[VAC] Re: Axles, Interior Panels, A/S Liner

["Wayne A. Moore" <wam52@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Scott,

    When it comes to Vintage Airstream Standards, it is always a blurred
line. Just when you find a pattern developing in a model sequence someone
comes along with a variant. Even the dura torque axle has changed from an
early weld on style to a bolt on style used throughout the 60's.

    The use of fiberglass interior end caps started on some models in the
mid 50's. I have a '55 Safari and a '56 Caravanner, the '55 has aluminum
interior panels and the '56 has fiberglass only in the front. I also have a
'65 Caravel that is in the process of a body off restoration and the Caravel
has an aluminum endcap in the front. I think it's safe to assume that only
the less expensive models came with aluminum in '65. The use of premolded
fiberglass allowed for the formation of the above sofa cabinet so common in
Airstreams and missing from the less expensive models. By the mid 1960's and
certainly by 1969 the use of aluminum endcaps were discontinued. This in
part was due to the labor intensive nature of their construction and the
widespread use of plastics that were gaining popularity at the time as a
material of choice. This can be seen in construction of all Airstreams after
1968.


Later

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