Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

[67avion]

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.

[BlackFlagForge]

So what you're saying is that after over 50 years they are still strong and it takes effort to remove them? 😉 this is what I am after, you could also use any type of anti seize or lube of some sort if its that much of a worry~

I looked at a lot of aircraft and boating forums about this and they all say that the amount of corrosion is very very little, people with SS screws in saltwater aluminum boats for 20-30 years without a problem.

Every screw that I removed from a damaged area is rusted and not corroded from this type of reaction.

[Reddog1]

I have done no research, but have what is left of a portable Army Radar Tower. It was built in the late fifties or early sixties. It is all aluminum, and stainless bolts were used. Every bolt I have removed is corroded with a white powder. Some have been so corroded I used a grinder to remove the heads of the bolt. I have removed them from aluminum 1/4" thick and 3/8" thick.

Personally, I would be hesitant using a stainless sheet metal screw without some kind of plastic washer. Using stainless nuts and bolts, I would definitely use some kind of antiseze (sp).

Did Avion use stainless fasteners when they built the Avions?

Wayne

[BlackFlagForge]

About the galvanic corrosion from alu and ss. From what I can find the mass of the aluminum that we are dealing with vs the SS screws it should not be an issue, the description I read said that basically a SS screw in a 6x6 block of Al will do nothing, but an Al screw in a 6x6 block of SS will fall apart in no time at all. Also almost every screw I can think of that I am using can be seen and checked over time with just a glance so it would not be a problem to adjust.
Just my research.

[ticki2]

Well , there are all kinds of frustration . Here I sit taking a break , staring out the window at my Avion , needing nothing at this point . It's 85F , dry , slight breeze ( no bugs ) , nights are mid 60's ,living in the middle of the White Mountain National Forest , and because of one commitment or another I can't get out of Dodge , probably not till the end of July . Pity party over , LOL

[69_Avion]

67avion wrote:
I wish I had thought to place a reinforcing bar at the base of the cabinet. I actually studied the thing for a long time, concerned about the cantilever effect and the gray water holding tank as well. We did place reinforcement behind the wing, connecting the overhang.

But still, I don't think you can be careful enough with the issues in the overhang of the coach. Especially the toilet; when we pulled it out, we learned it was just barely hanging there with the minimal support that the factory had built in nearly nonexistent.

You guys are giving us inspiration to finish up the restoration. All of the Corian for the countertops are sitting next to the camper. All the appliances are in the workshed.

But, its 105 in the shade.

I feel for you. It was 112, in the shade, when I did a lot of the work on my Avion. Why can't I do a rebuild in the winter time?

[67avion]

I wish I had thought to place a reinforcing bar at the base of the cabinet. I actually studied the thing for a long time, concerned about the cantilever effect and the gray water holding tank as well. We did place reinforcement behind the wing, connecting the overhang.

But still, I don't think you can be careful enough with the issues in the overhang of the coach. Especially the toilet; when we pulled it out, we learned it was just barely hanging there with the minimal support that the factory had built in nearly nonexistent.

You guys are giving us inspiration to finish up the restoration. All of the Corian for the countertops are sitting next to the camper. All the appliances are in the workshed.

But, its 105 in the shade.

[69_Avion]

67avion wrote:
Great rebuilds going on with Blackflag and 69 Avion! I think we documented the repair of the tub on this thread. We pulled the sides together with clamps and secured angled metal on the corners with a polyurethane sealant, and them held in place with 4 inch SS screws. I was cautioned by Sleepy that the SS and aluminum may have metal to metal issues, so take that into consideration.

69 Avion. As best I understood your post on the cabinet: "The cabinet was real tight when we took it out and the new flooring is thicker, but I also sanded some off of the bottom of the cabinet. We may have to take it all the way out again to sand more off of the bottom."

It seems to me that there was a knockout piece that allowed the bottom to be released when it was removed. I note that you have solved the issue, so it probably doesn't matter.

By the way, these two restorations are going at warp speed. Congratulations.

There was a little 1 x 1 block that held the closet to the floor and more of these blocks that held it to the wall. The wall 1 x 1 blocks were reused. The floor block was replaced with steel 2 x 2 x 1/8" angle iron that is used more for structural reinforcement for the floor along with the weight bearing mount for the stainless steel gray water tank, but it also is used to screw the closet base to. When removing the closet, once all the mounting screws were removed, we had to pull out the top first. It was really tight. My new floor was slightly thicker, but I had to sand a lot more than that thickness to get the closet back in, and the steel reinforcement wasn't the cause of this issue.

[69_Avion]

ticki2 wrote:
69 avion ,
I notice in the third picture the plywood under the lower cabinets doesn't show any signs of blocking . Mine had 1" blocking that the 1/4" finish panel attached to . I insulated that area with blue styrofoam board . Have you done something different or are just not finished with that yet ? Same thing along the base of the dinette and under the frig .

I'm just not done with that yet. That will be near the end of the interior work.

[67avion]

Great rebuilds going on with Blackflag and 69 Avion! I think we documented the repair of the tub on this thread. We pulled the sides together with clamps and secured angled metal on the corners with a polyurethane sealant, and them held in place with 4 inch SS screws. I was cautioned by Sleepy that the SS and aluminum may have metal to metal issues, so take that into consideration.

69 Avion. As best I understood your post on the cabinet: "The cabinet was real tight when we took it out and the new flooring is thicker, but I also sanded some off of the bottom of the cabinet. We may have to take it all the way out again to sand more off of the bottom."

It seems to me that there was a knockout piece that allowed the bottom to be released when it was removed. I note that you have solved the issue, so it probably doesn't matter.

By the way, these two restorations are going at warp speed. Congratulations.

[ticki2]

69 avion ,
I notice in the third picture the plywood under the lower cabinets doesn't show any signs of blocking . Mine had 1" blocking that the 1/4" finish panel attached to . I insulated that area with blue styrofoam board . Have you done something different or are just not finished with that yet ? Same thing along the base of the dinette and under the frig .

[69_Avion]

We had a good day today. I had to put the closet in and take it out and use the belt sander on it three times. That got old real quick. We are very good at taking it in and out in one piece. We lined the refrigerator duct area with Dynamat. It is expensive, but it absorbs heat and insulates.
Here is a picture. The rear of the closet area is also lined with Dynamat. It cost me $60, but it is well worth the money.


A picture looking up in the refrigerator duct area with the Dynamat on it.


Here is a picture of the closet going back in. Notice the Dynamat on the back of the closet, where the refrigerator duct is.


Here is a picture of me sliding my reinforcing steel under the cabinet before it is pushed against the left wing. I highly recommend this piece.


Picture of the new 5 cu' refrigerator. It was a close fit through the door.


Back of installed refrigerator. Notice the formica covered pad.


A picture of my right wing steel reinforcement for the stainless steel gray water tank.


Picture of new counter top.





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[69_Avion]

BlackFlagForge wrote:
Woohoo, so removing the carpet/linoleum I bumped the tub wall out about 3 inches so I figured its time to remove the staples and add some real fasteners, getting up close and personal with my floor and tub area I found that it only has water damage in the front corners where it was sprayed down by the PO's rear end while he had it on a trailer >_> I used some Rot Fix on the small areas of damage and reconnected wall and floor with some liquid nails and 3.5" exterior screws and boy that pulled things together! I'll still need to replace some of the tail end Im sure as the stairs have pulled through the floor and I have yet to remove the bathroom floor to see what all has gone wrong but so far at least 80% of the floor is still in great shape!

That is good news. It looks like you got a good camper to work on.

[BlackFlagForge]

Woohoo, so removing the carpet/linoleum I bumped the tub wall out about 3 inches so I figured its time to remove the staples and add some real fasteners, getting up close and personal with my floor and tub area I found that it only has water damage in the front corners where it was sprayed down by the PO's rear end while he had it on a trailer >_> I used some Rot Fix on the small areas of damage and reconnected wall and floor with some liquid nails and 3.5" exterior screws and boy that pulled things together! I'll still need to replace some of the tail end Im sure as the stairs have pulled through the floor and I have yet to remove the bathroom floor to see what all has gone wrong but so far at least 80% of the floor is still in great shape!

[69_Avion]

I haven't added a tremendous amount of weight. The reinforcing steel that I put on it is only 1/8" thick so it doesn't weigh much. The stainless steel gray water tank weight is 36#. The total weight, full, is 193#. The new refrigerator weighs an extra 15#, over the original refrigerator. The new toilet is lighter. I replaced all the galvanized LP pipe with lighter copper. In total, I've only added about 230#, and that includes the gray water tank, full. Most of what I have done is replace the original equipment, with new, better equipment. The weight differential isn't as much as you would think.

[garryk6]

The one thing about working on these old Avions, is that as we fix, repair and "reinforce", we tend to add a little more weight than we would really like to... I was trying to keep my over-all weight between 2000 and 2200lbs... I didn't weigh it before I started. Apparently I started a lot heavier than I thought, because I have only added maybe 400lbs on the total build. And a factory one weighs total 1800 to 1850... I am at 2500 lbs and I am not where I really want the camper to be, though that is with food, and half the water, and most of the bedding and clothes. so dry weight is probably closer to my target of 2200 lbs...

You are fortunate to be doing this on a trailer, but you may still need heavier tires before you are all said and done. And hopefully you have a good swaybar under the trailer!

Good luck!
Garry in Kodiak