My Restoration. 1972 Dodge Travco

[Kenny D]

More...

[Kenny D]

Here's the interior..

[Kenny D]

More of the inside...
I used carnuba wax on the form I made from a piece of poly. Got another repair to do on the other side. I'll say it is messy . Were lng rubber gloves and have all your pieces cut ahead of time. I used about 7 pieces of mat to rebuild where the hole was.

[Kenny D]

Of course my biggest disappointment was when I found out the windshield from the 1974 Parts Travco will not fit the 72 I am working on. A new windshield is 1000$ shipped or I can harvest the one from my Dads old 1970 but i had hoped to restore that one too one day as dad bought it new in 1970 and I grew up in it. I's gonna break my heart to take parts off it.
Here are some pics of my Dads.
Unfortunately it was parked near the Ocean and the salt air got to the underside of it. All the steel substructure needs to be replaced. It is very rotted underneath and the frame doesn't look to good.

[Kenny D]

BTW anybody know what that foam insulation is ? it looks like "Great Stuff" to me. I gotta put some back where I stripped it in spots.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Kenny D

BTW anybody know what that foam insulation is ? it looks like "Great Stuff" to me. I gotta put some back where I stripped it in spots.

It looks like sprayed on foam insulation. You could get it redone commercially - they do this to pole barns ,etc.

[841K9]

Originally Posted by Kenny D

BTW anybody know what that foam insulation is ? it looks like "Great Stuff" to me. I gotta put some back where I stripped it in spots.

It is a two part system with limited expansion...

Most insulation suppliers can hook you up. (Home Depot, Lowes, etc)

[Kenny D]

Also I called Foretravel today who bought out Travco in the 70's. They still make the proper windshield gaskets. 200$ with lockring.

[Kenny D]

well, Sorry I have not updated this but been working very hard on it. Here is some more pics. I had to rip the steel out of the floor on the passenger side. The drivers side will need the same. Also All the plywood on the floor will need to be replaced. I have developed tendonitis in my elbows from using the 8 inch DA Mudhog sander so I have been in a lot of pain and not been doing much stripping. i have a guy coming tomorrow to give me a price on Soda Blasting the gelcoat. I saw a Planer used on boats to strip gelcoat but the company that sells them said the Travco is probably not rigid enough to use it on. If it can't be blasted I put an ad out looking for a bodyshop helper to work on weekends to finish stripping it. I got about a 1/4 of the way done. I was able o get new windshield gaskets from Foretravel. They took over Travco in the 80's I believe. That is the only thing they still make. The side window gaskets are no longer made but I was able to get the exact right ones from Trimlok. It was around 150$ with shipping for a 100' roll.
Also where the dinette went the side if the camper was a bit flimsy there so I welded in an additional brace and glassed it to the side. I left a gap between the steel and the fiberglass and filled i with foam as was done everywhere else. I would assume that is so the steel doesnt wear through the fiberglass.
I also built a makeshift garage to keep it in. I took a 250$ 12x24 shelter Logic garage and placed it on stacked up Mafia blocks. The blocks cost about another 200$ so the whole thing cost me 400$ but now I don't have to worry about rain etc.

[Kenny D]

I also had to glass some new wood to the inside for the cabinets to attach to. I also went in the camper during a heavy rain storm and marked off any and all leaks.
More Pics.

[Kenny D]

Ive been using POR15 on all the metal after either grinding the rust off or sandblasting. I have a small sandblaster.
Also on a different note I had found a note in the camper . It looked like a note to e mechanic about things that needed to be addressed. It was from 21 yrs ago. It had the people name and phone numbers on it. I called alll the numbers and left messages about maybe 2 months ago. well the gentleman called back yesterday and told more of the tale. It was next to a shed that caught fire. Also he was co owner of the unit although it was never registered. he gave me the phone number of the original owner so hopefully I can get some old pics of it form it's hayday and more info. Also I needed a bill of sale as the lady who gave it to me has not returned my phone calls.

[Kenny D]

Here you can see before and after where I added the brace. As far as the insulation, looks like plain old Great Stuff to me. That is what I am gonna use. Was thinking about using the fireblock version of it.

[datsit]

Kenny; Go to Yahoo Groups they have a large Travco Group, also facebook Dodge Travco Lovers and Good Old RVs.

[datsit]

Kenny; Are all your Travco's 220s, I have a 270, been loving it for the past 12yrs. Been all round easteren Canada & northeast USA. There is a MOPAR meet the largest in Canada. Hope you can make it for 2013 as we have 4 willing to attend next year. Here is my 1969 270.

PS. Yahoo Groups "Travco" very good group member for many years.

Mike

[Carl V]

Hi Kenny

Just in case you haven't found them already, there are a few Travco restoration blogs out there.
Here's the one I created for my Dad's 270:
The Blue Whale - Restoring a 1975 Travco Motorhome

There are links to other Travco restoration projects and Travco ressources.

Carl

[Kenny D]

Thanks, I actually got tired of not having a Travco specific forum. There are too many around so I started one. I kinda back burnered this one because I got another one.
travcoforum dot com.
Don't want to put a link.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Kenny D

Thanks, I actually got tired of not having a Travco specific forum. There are too many around so I started one. I kinda back burnered this one because I got another one.
travcoforum dot com.
Don't want to put a link.

Well I'm not shy about posting a link!

Here's a link to the brand spankin' new Dodge Travco Forum.

Good luck with the new forum, Kenny!

Francesca

[Bob Miller]

I saw no less than 5 TRAVCO class "A's", and one TRAVCO Class "C" gathered at the RV meet in Quartzsite, AZ yesterday. There were also at least 20 GMC's......
I'm guessing you weren't there......

Meeeeeow....?

[vtjoanne]

I have two travcos 1969/1970 both in different stages of restoration. Your information is invaluable. thanks.

Originally Posted by Kenny D

OK Time for some updates. I have been going like the hammers of hell on this thing. Here goes my carpel tunnel...So I repaired the back hole with Mat and SMC resin. Damn that stuff is strong but it is tricky to work with. My supplier gave me Bondo brand Mat with Evercoat SMC and when I went to read the can for mixing ratio I noticed it said use ONLY Evercoat fiberglass MAtt. Uht oh...So I called Evercoat and they said they could not vouch for any other brand of mat but that there was nothing special about thier mat that it was specific for SMC resin so basically I am ok with what I used. It just seemed that the mat kinda melted with the resin more than I expected it to. It was tricky to smooth it. You could not squeegee it , only gently work the bubbles out with a paint brush. It hardened up and 30 mins and by the next day was strong as a rock. I welded the gen box back in and cleaned the frame for paint. Spent today stripping the interior out. The cabinets were destroyed by mice. I have another parts unit for cabinets in better shape. The stench of rodent urine was near unbearable. This Travco wants to live though. The closet flange for the commode unscrewed from the holding tank like it was just put in and enabled me to remove the bathroom enclosure. I may re gelcoat it. Lots of pics. Sorry I didn't take some while laying the glass but I had to move quickly.

[vtjoanne]

Great job! What is the square piece of material you are using to fill the hole in the rear of the travco next to the generator? I have several rectangular holes where i pulled grates out that need to be filled in this manner..thanks!