tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70612534082860656832011-09-24T01:16:42.143-04:00Restoration of a 1975 Travco 270 motorhomeCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-35555026800927484012010-08-29T12:44:00.008-04:002010-08-29T13:38:05.556-04:00

Wherever it goes, the Blue Whale doesn't go unnoticed. I guess this blog helps somewhat: last May I was contacted via the french side of this blog by a journalist from the french-language Camping Caravaning magazine, published by Féderation Québécoise de Camping et Caravaning (FQCC - Quebec's campers and RVers federation, the largest campers and RVers association in Canada) who wanted to write an

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-23277595077474803542010-07-16T20:39:00.005-04:002010-07-16T21:59:24.143-04:00

About time for an update, isn't it?We're already mid-July, and of course Dad has spent some time working around his motorhome.Oil leakThere was a leaky oil seal on the Whale's engine. Nothing to worry about, however when Dad was visiting relatives or friends and parking the Travco in their driveway, he always had to slip a piece of cardboard under the vehicle to avoid oily stains on the ground.

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-19355465926926229602009-11-12T09:32:00.014-05:002009-11-12T11:24:32.152-05:00

Here are the last few additions to the Travco that Dad worked on lately. They really are add-ons, rather than repairs or restoration projects. Seat beltsDad replaced the old style 2-point seat belt with a modern 3-point belt on the passenger side. The driver side will also be converter to a 3-point belt later. Those "new" belts came with the "new" seats bought 2 years ago to replace to old

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-8362320956966777992009-08-22T07:36:00.012-04:002009-08-22T23:14:50.656-04:00

As promised, finally an update on pretty much everything that was done on the Blue Whale since last spring. Enough stuff and pictures (don't forget to click to enlarge) to keep you busy reading for some time! Water heaterUnlike most modern RV water heaters, a Travco water heater doesn't use propane. The Whale's unit works either on 110V or engine heat. There are coolant lines that run from the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-60683654684215541622009-08-01T20:54:00.008-04:002009-08-01T21:56:10.374-04:00

Sorry I didn't write much lately, I'm always running out of time. Also, despite the poor weather of the last weeks, the Travco was used for what is was built for: travelling! Indeed, since the end of June, where the Whale went to our annual group camping in Stoneham, the Whale has been on the road almost continuously.On their frist trip my parents brought the Whale to the Lac St-Jean area, north

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-31053558922462368952009-06-07T08:06:00.011-04:002009-06-09T16:23:36.460-04:00

Hello everyone!The Blue Whale's 2009 season is finally beginning!Just like last year, the Whale quietly slept through the cold season in its winter shed. Dad has already fixed a couple issues on the motorhome, I'll start with the wipers and the speedometer.WipersThere's nothing more annoying - or more dangerous - than wipers that quit working in the middle of a storm on a highway. Pretty

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-33704988276745471532008-11-08T21:55:00.009-05:002008-11-08T22:56:52.464-05:00

The Blue Whale's 2008 camping season officially ended after the Thanksgiving weekend on Oct 11, 12 & 13th. Just like last year, the last camping trip was at cousin Roger's place, in the Beauce region, about 120 km south of Quebec City.This post will also be my last for 2008, I will resume posting next spring.Dad didn't put much work on the motorhome this fall. He instead worked on the Whale's

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-197769313101162572008-09-18T19:01:00.008-04:002008-09-18T20:01:49.136-04:00

Furnace air ductsHot air from the furnace is ducted throughout the motorhome by two pairs of 4" flexible air hoses (similar to clothes dryer hose). The first pair of hoses run under the couch, in front of wich are two small vents where the air comes out. This couch, wich is permanently attached to the floor, can be transformed into a bed, and is also a useful storage compartment. The other pair

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-22892019919694746222008-09-11T16:49:00.008-04:002008-09-13T11:01:28.013-04:00

Over the last few weeks, the Blue Whale has been travelling quite a bit. Mom and Dad are finally enjoying the motorhome and are travelling around. The Blue Whale first went to the Montreal area, where my two brothers are living, and then came back to Quebec City after a stop in Sorel, where my aunt lives. A few days later, the Whale went to Edmundston, New-Brunswick, my Mom's hometown. They spent

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-64243140298587605002008-07-31T08:08:00.010-04:002008-07-31T11:10:47.346-04:00

StonehamJust as expected, getting the Travco ready for its first trip of the year was a race against the clock. There was so many things to fix! Once he had the engine oil changed, Dad started the big block V8 for the first time this year. The engine fired right up, idling smoothly, as if it had been shut down only a couple minutes before.The big challenge was to get the motorhome out of its

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-40836146625484806922008-06-17T20:26:00.006-04:002008-06-17T20:34:10.507-04:00

Here are the jobs Dad started this spring on the Travco.First, Dad dropped the fuel tank to inspect it, along with the fuel line that runs from the tank to the engine. Dad feared rust damage, but it turned out that there was only some light surface rust on it, the tank is in very good shape. So Dad simply sprayed it with a good coat of antirust paint.The fuel line was also in good shape, no

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-81755591617188865612008-06-06T14:41:00.008-04:002008-06-08T17:00:54.174-04:00

We're back!2008 winter has been long and harsh, the Blue Whale got buried under the 17ft+ of snow that we got this winter, an all-time snowfall record for the Quebec City area. But the Whale survived: well sheltered inside it's tarp cocoon, the motohome stayed dry and clean and wintered without any issue.At some point during winter, Santa drove by and left something under the tree that in 1975,

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-35661373835861436972007-12-06T19:00:00.000-05:002007-12-06T19:23:07.870-05:00

The day after we parked the Whale at the end of Dad's yard, about 4 inches of snow fell. That was the first snow of the season, it never melted, and it's been snowing regularly since.During the following days, Dad built the temporary shelter that will protect the Whale during winter. Dad had already built a similar shelter over he last years for it's Class C.The shelter is made with a huge

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-32570542333463544202007-11-21T09:19:00.000-05:002007-11-21T10:32:24.757-05:00

The brake parts took almost 2 weeks to arrive. Seems like nobody has them anymore, they had to be ordered from the US. Meanwhile, the Travco was parked in Dad's driveway, unable to move since it had no brakes at all. Dad took all the ld brakes line out, rusted or not. He wanted to start from scratch and get new brakes lines everywhere.Dad repainted the frame with some anti-rust paint, and

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-90826666928314324162007-10-26T17:27:00.000-04:002007-10-26T18:49:05.924-04:00

Fall has arrived, winter is approaching fast over here, the camping season is definitely over. The Travco went on its last trip for this year, from Oct 5 to 9 (canadian Thanksgiving weekend). Roger, Dad's cousin, has a wood lot in the Beauce region, about 100km south of Quebec City, and for the second year in a row we went to Roger's lot for our last camping weekend. We were a group of 7 RVs, the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-89730368992205713952007-09-22T14:03:00.000-04:002007-09-23T11:10:46.610-04:00

It all began at the air conditioning unit. We were in for a few surprises on the 110V electrical system.First, you need to know that Travcos have two rooftop openings, on wich can be installed an air conditioning unit, a fan or a simple vent. Inside the motorhome, located on the ceiling beside each of these openings, is a standard 110V outlet. I figure they are designed to power their respective

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-51404616777913012092007-09-20T10:56:00.000-04:002007-09-20T11:45:31.221-04:00

Parking brakeThe Travco's park brake was not working. On a Travco, the park brake hand lever doesn't apply the brakes on the rear wheels of the vehicle, but on an additional smaller brake drum on the driveshaft.The park bake is actuated by a cable, that Dad cleaned lubed. Then Dad took the drum out, and realised that the brake shoes were completely worn. No big surprise here: this type of park

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-13085247023096530202007-09-01T06:13:00.000-04:002007-09-14T01:50:26.130-04:00

One thing Dad always had problem with when working on a project, is evaluating the time required to complete it:-It'll take just a couple days...(Translation: Figure at least a week!)-I'll be done by the weekend.(Translation: I mean the weekend in 2 weeks)That's not because is works slowly. Dad just can't do a hasty or temporary job, or cut corners. So he takes his time to fix things right, right

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-39679768217178187082007-08-26T08:30:00.000-04:002007-08-26T10:29:32.103-04:00

We did it! The new fridge is in! But before I describe the work involved, here's a update on the "medical issue":The injured fingerThe patient is slowly getting better. Dad has to go to the hospital everyday to have is bandage changed, hopefully by a smiling gorgeous nurse. The last stiches have been removed yesterday. Healing is slow due to the fact that the cutting disk not only cut the skin

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-55646945098760085842007-08-22T15:05:00.000-04:002007-08-22T16:40:19.343-04:00

HealingFirst, Dad's injured finger is slowly healing. Some stiches have been removed. He can't bend his finger like he used to yet, but he says he hasn't tried to much either. I will spare you the picture of the cut without the bandage, it is a pretty impressive cut, you can take my word on this!Nevertheless, Dad slowly resumed working on the Blue Whale. He went back to where he left before the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-52302515944791165692007-08-13T10:40:00.001-04:002007-08-13T10:40:52.142-04:00

On some days, everything seems to go wrong. Last friday was such a day for Dad.Dad started his day on the Travco with a rear drivetrain inspection. He jacked the rear of the coach only to find that the brakes on the driver side were dragging badly. The wheels were almost jammed, impossible to spin by hand. They would spin under engine power, but there was significant friction. Everything was

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-43089130231192705902007-08-08T15:39:00.000-04:002007-11-21T10:41:24.809-05:00

AwningOver the last few days, Dad has been working on the awning. After having seeing how is was attached to the coach, I wonder why it didn't fall off the motorhome during travel. It was attached with huge screws (wood screw kind) directly on the fiberglass shell, through some wood pieces, without any reinforcment in the back, sometimes with metal brackets that were simply metal strips hammered

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-91233273514122815452007-07-22T11:05:00.000-04:002007-08-17T14:54:44.032-04:00

Finally an update!The last update was almost a month ago, as I worked a lot lately, then I was away on vacations for a week.I've added some pictures of the first outing on the last post.Meanwhile, Dad kept working on his Travco. He undertook two main jobs, the fridge and the furnace.The fridgeBack then, you could buy a Travco with either a 2-way 110V/LP fridge (as in any RV) or a 110V-only fridge

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-31092992769756786712007-06-30T21:37:00.000-04:002007-07-23T19:06:26.135-04:00

The first official outing of the Blue Whale was on the June 23rd weekend, at the Stoneham Campground.We camp there every year, with the same bunch of relatives and friends: me (popup), my brother Eric (Airstream trailer), my brother Luc (popup), sister-in-law Roxanne (tent), cousin Jean-Luc (fifthwheel trailer), friend Gerry (Class A motorhome), cousin Roger (Class B motorhome), and of course my

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-65936071721273512832007-06-18T16:30:00.000-04:002007-08-17T14:57:05.061-04:00

Good news, the Class C has been sold!The selling price had been set for a quick sale, and that's what happened. Dad was glad to get rid of it, he was sure he was going to get stuck with it, because there are a lot of similar motorhomes for sale on the used market.A lady bought it, after having someone inspect it for her. The guy who came to inspect it said it was very neat, and was impressed by

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-23140929739180419482007-06-10T07:59:00.000-04:002007-08-17T14:57:43.738-04:00

This week, while checking the "springy" bathroom floor, Dad found that the pipes going to the black water tank seemed somewhat loose. So he decided to look into this and he took the tank out, and as you may guess, a few surprises were awaiting him..Travcos don't have grey water tanks. There is only a single black water tank. This tank is located right under the bathroom floor (the toilet is just

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-49490274108869069532007-06-04T21:40:00.000-04:002007-08-17T14:59:20.308-04:00

There is a limit to the amount of work a man can accomplish in a single day. Or even a week. Work doesn't always seem to go as quickly as one wishes. I know dad works from sunrise to sunset on his motorhome. It's just that sometimes nothing shows. At the end of the day, he looks back and it's like he hasn't done anything. But the restoration goes on:Plywood pieces for the floor have been cut and

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-89712992659213727692007-05-25T07:21:00.000-04:002007-08-17T15:00:18.391-04:00

The welding job on the new floor is now completed. This repair involved a tremendous amount of work and took much more time than anticipated. Now what's left to do is cutting out a new plywood board and install a new carpet.Dad also removed the water tank from its location, under the rear bed. This is a huge plastic tank that's sitting right on the plywood floor. Dad wanted to make sure that the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-47660643570800470382007-05-20T11:19:00.000-04:002007-08-17T15:00:44.783-04:00

Metal work on the driver's side floor is almost completed. Dad is now working on the passenger side. After getting all the old rotten plywood out, he found that the rust spread all the way to the step at the entrance. So he cut and removed all the rusted metal.Instead of simply having to cut a single metal plate for the passenger side's floor, he ended up cutting many small plates to rebuilt the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-87710684918840688842007-05-19T09:57:00.000-04:002007-08-17T15:01:01.121-04:00

This morning Dad was almost done cutting out a new metal floor. He used a pretty thick metal plate, very sturdy, wich is already painted on one side (that's recycled stuff of course!). A few openings had to be made in the metal sheet: the steering column goes through the large oval hole, some electric wires will go through the smaller one. The half-circle hole is for the brake pedal. Here's the

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-17232466725915818802007-05-18T22:25:00.000-04:002007-08-17T14:52:19.493-04:00

Dad parked the Travco in front of his garage, where it is going to rest for the next few weeks. The Whale is too large to fit inside the garage.The work begins. The front of the motorhome is raised with a jack and lowered on wood blocks. The front wheels are removed in order to inspect the front suspension and steering components. I gave Dad a hand loosening the wheel lug nuts, as they were

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-17462701390119133732007-05-18T22:24:00.001-04:002007-05-19T10:42:53.079-04:00

Some specs on the Travco:Lenght: 27ftEngine: Dodge 440-3, 375hpTransmission: Dodge 727 3 speed auto.Rear end: Dana 4.56Weight: around 14000lbsGenerator: Onan 6000WCentral heating, shower, microwave oven, central vaccum, air conditionning.Here's the floorplan from the original manual:This motorhome is is pretty good shape considering it's over 30 years old. A quick mechanical check up didn't

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7061253408286065683.post-15430297666005245152007-05-18T22:15:00.000-04:002007-05-19T09:02:47.902-04:00

A dream come true.Dad finally bought what he's been dreaming of for years: a 1975 Travco model 270 Class A motorhome.That' right, 1975.No, the thing is not exactly new...The beast needs quite a bit of work. So I created this blog to document all the work Dad is going to put in his new toy.But first, some explanations: why would someone go through the pain of restoring a 30 year old motorhome? You

Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11942820700615456910noreply@blogger.com20