Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: garryk6 on 08/12/11 12:31am

Here is the place that I found that will custom build RV double pane windows. If they offered a Jalousie style, I might consider it for my 66 TC, but I still may do it for the front window.
Motion Windows
I do not have any prices, but I'm sure that they don't give them away;-)

Anyway, those are the only ones that I've found so far...

Garry in 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: garryk6 on 08/13/11 11:13pm

Well my hand is feeling better now, but still not heeled. But today I got out in the camper and drilled the drain-dump hole for the new recirculating toilet. Just clears the 2x4 framing. Drain plumbing will come soon, but need to lay a temporary flooring until I add an aluminum shower pan. I also started the framing for the closet/fridge area. Going is slow, since basically working one handed. But I added the 1/4 inch plywood shelf for making the east-west bed 54" wide vice 48". New mattress is here, but still need to go get the aluminum angle iron support bought, cut and installed. Then will need to trim the aluminum in some matching wood. Hopefully will start plumbing the propane soon for the heater and the stove. Have started running the 12V for the new toilet, and for the lighting.
Hopefully, this encourages the others to keep working on their own projects!!
Garry in Alaska

Posted By: JoeChiOhki on 08/13/11 11:39pm

Oooo, I like the idea of an aluminum shower pan, how much do those run?

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Posted By: 67avion on 08/14/11 11:26am

GarryK wrote:

Hopefully, this encourages the others to keep working on their own projects!!

Garry, you are truly an inspiration. We're rolling along here especially after the weather cooled off. I found more rot in the floor directly adjacent to the propane cabinet. So, what to do? Tear out everything that had been done and make the repair.

We identified the rotted area under the supports for the jacks, and extending inside the body along the exterior curve of the wing.
[image]

I have used the Rot Doctor product in my restoration. There are two different products - the epoxy filler and the penetrating sealer.
[image]

We fashioned two pieces of treated wood to the depth of the rotted area that had been cleaned. We also forced the panels above and below to open to the original depth. They had been squashed as a result of the rot. We put the epoxy filler inside and then knocked in the wood. Later, after it had cured, we inserted the penetrating sealer.
[image]

Now we are going to place thenew end of the wing into place...put the propane cabinet back together.
[image]

Its two steps forward and several backwards and sideways to get this done. I thought that I was in good shape until I found the rot. I also thought I had found a solution to the toilet with a composting toilet, but I couldn't do that. Oh, well.

I hope this next week we'll finsih with the whole blackwater/graywater issue. But somehow I doubt it.

I do have some other progress however, that I'll write about next time. I put in a new water heater and have placed an outdoor faucet into the side of the camper.

Later.

Posted By: garryk6 on 08/14/11 03:46pm

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Oooo, I like the idea of an aluminum shower pan, how much do those run?

What ever the aluminum sheeting costs. As I will be having my son in his HS welding class doing the welding and forming. I intend to cover the new wall between the bath and the rest of the camper with aluminum as well as the narrow strip of the dog-leg over the right side of the bed. This way everything will either be aluminum(walls and floor), plastic(toilet) or fiberglass(upper rear half of the ceiling) in the bath. It should run around $100 for all the aluminum that I need for this phase of the project.
I am still debating over the rest of the camper floor. I like Laminate or engineered wood, but they are heavy. I like Vinyl for relatively light weight and cheaper, but with my kids I need something pretty durable... Any other ideas for flooring???

Thanks,
Garry

Posted By: 67avion on 08/14/11 07:09pm

Garry,

I'm sure that I will go with a laminate, perhaps bamboo.

But here is something that I've wanted to know. I'm in the midwest of the US. I am making decisions based on where I live and where I intend to travel. You're in Alaska. How do you make decisions? What is foremost in your mind as you rebuild this camper? Weather? Cold? What?

I suspect that even though we're dealing with similar physical structures, we are worlds apart in our concerns.And that will govern how we rebuild.

Posted By: JoeChiOhki on 08/14/11 08:16pm

garryk6 wrote:

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Oooo, I like the idea of an aluminum shower pan, how much do those run?

Ah.... it all makes sense now, don't forget to put some kind of ribbing on the underside so that the floor doesn't flex heavily underfoot. [emoticon]

Posted By: garryk6 on 08/15/11 12:05am

67avion wrote:

Well, carpet is out of the question since it is dirt or sand or gravel most places. So hard surface is primary for clean-ability. Light weight is next, then durability. The next is geared around keeping the TC light-weight, and then trying to build for off-grid camping. Propane is really expensive here (Nearly $6/gal) so cooking and heater will be propane, but the rest is 12VDC for refer, water pump, recirculating toilet and lights. Finally it is cost, as we are trying to do this on a fairly tight budget. The refer, full stove, water heater and upholstery will probably be done after spring when we sell the class-c MH. But I hope to have it functional before our trip off-island in October. And finally I'm trying to do most of this right the first time, and trying to do it so it'll last a very long time. Hopefully This will be the last rebuild, and it'll work well on my Shortbed F350. So far-so good.

So that all said, what are your plans??

Garry in AK

Posted By: 67avion on 08/15/11 09:45am

I am guided by respect for the folks who built this camper, the Cayo family. Their vision of a trailer that was built along similar lines to the Airstream and later a "pickup camper" also built as lightweight and strong as possible is one that still works today in my opinion. Even so, I hope to upgrade every system and surface of the camper in my rebuild. It won't be a "restoration", but it will be solid. My hope is that I don't have too many surprises when we are on the road.

My wife and I plan to combine her academic anthropology work with my photography on book projects - we have several in the pipeline. The Avion will facilitate that in rural areas. I also have grown far more concerned about what people call "disaster preparedness". We have had a number of severe storms and other weather events that have taken out power for long lengths of time. So that gives me the inspiration to build the camper so that it is a real self- contained boondocker. Luckily I don't have any deadlines, so if I don't get finished this Fall I can start on it again next Spring.

But, its just possible that I'll get it done. Until then I will update the progress if you and others on this forum remain interested. I worry that I am talking about such mundane stuff such as graywater and blackwater systems that people will get bored. But, I must say, I am really fascinated by the progress that you have made as well as others on this forum.

So, we'll just keep it up.

Posted By: garryk6 on 09/03/11 12:52am

Well I did some re-measuring and re-calculating for my gray water tank project, and the room I have is for either one tank that is 20"x54"x3.5" that is actually 16 gallons, or I can go with a pair of tanks 20"x48x3.5", which yields 14 gallons each. So I think due to cost, we will start with on 14 gallon tank, and then when I can afford some more aluminum plate, I'll have my son and the kids at the highschool weld up the second. The 1/8" aluminum plate is $256 for a 4x8 sheet... And I still need to buy/find/make the aluminum pipe nipples for the inlet and the outlet...
At least my hand is still healing, and I can work a little bit more on the camper. Trip is now slated for October 8th, so we'll see how much we get done between now and then...
Garry in AK

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