Our redone 1978 34' Avion

[Rubicon79]

I told my wife let's buy a camper on Friday we can camp in on Saturday.

Well that's not what we ever do.

Found this 1978 34' Avion that we knew had some floor rot but was in otherwise good condition. The previous owners had replaced the AC and put 6 new tires on it. Come to find out the floor rot was a little more substantial with the entire front living area and all of the bathroom floor completely gone.

So our camper quickly turned into a bigger project than we anticipated.

We ended up replacing all interior and exterior lights with led, most of the plumbing, bathroom is all new except the tub, built a front queen bed, water heater, fridge, flooring, updated the cabinets and hardware, plus all the things I'm forgetting. We resealed the roof, removed and resealed the front windows, all new window glazing, rebuilt all exterior hatches, everbrite on the exterior, adding a new rock guard and rear bumper soon.

It took us about 10 weeks start to finish.

Here are a few pics and while I'm definitely not a camper expert I'll try to answer any questions.

[Rubicon79]

Here are some of the new pics!

[Minno]

Very nice!
Took us 4 summers to just get ours back on the road... you're fast!

Kay

[slowmover]

1978 disappears!! I like original even if not "up to date", but I'd say your work is just great.

I hope that LED exterior lighting is done, or on the short list (new fixtures), as incandescent just won't cut it anymore. New breakaway switch and I'd recommend John Barca / Les Adams thread on RV.net for upgraded brake wiring.

Avion has the same shock absorber problem as Silver Streak. No info from Monroe on OEM technical spec any longer available. The Avion forum website may have something, and I did up a thread years back on this site. (I also recommend Centramatic balancers after balancing on a Hunter GSP9700; and alignment should be verified).

If those tires are ST labeled, I'd lose them fairly quickly. Too much to read on the subject, but there are far higher quality tires available (Yokohama RY215, in 7.00-15, for example).

The Dexter stub axles are a special order item. An old thread here details the very long wait by an owner stranded when one broke. Might be good to have a spare.

You all have done an impressive amount in a short period. And, no such thing as too many pictures.

[Harvey Dowd]

Originally Posted by Rubicon79

I told my wife let's buy a camper on Friday we can camp in on Saturday.

Well that's not what we ever do.

Found this 1978 34' Avion that we knew had some floor rot but was in otherwise good condition. The previous owners had replaced the AC and put 6 new tires on it. Come to find out the floor rot was a little more substantial with the entire front living area and all of the bathroom floor completely gone.

So our camper quickly turned into a bigger project than we anticipated.

We ended up replacing all interior and exterior lights with led, most of the plumbing, bathroom is all new except the tub, built a front queen bed, water heater, fridge, flooring, updated the cabinets and hardware, plus all the things I'm forgetting. We resealed the roof, removed and resealed the front windows, all new window glazing, rebuilt all exterior hatches, everbrite on the exterior, adding a new rock guard and rear bumper soon.

It took us about 10 weeks start to finish.

Here are a few pics and while I'm definitely not a camper expert I'll try to answer any questions.

10 Weeks?! That would have taken us 10 months, at least. Please tell me you all are retired?

[kdickinson]

Looks great - enjoy that "new" trailer!

[Rubicon79]

Thanks I'll look into the axles and shocks.

All the exterior lights are new led. The only thing on the exterior is for the rock guard to get here and we are gonna build a new rear bumper with some c channel. We removed the factory rear cargo area and added that space to the bathroom so now it's actually roomy. Im gonna add a receiver hitch to the bumper and use an aluminum rear rack for extra cargo room.

Nope not retired and we've got 3 kids but my dad has a big shop so we were able to work at night also. It was just me, my wife and a buddy who helped do the work but we worked almost every day until late to get it done.

Some things I would have done different but overall happy with it. We wanted to keep a vintage feel and she liked a beach cottage vibe.

[PatLee]

Just beautiful!

[DaveMc]

Great work!!!

[Ralph12]

[QUOTE=slowmover;2000931]1978 disappears!! I like original even if not "up to date", but I'd say your work is just great.

I hope that LED exterior lighting is done, or on the short list (new fixtures), as incandescent just won't cut it anymore. New breakaway switch and I'd recommend John Barca / Les Adams thread on RV.net for upgraded brake wiring.

Avion has the same shock absorber problem as Silver Streak. No info from Monroe on OEM technical spec any longer available. The Avion forum website may have something, and I did up a thread years back on this site. (I also recommend Centramatic balancers after balancing on a Hunter GSP9700; and alignment should be verified).

If those tires are ST labeled, I'd lose them fairly quickly. Too much to read on the subject, but there are far higher quality tires available (Yokohama RY215, in 7.00-15, for example).

The Dexter stub axles are a special order item. An old thread here details the very long wait by an owner stranded when one broke. Might be good to have a spare.

You all have done an impressive amount in a short period. And, no such thing as too many pictures.

[I had an axle break, I ordered one from CAYO and had it within two weeks. R Webb 1978 28J PS Great Job!]

[TxDave]

Very nice! Hope you guys have lots of fun and adventure in your "new" tailer.

[Frank&Mike]

You all did amazing work ... looks wonderful ... you should be very proud of a job well done.

[PaulnGina]

Looks great! Another Avion saved!!

[JJ1965]

Looks very nice. Giving me all kinds of ideas!

[mimiandrews]

Im gonna add a receiver hitch to the bumper and use an aluminum rear rack for extra cargo room.

Be very careful not to add much weight back there. Many threads here on trailer sway accidents are worth reading.

[crispyboy]

Nice work! I hope you and the family get to enjoy many miles and excursions.

If it were 1978 all over again I would have a hard time choosing between the Avion and Airstream trailers.

[PaulnGina]

Originally Posted by mimiandrews

Im gonna add a receiver hitch to the bumper and use an aluminum rear rack for extra cargo room.

Be very careful not to add much weight back there. Many threads here on trailer sway accidents are worth reading.

Ditto on that...... I read right over that in the original post.
I would recommend finding just about ANY other place to use as extra cargo room. Asking for trouble adding weight to the tail of the trailer.

This just happened to be on the site today...... http://www.doityourselfrv.com/speedi...r-wreck-video/

Great example of driving WAYYYYYY too fast, with stuff piled on the rear of the trailer..... PLEASE be careful!!! It'll be there when you get there!

[Jarrod White]

Looks great. I've always liked the front layout with the side sofa that can be closed off privacy even though I've never had one. It also makes your front bed work and I'm surprised that more owners with that layout don't follow you're lead and covert into a bedroom.
What flooring did you use? I like the color.
I have the same not all who wander sign from hobby lobby hanging in the same spot in my 34 Avion.
I wouldn't worry too much about broken axles. It seems to be a very very rare occurrence and I don't think I've ever heard of it happening on a triple axle model.

[Rubicon79]

Thanks for the kind words.

The rack is just going to be for hose pipes and other light weight outdoor stuff. It originally had a rear storage compartment but we removed it in the remodel.

I'm worried about having enough tongue weight and that's one of the reasons that our main storage area is under the front bed. We even thought about adding some front ballast but still gotta see how it does loaded. The nearest scales are a good drive away but I'd like to weigh it and see just what it is.

The flooring is the lifeproof all vinyl from home depot in seasoned wood color. It wasn't our first choice but it was in stock and turned out looking better than we hoped.

We are wrapping up our first 2 weeks at the campground and so far so good! Had a few electrical gremlins but got it all sorted out.

Still debating de-anodizing the exterior and polishing it this winter. I did it once before on a 30' airstream and swore I'd never do it again. It was a tremendous amount of work but it sure looks good when it's done.

Does anyone know the size of the holding tanks on an avion?

[PaulnGina]

I would recommend against de-anodizing the skin of the trailer, but would suggest making a trip to see Chuck Cayo (Mr. Avion) in Watervliet, MI and let him PermaCoat it. But if you are looking for a mirror finish, de-anodizing is the way to go. I cannot imagine the time and work involved to even hope for a decent-looking result.

The 1978 Avion brochure says the black tank is 40 gal., grey is 30 gal.

Originally Posted by Rubicon79

Thanks for the kind words.

The rack is just going to be for hose pipes and other light weight outdoor stuff. It originally had a rear storage compartment but we removed it in the remodel.

I'm worried about having enough tongue weight and that's one of the reasons that our main storage area is under the front bed. We even thought about adding some front ballast but still gotta see how it does loaded. The nearest scales are a good drive away but I'd like to weigh it and see just what it is.

The flooring is the lifeproof all vinyl from home depot in seasoned wood color. It wasn't our first choice but it was in stock and turned out looking better than we hoped.

We are wrapping up our first 2 weeks at the campground and so far so good! Had a few electrical gremlins but got it all sorted out.

Still debating de-anodizing the exterior and polishing it this winter. I did it once before on a 30' airstream and swore I'd never do it again. It was a tremendous amount of work but it sure looks good when it's done.

Does anyone know the size of the holding tanks on an avion?