Avion Holiday 24′ c1962 – In the beginning

Oh my goodness, so much to do where does one start?

First things first, rain is coming so getting the windows repaired is a reasonable place to begin. Of the six sets of jalousie windows in the camper, three have broken panes. The other three are in need of servicing of course but at least they have glass in them.

Fact Finding

So my very first task was to pull out broken panes and gather size information for replacements. We have a local and reliable glass supplier here right next to the University of Florida campus where I work.  Check, new pieces have been cut and are in my car awaiting installation.

But I’m not yet able to install the new pieces, much other work must be completed first.

Aft starboard window the first of six sets to be serviced and the target of my first efforts.

First, I’ll not the virtually all of the screens are ripped and disintegrating. At first take I believed the screen frames to be riveted to the chassis but I now realize they are screwed but the screws require an atypical drive which might be Roberts. That is good news, they can be removed and re-screened with only moderate difficulty. It will also make access to the jalousie mechanism possible. The window to which I have started my  investigation has other issues, including a missing crank handle and a broken rivet on one of the panes and a partially broken pane holder. The latter is partially broken but not yet snapped off. I have the option of strengthening (JB Weld, etc) the holder or replacing it if one could be found. The good news, is the gear mechanism seems to work beautifully, so this was not why the window wasn’t working, it was the busted rivet.

Jalousie Pane weather-stripping.

The top edge of each window pane had one of these on it whose purpose is to hold a smallish weatherstrip. If you look very closely you can see remnants of the gasket in the photo. So the panes are overlapped which keeps water from coming in the trailer but this helps seal from the bottom to keep upward splashes and blow from entering. Fair enough, now I need to find pieces of this to fit the missing panes in the front windows.

Above, below, on both sides and on each pane. Lots of weather-stripping and all are different shapes and sizes.

weather-stripping at the bottom of the window.

So yesterday, was when I looked a bit closer at how the windows functioned and discovered there is a weatherstrip at the top of the window, a different one on the sides and yet another that runs in a grove along the bottom of the frame. Counting the stripping for the panes, this makes four different type-styles for each window. No one ever claimed this was going to “easy”. Of course the hardest part at present is locating appropriate replacements, once I get the part numbers right, I can rinse and repeat for all the other windows.

What Else Besides weather-stripping and Replacement Glass?

So yesterday’s good news, I can remove the screens for re-screening. Now I just need to purchase screen and the proper size spline (and a tool) to get them all repaired.

I purchased a can of aluminum lubricant at Lowes and this appears to work wonders on the jalousie mechanisms which are 50 years dirty and corroded. Also good news.

I have a window gear machine coming and once it arrives, I’ll see if it is going to work in my windows. In this case however, the mechanism I have appears well lubricated and works fine, so it was the broken rivet and frozen window mechanism, not the crank that was at issue. Unfortunately the replacement crank handle I purchased will be the wrong length, live and learn. This will be the first of many mismatched parts I’m sure.

Although I could use a tiny bolt, I’d rather purchase a rivet gun. Having watched some YouTube videos, I am now an “expert”.

Status?

The first window will take the longest but once I learn how they work and what parts to buy, it will just be a matter of coming up with a process. Plenty of fun-time ahead.

Hang in there it’s going to be a long ride…

 

 

 

Avion Holiday 24′ c1962 – vintage camper trailer

What can I say, Susan and I are just a bit crazy. Last week Susan saw this beast being towed home from Georgia and fell in love with it. She’s always bringing home strays so what’s one more? Retirement is only 10 years away and as you can see, we have started planning now. Hopefully it won’t take that long to get her serviceable. It will give Susan and I lots of quality time together meanwhile…..

Well we made it over the first hurdle; delivery!

Avion was an Airstream competitor back in the day.

I am well pleased with the quality of the external skin. Those rivets still look great.

Going to need several new panes for the jalousie windows. Two big ones in the bow, two on the starboard aft and one small for the port bow.

Susan is smiling but we are both dizzied by the amount of work to be done.

Looking toward the forward double bed. Original colors were light blue and coral. Can somebody also fix that screen?

Looking aft toward the twin bunks and lavatory. We have the door but it is off the piano hinges.

One of the twin bunks. No fabric on the top foam pad but the box springs show coral as original color.

The shower. You don’t want to see what lurks in the shower pan 😦

The Head (lavatory) upper cabinets and mirror.

Rear facing window in the Lav.

The “vanity”, absolutely love the pink sink.

Not sure why the head doesn’t match the color scheme?

Man, remind me not to look into any more cabinets. Yikes!

I was teasing about the cabinet in all seriousness, they are one of the components that are quite serviceable. Some of the veneers are peeling but the plan is to fix and clear coat them for now.

Ah, no! Not going to look into the fridge and don’t think I’m going to light that furnace either.

110 Volt feed to the camper. A lot components “froze up” so folks just kept yanking on it until something snapped as with this weather cover.

The fella that pulled this from Georgia mentioned several times that it pulled like a dream. So at least it isn’t obviously unstable. I hate rust.

My favorite retro look are these navigation lights.

One of the few items that still functions is the screen “front” door.

Love the look.

Ah, no again.

OK, so one of the cool features that actually works (sort of) is the TV rotor. You can turn the aerial in any direction from inside the camper.

So many things to learn, I know it will be a challenge. Not sure about the wiring but I’m really hopeful to get all the external lights working. This tag was last dated 1991.