out there in the driveway before too much longer....LOL ....if I had a bigger driveway I'd invite you all. Hey.... am I the only person ever to sleep in the driveway??????? We are really looking forward to using the MH.
Charles & Nancee
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Host
Basic Member
Posts:284
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| 27 Feb 2007 01:11 PM |
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I've slept in the 345 in our driveway. By choice. |
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Steven Webster
1986 Airstream 345 |
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Klattu
Basic Member
Posts:128
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| 27 Feb 2007 01:19 PM |
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We have done a lot more than just sleep!
LOTS MORE
I find it relaxing sometimes to go out there and watch traffic go by, snuggled safe inside. |
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| 1989 Airstream 345 |
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