D1trout wrote:
Fellow travelers, I posted about driving my C11 home from MN to CA week before last. Since arriving home I have begun serious investigations into it's(her ?) inner condition. The cab over bed was totally rotten, wet even. I pulled everything out, down to bare aluminum. There are soft spots in the floor and I'm certain most of the wood in the rig is rotted or well on its way to being so. As I've removed things, I've been musing on how best to deal with the rot issue. It seems to me that perhaps removing the entire floor, wings, the vertical sides of the wings, and the bulkhead at the front of the camper and replacing all those parts with an aluminum floor, wings, sides and bulkhead might be a particularly effective way to both eliminate the concern about rotted wood, to stabilize the entire structure, and, when all seams are recaulked, to eliminate or minimize leaks.
To not have any wood in the rig except cabinets would be a boon; water might get in but wouldn't cause any damage. The rig would be rigid on the new metal foundation and thus more easily and effectively sealed. I'm imagining aluminum tube/pipe could be used for the outer frame to accommodate the curved lower edge of the body. The original horizontal panels could be reinstalled over the new frame to restore the classic look.
I'm certain I'm not the first Avion owner to come to this. I would welcome observations/ideas/suggestions on this approach. If I use the custom car restoration model, where the final vehicle cost is 3x the initial purchase price, it seems a realistic, feasible approach.
Fellow travelers, I posted about driving my C11 home from MN to CA week before last. Since arriving home I have begun serious investigations into it's(her ?) inner condition. The cab over bed was totally rotten, wet even. I pulled everything out, down to bare aluminum. There are soft spots in the floor and I'm certain most of the wood in the rig is rotted or well on its way to being so. As I've removed things, I've been musing on how best to deal with the rot issue. It seems to me that perhaps removing the entire floor, wings, the vertical sides of the wings, and the bulkhead at the front of the camper and replacing all those parts with an aluminum floor, wings, sides and bulkhead might be a particularly effective way to both eliminate the concern about rotted wood, to stabilize the entire structure, and, when all seams are recaulked, to eliminate or minimize leaks.
To not have any wood in the rig except cabinets would be a boon; water might get in but wouldn't cause any damage. The rig would be rigid on the new metal foundation and thus more easily and effectively sealed. I'm imagining aluminum tube/pipe could be used for the outer frame to accommodate the curved lower edge of the body. The original horizontal panels could be reinstalled over the new frame to restore the classic look.
I'm certain I'm not the first Avion owner to come to this. I would welcome observations/ideas/suggestions on this approach. If I use the custom car restoration model, where the final vehicle cost is 3x the initial purchase price, it seems a realistic, feasible approach.
I just noticed this post, I don't have any rot I don't think, But like you I believe this needs a aluminum floor under it. You may could call a place that makes aluminum Horse trailers and have one solid floor custom cut to fit, with aluminum tubing tig welded around the upper face side of floor. Then you could simply raise the whole floor with jacks up in to the camper and screw in to this tubing from the sides all the way around.
1969 AVION
3/4 12 VALVE
Freightliner/24' Flatbed 50,000 miles/ Titan 4000 receiver Hitch, no Mods needed.
D1trout, sorry about the rot. But that is what most people find in the 50 year old campers. You need to have a clear plan of what you are going to do or you will become distressed over the amount of work and just give up, or you will spend way too much money and just give up....or both.
The same goes for Desertboy....though it appears in his case that its a relatively simple and straightforward task. He found a gem that takes 200+ hours of work to de-anodize, isn't that right C11? If you value your labor at $50 an hour, then you're looking at $10,000 in equivalent value.
Don't be hesitant to ask questions and engage the people on the Forum. But, read the string first.
D1trout wrote:
Fellow travelers, I posted about driving my C11 home from MN to CA week before last. Since arriving home I have begun serious investigations into it's(her ?) inner condition. The cab over bed was totally rotten, wet even. I pulled everything out, down to bare aluminum. There are soft spots in the floor and I'm certain most of the wood in the rig is rotted or well on its way to being so. As I've removed things, I've been musing on how best to deal with the rot issue. It seems to me that perhaps removing the entire floor, wings, the vertical sides of the wings, and the bulkhead at the front of the camper and replacing all those parts with an aluminum floor, wings, sides and bulkhead might be a particularly effective way to both eliminate the concern about rotted wood, to stabilize the entire structure, and, when all seams are recaulked, to eliminate or minimize leaks.
To not have any wood in the rig except cabinets would be a boon; water might get in but wouldn't cause any damage. The rig would be rigid on the new metal foundation and thus more easily and effectively sealed. I'm imagining aluminum tube/pipe could be used for the outer frame to accommodate the curved lower edge of the body. The original horizontal panels could be reinstalled over the new frame to restore the classic look.
I'm certain I'm not the first Avion owner to come to this. I would welcome observations/ideas/suggestions on this approach. If I use the custom car restoration model, where the final vehicle cost is 3x the initial purchase price, it seems a realistic, feasible approach.
Fellow travelers, I posted about driving my C11 home from MN to CA week before last. Since arriving home I have begun serious investigations into it's(her ?) inner condition. The cab over bed was totally rotten, wet even. I pulled everything out, down to bare aluminum. There are soft spots in the floor and I'm certain most of the wood in the rig is rotted or well on its way to being so. As I've removed things, I've been musing on how best to deal with the rot issue. It seems to me that perhaps removing the entire floor, wings, the vertical sides of the wings, and the bulkhead at the front of the camper and replacing all those parts with an aluminum floor, wings, sides and bulkhead might be a particularly effective way to both eliminate the concern about rotted wood, to stabilize the entire structure, and, when all seams are recaulked, to eliminate or minimize leaks.
To not have any wood in the rig except cabinets would be a boon; water might get in but wouldn't cause any damage. The rig would be rigid on the new metal foundation and thus more easily and effectively sealed. I'm imagining aluminum tube/pipe could be used for the outer frame to accommodate the curved lower edge of the body. The original horizontal panels could be reinstalled over the new frame to restore the classic look.
I'm certain I'm not the first Avion owner to come to this. I would welcome observations/ideas/suggestions on this approach. If I use the custom car restoration model, where the final vehicle cost is 3x the initial purchase price, it seems a realistic, feasible approach.
I have mentioned before that an Avion upper camper with the wings and below built like a Livin Lite, with aluminum tubing, would be the ultimate camper. What is funny is that Thor industries owns Airstream and now Livin Lite and they haven't done it.
Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper
www.austinsailor.net/camper/avion.html
http://www.austinsailor.net/camper/avion.html
![[image]](http://s739.photobucket.com/user/dgorton/media/sink1_zps97cbe1b7.jpg.html)
![[image]](http://s739.photobucket.com/user/dgorton/media/corian1_zpsf0798ee3.jpg.html)
![[image]](http://s739.photobucket.com/user/dgorton/media/kitchen-copy_zps858ccf12.jpg.html)
I found an installation photo where we were dry fitting the Corian. The things that are critical include the scribing of the countertop. We used the old one as a guide, but its really measure 10 times and cut once. Note that we turned the corner on the left side of the counter.
You can get the edges of the Corian finished in a number of shapes. We used the original edge and sanded it down. Then we had a long discussion about the proper way of placing the Corian on the refinished counter top.
First of all, this installation has to take into account the flexing of the camper. We decided to glue several 3/4" cleats in stategic places that would hold snug on the interior of the counter. Corian can be worked like wood in terms of cutting and fasteners.
Once the counter top was set into place, we carefully raised it and put a seam of silicon caulk on all of the vertical surfaces that would come into contact. Then the counter top was lowered into place and tapped into position.
We then replaced the moulding that had been removed from the original counter. It served to sandwich the counter tops in place.
Of course, its the last thing that you do in the process of renovation. We had formed the stainless steel backspash and placed it prior to the counter top, and we had carefully measured the cut outs for the sink and stove.
So far, we have not seen any issues with the installation and the camper has been over some rough ground.
* This post was edited 10/16/13 02:23pm by 67avion *