Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Avion truck campers

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Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Posted By: ticki2 on 09/08/12 12:06pm

69 Avion wrote:

ticki2, this is a picture of the bottom of the original Thetford toilet. Is this the type that you have? What parts do you need? I don't see the six screws but I'll give you whatever you need from this one.

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For those that are doing a rebuild, we spent a lot of time talking to the folks at Thetford, including one of the top folks in the parts department that has been there a long time. They don't have any parts for these old toilets. The other issue is that this toilet is a couple inches shorter than the low profile, new toilets. I decided to redo the bathroom to take a modern toilet. Avion had 3-1/2" of wood under that closet flange and fiberglass cover to make up for this very short toilet. I made the holding tank higher by 1" and took out all but one 3/4" board to make the modern low profile toilet the proper height. I went with the cheaper, and lighter plastic unit, with the intention of replacing it every 10 or 15 years.

Yes that is the same toilet . Four of the screws are going around the inner circle in the upper part of the picture . The other two are on the right and left on the bottom part of the picture , one by the water inlet and one by the peddle , these two go through the metal bracket . Once you remove the 6 screws you can either cut or take off the two hoses and the whole assembly comes out as a unit . If I could get that unit I can check if it is any good . My main concern is the water valve as I have found no replacement for it . Many thanks for your effort .

On another note , I am confused about the 3" of wood on top of your BW tank . My tank comes above the floor by that much and only has 1/2" plywood above it resting on a perimeter frame . The plastic pan goes on top of that and then the toilet flange screws into the tank through the top over the plastic pan .
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'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/08/12 12:21pm

ticki2, you have a different layout in your bathroom. Mine has a panel that sits over the black water tank and under the toilet and closet flange. It had 3-1/2" of plywood as spacers. My old black water tank appears to be a polyethelene tank. Is yours fiberglass?

Here is a picture of the stack of wood that was under the fiberglass panel.
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Here is a picture of the full view of the wood spacers above the original black water tank.
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Here is a picture of how I fixed it with just one new piece of 3/4" plywood. The vent is now closer to the front since the new tank is 3-1/2" further to the front, than the original tank.
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Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper

Posted By: ticki2 on 09/08/12 12:22pm

One other thing I wanted to mention for anyone else trying to repair one of these old AquaMagics with a porcelain bowl . The six screws that hold in the mechanism are held by well nuts . They are an odd size , I had to order and buy a box of 50 , so if anyone needs some let me know , I have plenty left .

Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/08/12 12:57pm

ticki2, is there a trick to getting those screws out. I got the one on the valve out with no issues. All of the other 5 just spin and don't come out. It is as if the plastic or rubber insert that they screw into is just spinning.

Posted By: ticki2 on 09/08/12 02:06pm

69 Avion wrote:

Probably the well nuts are dried out and spinning in the porcelain holes. You can try putting a little up pressure under the mechanism as you unscrew . If you can get a small bent screw driver or pry bar to put some pressure on the rubber well nut it may unscrew . Some penetrating oil doesn't hurt .Other than that you have to cut , grind , or drill the screw heads . They are a pain in the butt and take some fussing . If all else fails and you have to break it that's OK too , what I really need is the ball valve .

Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/08/12 02:19pm

ticki2, I will try that when it cools down a little. The problem with pulling up, is that the other bolts hold it down while you are trying to pull up on one. I've tried a screwdriver on the ones that I could get to. I just don't want to break anything.

On another note, I just got done putting another piece on my battery bracket. I meant to put a 1/8" strap on one piece and I forgot, so I went ahead and added it.
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Here is a picture of the new Rego Regulator. I drilled the new bracket out to match the original holes in the LP box. It looks like a real nice regulator. We'll see how it works.
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Posted By: ticki2 on 09/08/12 02:19pm

69 Avion wrote:

That is interesting about the extra wood . I cannot think of why the factory would do that . Does the pan that goes over the plywood have enough lip in the front to overlap the shower pan ? Mine would not with the 3-1/2" extra height , the lip is only 1-1/2" . Yes my BW tank is polyethelene .

Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/08/12 02:30pm

ticki2 wrote:

69 Avion wrote:

Yes, the fiberglass piece has a large lip (over 4") that went over the shower pan. The reason for the stacked wood was the ultra low profile toilet. A toilet should be about 16" high to the seat. The old Thetford is only 9" high. The stacked wood along with the toilet brought it up to about 16". That was the problem with leaving the wood stacked in there. The new Thetford toilets (low profile) are quite a bit higher than the old Thetford. As I recall, I would have ended up with a 20" high toilet, using the old base with the new toilet.

Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/09/12 04:37pm

While waiting for my fiberglass to repairs to be finished I figured that I would get something done. I installed the two LP tanks on the tongue of the trailer.
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The axle was ordered at 24 degrees downward angle and arrived at level, which isn't the best angle for a rubber torsion axle. I moved it down 4 splines which should be very close to the optimum angle.
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I also finished my water tank piping including a couple of hose bibs on the trailer.

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A picture of the fill line in the truck bed, next to the gasoline filler.
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A picture of the new Rego regulator in the LP container. The tanks have been repainted and are ready to install once I get the lines in. I made a new tank stop since the original tanks shifted toward the LP container door and rubbed a hole in it.
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Posted By: 69 Avion on 09/11/12 01:59pm

ticki2, I finally got that assembly off of the toilet. I had to grind the heads off of the screws. There are a couple of small grind marks on the bottom, but nothing major. The plastic is old, but I hope it works for you. Check you PMs.

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