Quote:
Originally Posted by matisseflys
Hi- I'm just sharing this because I've been researching the Avions and I thought it might help someone else who is doing the same thing. I am a novice, (a middle aged lady, in fact) and I don't have a trailer yet, but I was able to track down a restorer of old cars who knew a lot about Avions and shared several points with me. I almost bought a '64 Avion and chickened out. Anyway, this is what he said and it sounded very smart to me:
1 - Avions have a skin of anodized aluminum and can't be shined to the shiny silver of the Airstreams. What you see is what you get. They will be a dull gray silver.
2 - examine the frame for soundness. water hits the frame in front and it can deteriorate to the extent that you can put your finger through it. The frame begins with the "tongue" which is the part you see sticking out to hook onto your tow vehicle.
3 - crawl under the trailer and look at the belly. because Avions have a piece of sheet metal on the underside, you will need to try and pry that away somewhere to view the wood of the floor with your flashlight. it might look like swiss cheese which if you stopped at the metal sheet in your investigation, you would miss.
4 - inside stand where the tub was or is and jump up and down. you might fall right through! there can be a lot of hidden water damage in that area.
5 - check for water damage around the entrance to the Avion where the wall meets the floor.
6 - check for tire dry rot
7 - check electrical systems
8 - check out all the windows. give them a shake at the bottoms with your hands. they might just fall right out!
9 - big point: make sure that the Avion doesn't have split tire rims. That's a two piece tire rim that can decapitate you! they can be changed out with the rims from '88 Chevy trucks.
10 - look at the gaskets on the fridge- that's where they fail.
Anyway, that's what I learned, and it scared me. I feel more prepared and cautious. I am sure there is more to consider, and any mistakes in the above are probably due to my inaccurate reporting. The fellow I spoke with was awfully nice and chatty. If you have more tips, please share them in this thread.
Matisse.
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We recently bought a
1960 Avion T20 in summer of 2012, after my wife (named in the acct here) had looked at many trailers from Airstreams to canned hams for something "cute." I'll try to address some of your info from your expert, some of which is accurate, and some partially so.
First thing is to go online to Vintage Trailer Supply & order the "Silver Beauties" CD (I think that's he name for the one covering all other non-AS trailers), then you can read in there.
Second, there is a forum online at Yahoo groups specifically for Avions - which by the way were advertised back in the day as being "better than Airstreams" - and most experts in vintage trailers with whom we've spoken agree, and they're less pricey not being the prime target of the AStream craze! Also do a lot of online research since you can actually find & download original period sales brochures, owners manuals, lotsa pix, etc. just with a simple Google or Bing search for Avion Trailers.
PS - Also the Avions have better head room, more overhead cabinet space & are a bit wider than their AS contemporaries do to the less steeply curved roofs a bit taller height. Most folks touring ours at the vintage trailer events' public open houses are surprised at how roomy ours is, compared to the ubiquitous Airstreams. This has been at both the big Pismo Beach & Newport Beach vintage trailer rallies the past 2 years.
Third, find a vintage trailer restoration expert either/both near you & near the target trailer(s) who can do a pre-purchase inspection for you & will know what to look for & where. The best advice our local guy gave us was to find a previously restored example which has been used a bit by the owners after resto - or excellent condition survivor original, since it will cost more to buy a cheaper trailer & pay to fix & restore everything.
Now for your points you've learned above to which I've added numbers in the quote of your post above fore easier reference:
1 - As noted above, anodized skins came in later, but it was
1964 model year - not `61. All pre-64 Avions will shine up nicely, but even the anodized ones were metallurgy formulated to hold a softer shine permanently - which is why they went to it.
Ours is a `61 model sold in summer
1960, as with the car models which come out in Aug/Sept of the year before the stated year. We found out from some Avion factory info on the above suggested CD that ours was the 2nd T20 off the line. It was & may again be polished by us, but we don't mind the softer patina now (we have a topic with pix somewhere in here under the kin topic.)
2-5 - Most of the frame is covered by the belly pans - there are several & they're riveted together, so most owner/sellers will frown up you prying them apart & costing them $100s or $1000s to repair your "inspection." The plywood floor (sub-floor actually) can be checked everywhere from the inside by the same jumping - sometimes just walking & bouncing a bit - as described for by the tub. The steel frame can be checked at the A-frame, rear bumper & wheel wells directly where they're exposed to water, snow, salt, etc. The belly pans & riveted joints, suspension, plumbing/etc. should be all be inspected underneath. Add to #5 around the windows, where the LP Lamp mounts on the cabinet end & cabinet undersides around the stove/sink areas, around the wall heater (or where it used to be), & around the roof vents
A note here - I knew a lot about classic cars, & we inspected our trailer ourselves thoroughly, but still paid a few $100 for a PPI by our expert ($250 I think it was), who found things we didn't & knew much better what to look for on it. It was a small price relative to a $12-18,000 potential mistake + more to fix what I didn't catch! Cheap insurance!
8 - Along with the above re. windows, it's really the rubber seals which count & dry, shrunk & cracked ones let in water! Early windows like ares are mounted in frames, & I think that the later `64 on ones are too - just a smaller thinner frame, so the shake test isn't as critical as it is on the lesser quality frameless jalousie windows which Airstreams used starting in the mid-60's. Still check both that they're sturdy in the frames, that they operate properly open & closed, that all the bug screens are there, gasket condition, etc. - as well as the little shake test. ;-)
7 & 10 - Yes - check that all systems & appliances & lights, outlets, switches, faucets/shower, toilet, water heater, heater & AC, propane lantern, etc. work properly - even if it has been recently restored. The door seal on a 50+/- year old fridge is perhaps the least of your worries, and a new one may be available from the fridge mfgr. - as it still needs to get cold on 110/115v,
12v & LP for that good seal to do anything. Think of it the same as checking over a new or resale home purchase.
6 & 9 - By now the split rims should've been changed out, since most tire shops won't change them for decades now, and Avion offered non-split rims (steel wheels) as an option when new. Many folks did so because split rims cannot take full wheel covers or hubcaps - but only the baby moons/etc. center or partial hubcaps. We found the
1960 brochure pic of the T20 which had hubcaps which we replicated at Hubcap Mike's online & in our hometown of Orange, & who all the local hot rodders & classic car folks have used for years. The hubcaps with the pointed dome centers which Avion used on their trailers in the ads & brochures where from the
1957 Plymouth & are seen on his online page for trailer hubcaps (that's also our trailer in the example pic).
They do need to be properly rated for your particular trailer's required axle rating weight - which will vary by trailer size/length/weight & number of axles - and they need the proper diameter & width - usually 15" x 5.5" or 6" to fit the tire size & fit into the relatively tight wheel wells (our tires are ST275/75x15 8 ply rated). Vintage Trailer Supply & several other trailer places will carry replacement wheels if needed.
Re: 6 - Assume you'll need to get all new tires & spare - unless the tires are new & the date code in them shows less than 5 years (in an oval impression with numbers ending in the year - xxxx08 say). Over 5 years age was recommended to us by our trailer expert before I towed it the 800 miles from Albuquerque to SoCal. We were recommended to get the Maxxis trailer tires as the best, and good tires are the best insurance to not create a bigger aluminum skin repair bill when a ties blows!
There is probably much more, which is why we newbies need to do a lot of research, & then still enlist an expert once a candidate makes the final prospect point.
While I believe that careful consideration should precede any big purchase - including trailers, cars/trucks, RVs, etc. - the end result is more comfort when you do pull the trigger to buy & trailer down the road. We've had ours for 2-1/2 years now & go to about 3 vintage trailer events per year - plus use it at home year round as my wife's gal cave/studio & guest quarters - all with no big problems not caused by my learning curve. ;-)
We're still renting a tow vehicle for those few times out, so that limits the number we can go to - along with our works schedules & other commitments - and we wanted to see if we'd like it before sinking more money into the purchase, care & feeding of a 3rd vehicle to tow.
Hope this helps.
Happy Hunting!
Tom
(Jana's other half & honey-doer)
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