Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: D1trout on 09/14/19 05:47pm

ARGO, THE ALL ALUMINUM CAMPER- INSIDE PICS
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Welcome to Argo!
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I glued 2 layers of 1/2” foam board inside, did the wiring and then spray foamed the last layer to seal everything up.
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The new skin with its protective plastic film.
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Building the interior framing for closet, bath, counters, and so on
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The curved wall of the bath is inviting.
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Shaping up the galley counter
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And the dinette side overhead cabinets.
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Teak cabinetry complete, to match the two yacht doors I found at a marine recycle shop and that were a perfect fit for the bath and closet.
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The finished galley with a Dometic stove and oven.
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Hydraulic lifts on the overhead cabinet on both sides
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The dinette makes a single berth
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Which converts to a dining area
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Using an ingenious Scandinavian mounting system
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To create a comfortable dining table for two
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The junction between the cab and camper has been padded and upholstered
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The closet also houses the Propex forced air heater.
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A self-contained Dometic Curve toilet.
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The faucet pulls out from the sink to create a shower bath. The light is waterproof.
The cabinet is a repurposed attaché case...
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The water system is double filtered. A demand water heater is under the galley.
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Water storage is in two custom 20+ gallon bladders,, one on each side in compartments just forward of the rear wheel wells.
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And there you have it. Five years and many thousands of dollars later, my Avion C-11 has become a custom Class C 4WD adventure vehicle.
Would I do it again? Wrong question. The right question is “How far is Muley Point?”
Thanks to everyone who has offered help and support over the years. I hope I may do the same for other Avionistas coming up.
Dick

Posted By: rastaman33609 on 09/14/19 06:38pm

D1trout,WOW....I was going to say Awesome, but that did not sound right....SO...Unbelievable...just Unbelievable. That.s all I can say

rasta

Posted By: D1trout on 09/14/19 08:33pm

Thanks Rasta. We need to meet up in Big Bend. I ran the Texas Outward Bound School there from ‘70 to ‘75. I love the Chihuahuan Desert. I still have a pal in Terlingua. And a lifetime of extraordinary memories.

Posted By: D1trout on 09/14/19 09:34pm

I posted a version of these pics of the outside of Argo on the main Truck Campers forum inadvertently. Rather than direct you there, let me put up an improved version of the outside build process here to make it easier to understand what happened.
Argo, the all aluminum camper- the outside...
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This is how he looked when I bought him in Minnesota. Nice Ford Camper Special truck.
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When I arrived home and Annie came inside to get the tour, she said “It smells kind of musty...”
It didn’t take long to figure out why...
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As I exposed the wood structure, I found rot, lots of rot. I suspended Argo from a steel A frame at a friend’s boatyard and removed the entire bottom section of the camper.
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I built a frame of 1.5” square aluminum tubing. No more structural wood.
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Hanging from the A frame.
At this point I was still in the slide-in camper mindset
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But that began to change as Annie lobbied for free passage of dogs from cab to camper.
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Still the slide-in configuration
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And then, the moment of truth. I sold the Camper Special truck and bought a 2013 Ford F-250 Super Duty 4WD diesel and cut The Hole, as it came to be known...
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The Hole is the width of Argo’s floor and as high as the bottom of the cabover berth.
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I sold the truck pick up bed and built a steel and aluminum frame on top of the chassis, mounting it with rubber body bumpers of the same size and hardness as those Ford used to mount the cab to the chassis.
Argo mounted on the new internal frame and on the chassis. Note that the interior is now insulated with 2 layers of 1/2” rigid foam sheets.
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We built storage compartments where the truck bed would have been.
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And covered them with fresh anodized sheet, attaching it with 3M double sided adhesive tape.
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The new sheets and old sheets didn’t match...
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So Argo was painted “Porsche Polar Silber”...pretty fast looking!
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k
A heavy tubular steel bumper and folding aluminum steps that rotate off to the side to allow us to use the steps when a boat trailer is attached complete the exterior.
Whew!

Posted By: 69cayo on 09/14/19 09:43pm

What an incredible job you've done Dick, everywhere I look I see innovative ways that you rebuilt.
Just fantastic, you should be very proud.

Dennis

Posted By: ticki2 on 09/15/19 06:33am

I am amazed at the determination , imagination and talent of the folks on this thread that has been demonstrated over and over again since day one . D , your project has turned out fantastic . I would love to see it up close and study the fine detail . One detail I am curious about is why you chose to bond the new lower panels with 3m as opposed to riveting ?

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

Posted By: Kayteg1 on 09/15/19 09:50am

5 years of labor of love?
That is no RV anymore.
It is the art.

Posted By: rastaman33609 on 09/15/19 11:05am

D1trout wrote:

Big Bend would be a great place to roam around in your new 4x4 adventure avion.... I try and get down there twice a year.

Posted By: D1trout on 09/15/19 11:46am

Ticki2, I used tape rather than rivets on the lower body for aesthetic reasons. The structural members in the Avion and those in the lower body don’t line up in a way that would give clean rivet lines. I was concerned that Argo would end up looking like he had some sort of rash with lots of disparate rivet lines... I decided that I could always go back and add a rivet line for appearance sake, but structurally I was better served with the tape. That stuff is amazing!
I agree that he would benefit visually from rivets below and at some point he may get them. I’ve asked a friend who is a graphic designer and loves vintage objects to suggest graphics for Argo. Perhaps a red accent line... something to tie the camper and the truck together visually...
More will be revealed...

Posted By: ticki2 on 09/15/19 02:22pm

Makes sense , it could look like a pin cushion if the rivets were too random .

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