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Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

67avion
Explorer II
Explorer II
Without going into too much painful detail, we had a mishap several week-ends ago. While working with sand bag crews on the Mississippi River, the truck and camper fell into the flood waters as a road collapsed. Because of a number of issues dealing with the wrecker truck, we had to release the camper as the truck was reeled up over the bank. The good news is that the truck is as good as new after a thorough rinsing, inspection of brakes, etc. The bad news is that the camper was thoroughly drowned. A lot of people had far worse trouble than we did, so we consider ourselves lucky. The floods are ongoing as I write.

Our planned trip to Montana in June is called off. heh.

However, I have now convinced my dear Jane that its time to really update the TC. After drying for several days we pulled out the interior. Amazingly the Zolatone paint that I had applied last year is good as new after a cleaning.



Without burdening the TC family overmuch, I'd like to ask some advice other than don't park too near a flood :-).

My DW was overjoyed that I had a plan for the bathroom: a composting toilet developed by Nature's Head http://www.natureshead.net/. Our holding tank was practically unusable and there was no real grey water tank on the 67 Avion. Our plan is to rip out the bathroom and install one of these and converting the blackwater to a greywater tank. Any experience with this?

Finally, the roof. I admit that I have not really done the work I should have. Now, I need to remove the various sealants on the roof and repair it. We are also setting up for a solar installation. Any advice as to this?



Here's hoping I have posted the pictures correctly. And many thanks in advance for your advice.
4,347 REPLIES 4,347

67avion
Explorer II
Explorer II
I wonder if anyone has explored replacement windows for the Avion? I have in mind tinted, double glazed windows. I have run across windows that interested me from Dometic, but I can't find a source in the US.

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
67avion wrote:
merc25,

Welcome aboard and best of luck. The Avion is a project for folks with loads of patience.

I did order panels from Cayo about two years ago, as I recall. Interestingly, the wrong side panels were shipped and had to be replaced. As I understood it, from talking to the Cayo office, they have molds that replicate the shapes of all of their products. So, I assume that they bend them as needed. I also recall someone saying that Cayo no longer was providing the panels. I don't know the basis of that.

Every one of my experiences with Cayo were terrific. So, things may have changed. Keep calling.


I think you will be able to get the panels from Cayo Repair Service. They may not match in finish exactly. It would not be hard to make your own or have some made. Might take some trial and error but I would not let that stop me.

I took some pretty big dents and creases out of mine with good results. Here's pics to compare with yours:



Once I finish with the polish you will never know it was there
Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

67avion
Explorer II
Explorer II
merc25,

Welcome aboard and best of luck. The Avion is a project for folks with loads of patience.

I did order panels from Cayo about two years ago, as I recall. Interestingly, the wrong side panels were shipped and had to be replaced. As I understood it, from talking to the Cayo office, they have molds that replicate the shapes of all of their products. So, I assume that they bend them as needed. I also recall someone saying that Cayo no longer was providing the panels. I don't know the basis of that.

Every one of my experiences with Cayo were terrific. So, things may have changed. Keep calling.

merc25
Explorer
Explorer
Well!!! I have now read this entire thread and I just want to tip my hat to you guys and thank you for the wealth of information, pics and the benefit of your experience. I stumbled into this forum because I have an offer on a '66 C10. I have only seen a few pictures of it but suspect it could be a considerable project. I proceed armed with sober foreknowledge! I believe these aluminum rigs are worth salvaging (I am 70% complete on an original restore of a 1950 Spartan Royal Mansion). My primary concern is with body repair. My C10 would have a pretty good crease front curbside cabover, affecting 4 or 5 curved panels. I have been unable to contact Cayo Repair (I just get a generic answering machine). I will try again but what I need to know is if they still offer replacement panels. Think I recall someone posting otherwise. I'm not convinced I could get a satisfactory result just hammering them out. Can anyone help?
Thanks again for making the effort in sharing your experiences.

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
Saw these emblems on Ebay today. Not sure of their authenticity because mine do not look to be cast aluminum: http://www.ebay.com/itm/AVION-Cast-Aluminun-Plaque-Car-Club-Plaque-RV-Trailler-UN-PAINTED-/140684665775?hash=item20c175a3af&item=140684665775&pt=Motors_RV_Trailer_Camper_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr
Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
Talked with Cayo Repair Service today and they also said there is no way to fix dings because of stretching.
Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
One of the Experts in the other forum thinks that because it is not tempered aluminum that the dent area is stretched and will not go back to it's original shape after it has been dented. In the bigger dent that I fixed I was able to get it to shrink a tiny bit so I will keep playing with them. If I can't get a solution I will put patches over the ugly ones and live with the others. The patches look cool anyway.

I'll let you all know if I find a solution.

Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

Conch_Cruiser
Explorer
Explorer
Avion C-11
Around here, we have Dent Doctors who can pop out hail dings and door dings with some process (unknown to me). They claim no painting for automotive repair. Try to Google dent doctor or ding repair. I heard they use dry ice. Not verified.
1999 Chevy 3500 SRW 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed
1996 Coachmen Ranger 100SD
Tork Lift Front Tie Downs
Happijac Rear Tie Downs
Ride Rite Air Bags
Polar Cub AC Model 9201a-776 8,300BTU
Honda EU2000i generator

garryk6
Explorer
Explorer
ticki2 wrote:
69cayo wrote:
Avion TCs are 40+ years old, I'm calling the small dents on mine "character".



Obviously you have a male AVION....LOL


I guess mine is a male too, since I agree with 69Cayo, the dents are just more "Character"
Garry
Garry K
Wife + 4 kids
Retired Military Family.... Alway's on the move....
2002 F350 CCSB 5.4 6spd 4x4 in AK
1966 Avion C-10 Truck Camper

ticki2
Explorer
Explorer
69cayo wrote:
Avion TCs are 40+ years old, I'm calling the small dents on mine "character".



Obviously you have a male AVION....LOL
'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
69cayo wrote:
Avion TCs are 40+ years old, I'm calling the small dents on mine "character".

How often are you having to change the buffing bonnet ?

Rest assured you will have one of the nicest looking Avion/Cayo campers in the country.


The bonnets last a long time unless you get them dirty or contaminated with tape stikyness. I have used about 5 so far but they are washable.


I'm happy that you like the way it looks but I have definitely reached the point of reality where I am tired of slinging the buffer around for 10 hours a day on the weekends.........
Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

69cayo
Explorer
Explorer
Avion TCs are 40+ years old, I'm calling the small dents on mine "character".

How often are you having to change the buffing bonnet ?

Rest assured you will have one of the nicest looking Avion/Cayo campers in the country.

ticki2
Explorer
Explorer
Don't have the answer but I am interested . I have a perfect image of a golf ball in the front of mine . But then , I call it a beauty mark .
'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
I've seen a lot of threads here on how to fix big dents but none on fixing smaller dings. I'm talking about the little door dings, rock dings, bug dings, knocking on the back door dings and so forth. Now that I have started to polish my camper I am seeing them all over the place.

I have seen the "dent removal with heat" thread and that process does work on some of the shallower dings but I have not had success with it on the bigger ones.

In the pic below you can see one like I am talking about. The ding is in the lower panel to the right (of the photo) in the section that is polished.

What do you all do with those?

Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

Avion_C-11
Explorer
Explorer
I think that the oxidized, off color and dirty look is not original and not worth preserving.

Upkeep on a polished camper is not that hard. The initial polishing process is tough, admittedly, but after its polished you just have to shine it up once a year with a buffer and some polish. An afternoons work. You probably spend more time than that trying to make the oxidized anofodization look better.

Polishing is optional. You could deanodizing it and leave it bare aluminum. Looks great.
You could clear cote it but I don't like how that looks or maintains.

It is a massive undertaking to deanodizing and polish one of these but I'm not in a hurry and I enjoy working on the camper. It's fun to see the shine come out!
Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com