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.

[rastaman33609]

Flyre63....Thanks a lot...I had forgotten about all the extensive work you did on yours..so I will be sure to check it out..

67avion...I panicked at first read of your post till I got to the part about you still getting it repaired..awesome...
I can see it now...around the campfire..the aroma of jerk chicken in the air, listening to your tales...

cheers

[67avion]

The insurance company totaled my beloved 67 Avion. The damage exceeded their comps - which were weird comps. It was a big hassle with Chuck Cayo in the middle of it trying to talk sense to the insurance firm. In the event, I got the money I needed to repair the old girl so she'll be on the road again.

I'm afraid this more of a campfire story since there were so many ins and outs. They couldn't understand that the camper was a TRUCKCAMPER. And that it sat in the bed of the truck. So, they wanted the plates and license. There are no plates and licenses as we know.

We'll discuss this at the Muley Point round up.
Onward!

[flyte63]

I also replaced the 30amp power inlet with a new unit made by Furrion.. This was pretty simple, I think I had to make the hole on the outer skin a little larger but the new socket looks like it belongs, I put some info about it on this blog post… http://flyte63.blogspot.com/2020/09/avion-water-and-power-upgrades.html

[flyte63]

I replaced the Bargman lock with a modern unit that I got online from a place called Latch-it. I looked at the dimension specs for a lot of the locks of this type and felt theirs had had the best chance of working. I still had to modify its guts a little to work with the thick Avion door on our early ‘65 C-10 by adding an aluminum extension piece the inside lever and ai had to extend the plastic barrel of the inside lock lever. I did have to enlarge the hole in the outer door skin as well. We like the action of this style lock better than turning knob when climbing up the steps. There’s some photos of it installed on my blog post here... http://flyte63.blogspot.com/2021/11/

[rastaman33609]

Gary,,,,I may just try a regular house lock as a last resort, the hole in the door is square I may have to use some kind of backing plate. I would really want to maintain the 30 amp outside Socket. Just concerned that once removed I wont find a replacement of the appropriate size.

D1trout..I already have a deadbolt lock on the door. My concern is that the bargman lock has the potential to lock you out inadvertently. Was wondering if a version of the modern RV type lock could be adapted to work.

[D1trout]

Rasta, I too was concerned with the original Bargeman door set in terms of security. I added a Kwikset deadbolt lock that is key-activated on both sides. This means to lock or unlock from inside or out requires a key. My thought process was that if someone broke the door window and reached in they would be unable to unlock the door. I suppose they could crawl through the broken door window but is not a snatch and grab strategy. Now, I don’t know if this would work on the original door - it’s a pretty flimsy construction of wood and cardboard and may or may not allow one to drill for the deadbolt lock. You’ll recall that my whole rig is framed in square aluminum tubing so I was able to create an aluminum panel to accommodate the lock set. I then created an opening for the actual bolt in the doorframe. It’s all very secure.
For power, I used a 30amp marine shore power plug. They are very durable and made for tough conditions.
I’m ready for Muley Point - just need a little advance notice! 67 needs to be up and running before we plan that outing!

[garryk6]

Hey guys!!
I replaced my door knob with a standard house lever style and it’s working great!!

As for power, I don’t have a factory power plug. A previous owner had connected a black RV power cord direct to the breaker box in the closet and is cooked up in the rear compartment and is uncoiled out the door when plugged in to shore power or generator.

Hope this helps!

Garry

[rastaman33609]

My Avion is a 65 C10....I am wondering if anyone has found a replacement lock for the rear door. I am nervous that the old bargman lock will quit on me at the wrong time, as it has happened to me on another camper.

Also I recently took apart the 30 amp plug on the outside, I was not very impressed with the sandwich type design for the wire connection. I was tempted to take the whole assembly out however decided to leave it as the mounting screws I am sure will put up a fight and since I am unsure of exactly what size cut out there is behind it,it may be best to not go down that rabbit hole, no pun intended.
Has anyone replaced their outlet with a suitable newer style.

gotta get everything just right for Muley Point

rasta

[67avion]

Well, well, well the Avionistas are hail and hearty! I don't know when Chuck will get the old girl fixed. Its quite a job with the roof bent in from a falling limb. He told me that the batteries were still charged from the solar that was smashed. Who knew?

You know, the Muley Point rendezvous has been talked about so long it really does seem like a dream of life after death - forever floating in the distance. I wonder if we can finally make it this year before we are stopped by Son-of-Covid or whatever?

What do you think?

[flyte63]

‘67 - glad that your rig is on the best hands, quite amazing that the Cayo’s are still available as a resource!

Our C-10 is in storage for the winter but last fall we finished our second season with the Avion back on the road and have traveled about 7,500 miles and have camped in 7 states. The 3 years of renovation/restoration work have definitely proved to be worth it.

Good to see you all keeping yours going as well. Happy New Year!

[D1trout]

Happy New Year, fellow Avionistas! We’re backstroking along in the atmospheric river here in Northern California and I’m thinking hard about going to the desert pretty soon to dry things out!

I’ve been driving Argo, the all-aluminum camper, regularly back and forth between home in the Santa Cruz mountains and the fishing house near Mt Shasta. It’s a great ride and makes Annie and the dogs mighty happy to have lots of room. I’m at about 14 MPG on the freeway. A big hit at the gas pump with diesel having been around $6 a gallon…

It’s great to see some life on the forum. I’d be up for a Muley Point rendezvous this year. I’m hoping to get to the Overland Expo event in Oregon this July. Missed it the last two years because of Covid.

67, I’m glad to hear you got into Chuck Cayo’s shop. He was a great resource for me when I was making Argo. Hope your’s comes out good as new!

[garryk6]

Glad to hear that the C-10 is going to get repaired. What damage is it that you weren’t able to repair yourself this time?
Unfortunately my C-10 has nearly a foot of snow on top of it here in Central Washington. After last summers trip to Texas pulling a UHaul trailer down then pulling and empty 8.5x 24’ cargo trailer back I found that the bed cross members had rusted away from the years in Kodiak, AK on the 02 F350. So when my boys came home from the military on leave they helped me out by cutting off the rusty bed and wire wheeled and painted the frame. Replaced the broken brake cables and installed a replacement 2007 rust-free bed. The bed bolts no longer stand above the bed floor. ????.

But now I am building a small bunk-room in the front of the cargo trailer, as we purchased a small fixer in central Texas and are slowly moving things down so that I can retire in two years. Then we hope to home base from the little house in Texas and travel around the country in the C-10 and F350. I’m just limited in power with the 5.4 gas engine and no money for a new truck. Yet when traveling with just the C-10 we get 11-14 mpg. Add any trailer and I’m down to 7-11. And while it will cruise 70 with a trailer on level I’m grabbing gears on the 6 spd at the slightest grade. So the Avion will get a break for the next few trips to Texas and we’ll just camp in the trailer freeing up the bed to haul a four-wheeler or a riding lawnmower etc.
sorry for the rambling. Just catching up from not posting anything for a really long time. Happy New Years to you all! Garry

[rastaman33609]

That's great news, I would bet you are anxious to get it back again.
I hope it will be good as new when you do

Happy new year to all....maybe this year will be the year it happens

Muley Point....Muley point.

[67avion]

Got a call from Chuck Cayo yesterday. He had hauled the old '67 Avion inside before the Christmas blizzard and reported that "Spring had come". The weather had changed dramatically to real warm in Michigan from a Polar vortex. I carried the damage camper up to Michigan last year for repairs.

For those who may not be familiar, the Cayo family ran the original manufacturing facilities in Watervliet, Michigan and in California where my Avion was produced during the Lyndon B Johnson administration. Whew! Thats quite a while ago.

Chuck has had some set backs with is health, but reports now that he's feeling good and ready to get the '67 up and running. Of course, he's the last person left on the earth who can do that. When chuck retires....well, I don't know. In the meantime one of the best built truck campers that America has ever produced will be in good hands.

Onward!

[rastaman33609]

yeh Mon!....