Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: 67avion on 11/03/15 06:38am

I may have some photos of that area when we did the rebuild. I'll look for them later and post them if you like.

Posted By: ticki2 on 11/03/15 07:38am

Now I understand where you are putting the wood , it's in the U channel .Mine did have the alum. angle attaching the ribs to the channel .

'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Posted By: 67avion on 11/03/15 09:01am

I looked through my photo archive and was not able to track down the restoration of the cabover from the interior. However, I have this image which was taken while we were repairing one of the exterior panels. Its interesting to see the misplaced fasteners - we found them wherever we opened up the walls. I see the various fastening points at the base of the cabover, though I don't have a real good view of the placement of the floor.

Posted By: rastaman33609 on 11/03/15 01:45pm

67avion...welcome back...from the looks of things you must have had a awesome time....I will be sure to read your trip reports...

* This post was edited 11/03/15 02:22pm by rastaman33609 *

Posted By: rastaman33609 on 11/05/15 09:04am

Need some thoughts on this.....
I am getting all my wood for the bunk area and wings ready to be permanently installed.
The bottom aluminium sheeting, especially in the wing area has many screw holes form PO attempts to fix things. What is recommended

1, Try and seal up all these holes maybe caulking or aluminium duct tape (from inside)?

2, leave some of theses holes open for the wood to 'breath' and maybe act as 'weep' holes for drainage?

Posted By: 67avion on 11/05/15 12:49pm

I think you should seal it up. Perhaps the best product is Tempro 635 (spelling?) that is available through Vintage Trailer Supply in Vermont. You might place small sheets of aluminum on the inside and seal them as well. As you know, all of the plywood should be sealed, especially on the edges.

Posted By: ticki2 on 11/05/15 03:56pm

I would definitely seal up the screw holes , the skin should be water tight . Think of the water intrusion driving in the rain at 60mph .

Posted By: D1trout on 11/05/15 08:09pm

Rastaman, I don't like the idea of simply smearing Trempro over the holes. Check out large flange rivets from Vintage Trailer Supply. They provide a lot of surface to smear Trempro on before setting them into the hole. Bigger holes warrant a patch of some sort. Or replacing an entire panel that has lots of holes or corrosion damage. Of course, that brings its own set of challenges...
The camper will have enough opportunities for leaks at seams and rivets to make it imperative that you seal all other holes as completely as possible.
Onward!

Posted By: rastaman33609 on 11/06/15 05:25am

D1trout wrote:

That is why I thought having a couple of drain hole wouldn't hurt :-)

Posted By: D1trout on 11/06/15 09:00pm

Rastaman, I'd bet the plywood is likely to absorb any water that gets in. As ticki2 said, any hole in the cab would allow water to be driven in as you sped along. My notion for drains has them at the very bottom of the camper, inside the truck bed where wind-driven water is not an issue. But I have no wood to absorb water, just aluminum tubing and closed cell foam.
Airstream had drains at the bottom of their trailers, even had a special fitting. I don't know if they still do this.
I'd attempt to waterproof any plywood I could get to and seal the seams and fasteners as completely as possible and hope for the best...

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