July

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 fridge

Back then, you could buy a Travco with either a 2-way 110V/LP fridge (as in any RV) or a 110V-only fridge. Unfortunately, the Blue Whale's refrigerator is an electric only model. In my opinon, in a RV, a fridge that can't run on propane is useless. So this fridge will be replaced with a standard LP gas fridge. With the help of his brother, Dad took the fridge out, and is now shopping around for an appropriate replacement.



Interestingly this 110V fridge actually runs on 24V DC. A small transformer reduces the voltage and powers the small 24V 60W compressor unit. The unit is still nice and clean, and we'll try to sell it.

The furnace

The Travco is equipped with central heating. The furnace is mounted in the cabinet under the counter. Air ducts distribute the heated air throughout the coach.

First, the furnace mounting brackets were almost broken off, probably due to age and road vibrations. Dad took the furnace out and reinforced and repaired the mounting brackets. Here is the heater housing, after a new paint coat:



Air inlet and exhaust gas oulet are on the side of the vehicle, and the ducts from them to the furnace were leaking and had to be redone. Dad fixed them with some stainless steel tubing had had, and parts from an old car exhaust pipe. Cheap, but a lot of work.

But there is a bigger issue with the furnace: it won't start! And here we need some help. If anybody knows anything about propane heaters, your comments will be appreciated.



The furnace is a Suburban model NT32A. It has a pilot light that can be lighted with a BBQ grill style igniter or a match, and it has a button that has to be held depressed for a few seconds during ignition, as with many LP appliances. Here's what happens.

When we hold the start button depressed, the pilot can be lighted. However, the flame is very weak, and goes out as soon as the start button is released. Even if the start button is held for a longtime, the pilot goes out as soon as the button is let go. Normally, after about 30 seconds, the pilot should stay lit after the start button is released. It looks like the pilot light is not strong enough to heat the thermocouple enough for it to keep the gas valve open.

There is an openning where the pilot can be lighted with a match, and through this opening we heated the thermocouple red hot with a propane torch. Still the same result, the pilot fades out gradually as soon as the start button is released.

Another test we did, is try to light up the main burner. Since the pilot light is weak, we inserted the lighted propane torch in the ignition hole, and we increased the thermostat setting until it triggered. The blower kicked in, then after a couple seconds we can hear what I beleive is the gas valve opening, but nothing else happens, the main burner doesn't light up. Just like if there was no gas. But there is propane in the tank, as the stove works perfectly.
So if you know anything about this, please leave a comment!

Other things

Dad has almost finished the door step trim. Two small curtesy lamps have been installed at the bottom of the step, they come on automatically when the door is opened. The famous hydraulic retractable step is now completed with a control switch mounted just inside near the door frame. The batterie compartment has been redone, with a sturdy braket to hold the large 8D battery.

On the next picture, you can see the entrance step finish, the battery in its compartment, one of the curtesy lights, and in the lower corner of the aluminium door frame is the switch that controls those lights.



Also, the water pump, wich had stopped working during the camping weekend last month, has been officially declared dead. For some reason, the motor is burnt. It's a small piston pump, driven by a small 12V motor by a rubber belt. Dad is going to try to replace the motor with another one he already has, but chances are he'll propably have to get a new motor (or a new pump, depending on the price).

I'll be on vacation over the next week, we're heading for Bar Harbor, Maine, for a few days. I offered my parents to come with us with the Blue Whale for this 450km trip. It would make a good road test for the Travco, and if something comes up with the motorhome we'll be along to help. There are many things to take care of before the coach is declared fully roadworthy, such as some lights or signals that are not working and that Dad temporarily wired for last month's outing.

So I don't know if the Blue Whale will head for Bar Harbor next week, in any case it's a good oportunity for my parents for a nice vacation week on the east coast.

Bathroom

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 above it). There are 4 different pipes going into this tank. There are cracks on the tank where all those pipes enter the tank. This explains why the pipes felt "loose". The previous owners had apparently tried to fix it a few times, with various sealants or glues.




Dad first removed the old sealants and glues. The top of the tank, where the toilet fitting is attached, was reinforced with a sheet of metal, and the rest was fixed with fiberglass putty. Some metal bracket were added to secure and prevent any movement of the pipes.




Most RVs have a plastic toilet. I guess plastic toilets were not invented yet in 1975 because the Travco toilet is made of ceramic, just like a real home toilet. It has an "old" style to it, being smaller and round instead of oval. The toilet is mounted on a rather narrow plastic base, considering the shape and the weight of the toilet. The plastic base, wich contains the flush valve, is cracked. Dad tought about simply buying a new modern RV plastic toilet and replace the whole thing, but he finally decided to try to fix it. He figured this vintage toilet is part of the "Travco Experience", and deserved restoration like the rest of the motorhome!

Dad usually not only fix things, but improves them as well. The improvement is usually to eliminate the initial cause of the failure so the thing won't break again. The same goes for the toilet: the narrow plastic base has been mounted on a wider plywood base, wich has been covered with fiberglass. A stainless steel brace will be added the back to help stabilize the toilet and relief stess on the plastic base so it won't break again.




As for the bathroom floor itself, the plywood floor is slightly out of shape wich causes the springy feeling, but otherwise is in good condition. Dad simply put a new layer of plywood on top if it.



The front end floor also got its new plywood.



And for those intererested, the Class C has officially been put up for sale:
http://www.lespac.com/search/detail.php?a=5566923

Slowly but surely

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 treated with wood preservative. The cutting job took some time, as there are curves and holes that have to be at the right place, and also there are a few notches on the back of the plywood to allow for the thicker welds seams on the metal underfloor.



Mom bought the carpet, wich will be installed soon. Good thing SHE picked the color. Dad is good at fixing things, but frankly color picking is not his best talent to say the least!
I'll eventually get photos of the carpet. Also I know Mom is working on something for the rear window, something that will look good and that will hide the damaged window frame. I'll provide details on this later.

As you've seen on previous pictures, the outside of the rear window has been painted over when the motorhome was repainted. Dad never liked the look of that window, it looks like a window they forgot to mask when they painted the motorhome. Since the paint cannot be easily stripped (It' just a tiny plexiglas) Dad decided to repaint it over with a darker paint, almost black. Now at least it looks more like a window.

Last week I wrote that the floor under where the water tank lies was in good shape. Well, Dad finally found some slightly damaged wood, that he figured was caused by a leaky water fitting at the tank outlet hose. But spraying the back of the motohome with a garden hose, he found that water leaked inside from somewhere along the rear wall and above the floor level. Looks like water is coming from the letters of the TRAVCO emblem, wich are installed outside on the fiberglass shell. A bit of sealant should fix that easily. The floor is not badly damaged, and a simple wood preservative treatement should be ok.



Speaking of the water tank, it is now undergoing cleaning and disinfection.



Dad also got the toilet out. The floor inside the lavatory seems to be in good shape, however it kind of flexes when we put some weight on it. This will have to be investigated.



The transmission filter has been replaced and the pan bolted back on. All driveshaft joints have been checked and greased, everything looks good. Next on the list will be the differential, rear brakes and bearings. The front end has been inspected, everything is in top shape.

The door step

When Dad worked on the floor repairs near the entrance door a few days ago, he took the retractable step out. It's a just a regular retractable metal step, like found on many RVs. Looking at this step, Dad figured he could make some improvements of its own. First, some reinforcements. Dad likes it big and strong. Dad welded a couple metal tubings to make it stronger and stiffer. Then another idea came up his mind...

Years ago, on a old car wreck (I don't know the exact car model but is was a convertible) Dad found two small hydraulic cylinders powered by a small 12V pump. These actuators were powering the top of the convertible. They are about 8 inches long, and the pump is about the size of an engine starter. They are surprisingly powerful, one of them can lift a man of the ground easily. Dad picked them up, thinking that one day he'll do someting with them. Well that day has arrived, and the "something" will be an hydraulic powered retractable step for the Travco. So Dad completely redesigned the original step's sliding tracks. This project is not completed yet, but the following pictures will give you an idea. Here's the step itself:



Here you can see the hydraulic actuator that will be used and the small pump. Stay tuned!



Finally, I'd like you to take a few minutes and visit Lathaniel's 1971 Travco restoration blog. He did an amazing job. I added his blog in my links on the top right of this page. Check it out!

New floor

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 plywood floor under the tank is not rotten. It turned out that the plywood is in perfect shape.



Meanwhile Dad drained the auto transmission and dropped the pan in order to inspect the filter. A lot of sludge in the pan and a dirty filter are usually signs of something wrong with the tranny. However the pan only had a very small amount of sludge and the filter looked quite clean, wich is good considering the mileage of the vehicle. The transmission will get some new fluid, and since it shifted very well on the road no problems are expected with the transmission.



Today Dad removed the front wheel hubs to inspect the wheel bearings. Everything is in perfect condition. These are very strong heavy-duty truck drivetrain components, and it's still like new.

First discoveries

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 extremely tight. We were the both of us on the wrench, lenghtened by a 4ft steel tube, and we had to heat the nuts with the torch to break them loose. For the rear wheels, Dad explained that a special tool will be needed to take the dual wheels off.



The rear window

Seen from the outside, the rear window has been painted over with the same gray color as the rest. From the inside, a piece of white Coroplast (sheet of currugated plastic. Temporary signage is often made of or Coroplast) has been screw over the window to block it. No trims, very ugly work, and there is a water leak from that window.

On this picture, looking towards the back, you can see the white plastic sheet covering the window:



Dad removed the plastic panel, only to discover that the window has been sealed many times with various types of rubber sealants, even foam has been sprayed on the bottom. What a dirty job. And even with all this, water still leaks in!

The good news is that all the stuff they used trying to seal the window is not sticking hard to the fiberglass finish on the inside, and everything should be easy to clean. Water gets in around the rubber seal. This seal is the type that uses a locking strip. The locking strip is missing, the window is not held in place very tightly and this allows water to seep in. With help from his good friend Gerry, Dad correctly sealed the window and installed a locking strip. This should take care of the water leak issue. Inside, some kind of trim will have to be added around the window to hide the holes where the plastic sheet was screwed.

Outside, centered above the rear window, is a metal strip screwed where both halves of the main fiberglass shells meet. The joint at this place didn't look too good and might also be leaking. Just in case, Dad redid that joint, it took most part of a day just to get the rusted screws out. He put some new sealant, and screwed back the metal strip with new stainless steel screws. This can be seen on the next picture. There is still some cleaning to do around the window seal.



At the same time, Dad also resealed the front passenger windshield. This passenger windshield seems to have been installed slightly off-position, as one edge is slightly outside its frame. We'll have to live with this, but at least once correctly sealed it should not leak water anymore.

Then Dad found some rotten wood at the door step. This shouldn't be too hard to fix. The battery compartement is close by, and the cover of the compartment doesn't close quite right, this will have to be fixed also.



Wheel wells

There is quite a bit of rust inside the front wheel wells. That's inside rust, as the outside is made of figerglass and doesn't rust. What is rusted is in fact the floor below the front seats. That's where Dad found the most significant problem so far. The floor is made of a metal sheet (visible from inside the wheel well), a thick plywood, and the inside carpet. The metal sheet is completely rusted out and the plywood is mostly rotten on the edges. As water was leaking in from the windshields, the wood and carpet soaked the water, causing the rust and rot.

Fixing this is a major job. Everything has to come out: steering wheel, front seats, pedals, carpet, etc.
The rusted part of the floor has been cut out with a cutting disk.
View from the inside (yes you can see outside through the hole!):






Original floor:




That's it for now. It's only the beginning!