Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: Avion C-11 on 01/21/13 05:25pm

Well, camper work is under way once again! I have had lots of headwinds to the project since my last post. I had a deck project that needed addressing ASAP and my business has been slammed! However, with the deck project done and a slight lull between end of year activity and tax season starting up the camper got some attention in the last couple weeks.

I accomplished three basic things in the last two weeks: 1. Finished the first rough polish. 2. Figured out how I was going to do the inner walls and started gathering material to do them. 3. Finished mounting and wiring the LED lights on the exterior.

Finishing the first rough polish was really just polishing out the patches in the rear and touching up a couple areas on the right side. Before I call it finished I will have to polish it once completely with a medium compound and then again with a fine. There's no use getting that far down the road with polishing right now because I have so much more work to do on the interior and I haven't built a covered place to put it yet. I will finish the interior and all the accessories before going back to polish it again.

Figuring out how I was going to finish the inner walls were starting to drive me nuts. I was never able to find the right white vinyl edging for for the aluminum panels and the old stuff was trashed. I was also not sure that the condition of the old wall panels was good enough to reinstall because I was a little rough on them getting them out. I had planned on doing wood wall interior but after looking at this thing long enough I feel that structurally it needs the inner aluminum walls. Anyway, we pulled out all the skins and cleaned them up to realize they are just fine and will go back in with no issue. I also, finally!!!!, found some white vinyl edging that will work at Lowes of all places.

So, with those two hurdles crossed I wanted to finish up the wiring so that I could put the walls back in and start building cabinets. Today, I ripped out all the old light wiring and ran new wires to all my new LED lights. That project went fast as heck. It is so much easier building new stuff than it is restoring old stuff!! I feel like we are turning a corner where the renovation of old stuff is mostly done and what is ahead is all new construction and installation.

Next time I hope to post about finishing the 120V wiring and foaming it all back in and maybe even putting in some walls.

Chris
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Getting the skins cleaned up. The top panel is the only one I have the Vinyl in good enough shape to reuse.
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Sink backsplash panel.
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Rear quarters.
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Rear patches all polished out.
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Put in a new trailer plug.
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Installed the rest of the marker lights.
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Wired up!

Front marker lights lit up.
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Rear marker lights and tail lights lit up.
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Break lights and turn signals work! (they never did before restorations!)
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Oh yeah! We got reverse lights baby!
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Rear markers.
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Have a great week guys!

Happy Camping!

Avioncamper.wordpress.com

Posted By: 69 Avion on 01/21/13 06:43pm

Avion C-11, it is looking great. Did you change the color code of the wiring when you reworked it? Avion used some unusual color code that makes no sense at all. I left mine original, only because I didn't want to fight the wires in that little hole by the bed, on the right side.

Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper

Posted By: Avion C-11 on 01/21/13 06:58pm

Yep, I reworked the whole thing from the plug all thevway back with standard color brand new wires. The old lights all were self grounding from the rivet holes but my new LEDs needed ground wires ran to them. So, I just redid everything.

Posted By: 69 Avion on 01/21/13 07:10pm

Avion C-11 wrote:

It is best to rewire the whole rig. I didn't take the interior skin off of mine so I had to rivet the ground wires to the aluminum shell, under the lights. I also bought some expensive aluminum to copper wire adapters to put copper pigtails on all the existing aluminum wires.

Posted By: gfemling on 01/22/13 09:22am

Avion C-11-- I have been sitting on the sidelines just being a Fly-on-the-Wall but want to get more active so here goes. Perhaps you know this or not but wish to begin by saying how beneficial your efforts to document your work and the photos have been to my understanding and planning for my project. I have known about Avion TCs for many years as my Father-in-Law has one back in RI but we are on the Oregon Coast. Well happened to pick up a '66 vintage C-10 last summer locally for a good price but, as should be excepected, "requiring some work". Well having access vicariously to your project has both motivated me pursue renovation of mine and given invaluable information on what goes into such a project-- many thanks for both.
OK- now for the specific reason for this post: have you considered what you will use to re-foam the interior? I see in past posts that most are using "rattle-can" spray foam (either minimal-expanding or expansive type depending on area) to patch dug out areas. I came across a source which looks to be a good kit to replace large areas-- "www.sprayfoamdirect.com/products/spray-foam-kits"; they have several but the "Green Spray Foam" appears most applicable-- the kits are not cheap but neither are individual small cans and appears the control and final results would be much better with this material. One potential aspect of the spray-can type foam I have seen is that some (all?) are not "closed cell" which means that over time I would be concerned that the area would absorb moisture from various potential sources-- condensation on interior surface, leak (hopefully not but potential), etc. What are you planning to use and/or have you seen the product in the above link and your thoughts. Anyone else using something similar? Thank.

Posted By: 67avion on 01/22/13 09:51am

gfleming - You've certainly put your finger on an important issue: the interior space between the outer shell and the cabin walls. There is insulation that adheres to one of the walls, leaving an airspace. I would presume under any rebuild, if you have a choice of where to place the insulation, the first concern would be reducing the amount of condensation. I certainly wouldn't have any type of material that would be absorbent since leaks inevitably happen.Both of those concerns argues for insulating the area closest to the cabin. At least that sounds right to me. Anyone else?

Also, glad to have you aboard the Avion string.

DG

Posted By: Avion C-11 on 01/22/13 04:15pm

Gfemling, welcome aboard! This forum is the single best resource for these campers without question. There are some very knowledgeable people here.

I am happy that my posts have been helpful to you. I'm just a regular guy learning this stuff as I go and have made lots of mistakes along the way. I think the best thing is just to get started on your renovation and work out the details and snags as you go along. Don't let not knowing how to do it slow you down. There is nothing that you can't un-fix on these things!

Speaking of un-fixing things, the areas where I used spray can insulation in the walls early in my project will have to be dug out and resprayed with closed cell insulation foam. I have looked at that exact product and others like it and I have found that there is no other real solution to replacing the foam in the camper. You are absolutely correct about the open versus closed cell. Even the outdoor use foam in a can is open cell and will collect water like a sponge.

Darkspeed is the screen name of a guy on airforums that I have been watching since I started my renovation. He is completely rebuilding an airstream but foamed in the insulation just like we are talking about. Very smart guy and I would suggest searching that forum for him and reading about his resto.

My feeling is that the insulation in these avions is critical for structure, sound and insulation. I would never just chip it all out and insulate with matting or reflectix. The aluminum is so soft that it would be majorly dent prone and I feel that the foam in the joints of all the panels really makes a stiffer unit.

Careful when chipping out foam, it is easy to put dents in the metal from the inside.

So, after I have mine all wired and ready to go back together I will find some closed cell spray in foam similar to your link and install it myself. I will post on what I decide on when I get there.

If anyone else had a lead on a good product let us know.

Chris

Posted By: garryk6 on 01/22/13 07:53pm

Gfemling,
Welcome to the official unofficial Avion TC Owners Club!
Out of curiosity, what year (serial number) is your C10? Lately there have been more C11 owners joining up, so it is nice to hear from another fellow C10 Owner.
Do you plan to "restore" the C10, keeping it mostly original? Or are you like most of the rest of us, and are making improvements and repairs to make it functional and fitting your own personal needs?
And how about some pics when you get a chance!
Again, Welcome Aboard!

Garry in Kodiak, AK

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

Posted By: Avion C-11 on 01/22/13 09:08pm

Hey all, I'd be interested in your thoughts about 110v setups. I'm going to start that project in the coming weekend.

My old converter works. Should I keep it or do something different?

Should I charge battery from truck?

If you had the opportunity to rewire your whole camper what would you add or do differently.

Any feedback appreciated.

Chris

Posted By: gfemling on 01/22/13 09:10pm

Hi garryK6, Mine is S/N S-100172 model 1153CC10G. Pretty much original and complete Delux Gaucho model with curb side sofa and extension table. Some repairs needed-- wood on top of side wings, rebuild bunk floor (intending to use aluminum honeycomb panel there), replace several lapstrake panels of front, refinish cabinets, repaint inner surfaces after removal to inspect inner wall spaces, update wiring, add wiring and attach brackets for solar panels, etc and have enough corrosion on various exterior skins that looking to treat, prime and paint exterior. Pictures to be added later. Intention is to do planning and prep this winter and dive into actual project late this spring.

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