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]

Excellent, thank you! The hunt begins again. Looks like Amazon has them for $43 with prime delivery. I can accept $30 more to not need a replacement tank. Thanks again!

[flyte63]

This is what you need, the flange they show in one of the photos on this VTS listing for the valve.
https://vintagetrailersupply.com/thetford-waste-valve-08707-vts-589/

[flyte63]

Probably was a Thetford valve, I think the flanges are larger size square than the Now more common Valterra ones. You can get Thetford stuff, but I think it will cost more and harder to get parts as time goes on.

[BlackFlagForge]

yeah I've been scouring different websites usually e-trailer is really nice because they do a quick video about all of their parts and actually measure them for you on screen and that's really handy but so far no luck. When I last cleaned out my barn I had the 8-ft section of this part and figured I'll just buy a new one anyway I don't need to save this and now I'm kicking myself

[garryk6]

I Really wish I could help, as sanitary plumbing problems are not fun but I do not have a black water holding tank in my C10 as it was long gone when I got the camper. I do know if you go to a plumbing specific store vice a "box store" they know their stuff better and may be able to help you find what you need. Good Luck!
Garry

[BlackFlagForge]

Well that solved one problem, another just popped up. I'm trying to find the flange to attach to the flat face of the tank outlet and notice that the bolt pattern is 4.25 square on center. Most of the market seems to be 3-3.75... Any ideas? I can if I must plug the old holes but REALLY dont want to add more possible leaks to a poop tank.

[ticki2]

Try your local hardware store , they usually carry a few sizes .

[BlackFlagForge]

Thank you!!

[Honda-50]

“wellnut”

[BlackFlagForge]

This thing, I need 4 more

[BlackFlagForge]

So I'm trying to test the patches to my black tank and noticed I need new expanding rubber bolt grommets at the lower drain connection. What the heck are these things called? Im having trouble with amazon and google.

[BlackFlagForge]

I'll be going with the pros for sure, I can't use a can of great stuff without getting sticky. I'm running into the issue RoamLab is and making sure I get all the mods and components installed before I foam and skin.

[ticki2]

When I did my front panels replacement I did notice that the foam was quit thin on some of the curved front ones , about 3/8" . The only other place I had interior panel off was under the Windows along the dinette . That area was very consistent at 1-1/2" . In neither place was there any adherence issue with the exterior skin . I bought a kit from a spray foam company . It's a bit tricky to get a uniform thickness when you are doing it once and don't have a lot of experience . This sixth panel was better than the first , lol . If I was attempting the entire gutted interior I would hire a professional , there are many in my area that do homes . Of course everything depends on price , and there are some very good kits on the market to DIY .

[BlackFlagForge]

So it looks like my 69 was foamed up at 5pm on a Friday.. some areas of foam are as thin as a quarter inch while others are almost two inches. They seem to have started running out towards the front but uneven areas all around. The exterior wall side of the foam has open pores that have absorbed water and anywhere on the roof that had foot traffic and disconnected from the skin.69 foam job

[D1trout]

All, for what it’s worth, when I removed the inner skin on Argo, I found the spray-in foam dry and in decent condition. I stripped all the old foam out to upgrade the insulation to polyisocyanurate, the highest R value material currently available, and to rewire the rig to a marine standard.
I found plenty of wet in the plywood - wet and rotten. The wet was because the nice fellow I bought Argo from had gone to great lengths to have the rig looking clean for my visit as a potential buyer. He’d taken it to a big truck wash and they had hosed it hard all over. This revealed lots of leaks!
My point is that the spray-in from the factory was well-done and dry.
Incidentally, I reinsulated by gluing 1/2” sheets of polyiso onto the inner skin, building up three layers. Then I sprayed Dow Froth-PAC polyurethane foam over the whole inner surface to seal things up. So far no leaks... if I were doing it again, I’d skip the polyiso sheets and just spray fresh foam to a 1 1/2” thickness. It’s a less daunting task than it seemed at the time.