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Old 11-07-2018, 12:35 PM   #1
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1948 22' Liner
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1948 Airstream

Good afternoon, and thanks for looking at a newbies question! I have recently inherited my Father-in-laws 1948 Airstream, and I am in search of information on it, and some "how to"'s in order to take care of some deferred maintenance. I'd like to start with just getting some idea of what I'm working with. I've hopefully been able to attach a photo of the manufacturers tag that's by the door. I think it tells me it's #110 of 1948?Click image for larger version

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Old 11-07-2018, 01:19 PM   #2
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Search ‘Vintage Airstream Photo Archives’ and look at the 48 Liner. How they explain the model/serial number is a bit confusing. But I’m sure that was a confusing time for Airstream with trying to organize the company and move to a manufacturing site. Please post pictures when time allows. There is a library of knowledge on the forums. Reach out with questions. Good luck, Bubba
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Old 11-07-2018, 07:03 PM   #3
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Hello from Colorado: Welcome to Air Forums and the vintage Airstream hobby. A 70 year old Airstream is a rare find indeed. You will have to tell us how you came upon this old trailer. Airstream was just "starting again" after the war years and had some unique build designs.

I would welcome some pictures of your Liner, both exterior and interior shots "as found". You can also meet some folks who are restoring or renovating similar vintage Liners at the Airstream Trailer Knowledgebase. Find it toward the bottom of the Forums page, and then click on Liner. Then spend many hours reading about them.

Here is a photo of a Liner at a recent vintage Airstream rally I attended. I also include a photo of a Liner like Airstream on display at the Airstream factory in Ohio. I like Liners.

David
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Old 11-07-2018, 08:42 PM   #4
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Your serial number should be 4-digits like "110X". You need to figure out the last digit. It sort of looks like it could be a "3" or "5" to me. In any case you have an early 1948 Liner built in Nov 47, due to the "11" in "48011". Since 1948 models started at about 1090 (exact breakpoint unknown) you have about the 10th to 20th 1948 Liner made.
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Old 11-08-2018, 08:22 AM   #5
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Thanks!

OK, that's some really cool info. I know my father in law bought it at least 40 years ago, but from where is still unknown. It's sat outside pretty much its' whole life, which in South Dakota, can be pretty tough on things. It's pretty much original, except for seat covers and a few other "farmerized" things with the running lights.
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Old 11-08-2018, 07:56 PM   #6
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"Farmerized"? I hope it wasn't used to haul hay to the cattle. You will have a big project indeed. David
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Old 11-09-2018, 12:27 PM   #7
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No, nothing quite like that. "Farmerized" is a term that reflects the inherent ability of farmers to fix anything with wire and pliers.
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:38 PM   #8
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. . . before duct tape, that is!

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Old 11-09-2018, 11:35 PM   #9
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Hey, still use baling wire, pliers and a hammer to fix a lot of things mechanical!
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Old 11-10-2018, 02:58 PM   #10
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Old 11-10-2018, 03:02 PM   #11
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1948 22' Liner
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Hammer

Always remember that if a hammer doesn't work, you need a bigger hammer!
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Old 11-10-2018, 03:20 PM   #12
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Very nice, congratulations.


Bill


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Old 11-10-2018, 06:36 PM   #13
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That old Liner has survived the years pretty good. It appears like someone has made some improvements to the interior through the years. It appears like the original "pipe frame" is still under the trailer.

This Liner is certainly worth the investment in time and money to make a "new" vintage camper out of it. You could do a restoration to the way the factory built it. That would be great at shows and museums but a bit rough for actually using the thing.

Study the Forums and see what others have done or plan to do with their old Liners. Here is a thread of some folks who are well on their way to a renovation of their liner.

David

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f60/...-176336-2.html
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Old 11-10-2018, 06:46 PM   #14
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Nice! Enjoy~~~~~~~~~~~~then Restore! Always remember where it has been.
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Old 12-26-2018, 02:05 PM   #15
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1948 22' Liner
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New rims

I've remembered, after considerable pounding and swearing, why I disliked split rims. Anyway, the trailer has 15" rims with a 5x5.5 bolt pattern. The only new rims I've found are white spoked, which I think'd look cheesy. Any good source for rims out there?
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Old 05-19-2019, 09:25 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 66Overlander View Post
Your serial number should be 4-digits like "110X". You need to figure out the last digit. It sort of looks like it could be a "3" or "5" to me. In any case you have an early 1948 Liner built in Nov 47, due to the "11" in "48011". Since 1948 models started at about 1090 (exact breakpoint unknown) you have about the 10th to 20th 1948 Liner made.
Thanks for that interesting tidbit. Now I know that my 1948 Liner #1152 was actually built in 1948.
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Old 05-20-2019, 07:10 AM   #17
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Parts and Supplies

There are several good suppliers for parts, here's one:

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com
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Old 11-15-2021, 04:01 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmitchell59 View Post
Good afternoon, and thanks for looking at a newbies question! I have recently inherited my Father-in-laws 1948 Airstream, and I am in search of information on it, and some "how to"'s in order to take care of some deferred maintenance. I'd like to start with just getting some idea of what I'm working with. I've hopefully been able to attach a photo of the manufacturers tag that's by the door. I think it tells me it's #110 of 1948?Attachment 327296
Quote:
Originally Posted by 66Overlander View Post
Your serial number should be 4-digits like "110X". You need to figure out the last digit. It sort of looks like it could be a "3" or "5" to me. In any case you have an early 1948 Liner built in Nov 47, due to the "11" in "48011". Since 1948 models started at about 1090 (exact breakpoint unknown) you have about the 10th to 20th 1948 Liner made.
Correcting myself. jmitchell59, you have a very early 1948 Liner, either SN 1103 or 1105, built in January 1948. I believe this is the build date, not model year, and the build date convention in 1947 and early 1948 Airstreams was "YYMM1", so "48011" decodes as 1948 January (month 01), with the trailing 1 that seems to "almost" always be there (I have only seen one case where the trailing "1" was absent so far) and that 5th digit never seems to be anything other than "1", so we don't know what it stood for.

As for the number of 1947s built, I recently got new evidence that SN 1099 with date code "47121" (December 1947) was built, so it seems that 99 or 100 Liners were built in 1947, though 1099 was built at the Main Street Los Angeles plant, while 1077 still had a "Metropolitan Airport" badge, but we do not know where it was actually built and if they may have used up old "Metropolitan Airport" badges after the move to "Main Street". At the current time, I have no evidence between 1077 and 1099 to narrow down when the badge change actually occurred.

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So if your Liner SN is 1103 or 1105, it might be either the 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th 1948 built if we assume a January 1 changeover at SN 1000 or 1101. Or is might be maybe the 13th, 14th, 15th, or 16th built if we assume the claim that "about 90" 1947s were built to be accurate and that model year changeover occurred closer to December 1, 1947.

I can find no period evidence to back up the claim that "about 90" 1947 Liners were built, and since Airstream production records don't exist for that time period, we are left to speculate if SNs between about 1090 and 1099 are 1947 or 1948 models.
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Old 11-15-2021, 09:43 PM   #19
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I just found 1947 Liner SN 1084, still built at "Metropolitan Airport" in another AirForums thread:
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f60...tml#post155776
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