Airstream Service Bulletins 1 & 2 (1970-1971)

[PA BAMBI II]

I recently obtained these two volumes of Airstream Service Bulletins from a local RV tech. They were saved from the dumpster.


The first was put out in 1970, and the second in 1971. I believe the bulletins were helpful as Airstream Corporate tried to keep up with the myriad repairs/band-aids. revisions needed on the new-for-1969 body style and system upgrades and communicating those to their RV dealer/repair network. A mention of a 1976 revision can be found in one of the volumes.


There is amazing info on the first introduction of Olympic style rivets (several pages of info); frame/body separation (fascinating that it was already occurring and didn't necessarily take years of weakening of the subfloor/hardware, etc.); a reminder bulletin about NOT putting extra weight on the back bumper...that uncovered damage was not just due to the weight you added back there; and dozens of other topics (black tank configurations and sizes for a dozen years and several models, hitch ball eight by trailer...dating back to 1953, fresh water tank fill/bypass valve deletion due to people actually popping their tanks upon overfilling with city water, etc., etc., etc.)


Some fascinating material that came my way just in time for cold weather reading.

[PA BAMBI II]

More good stuff...

[skucera]

These are really intriguing. Do you have a scanner with a document feeder that can save them as PDF's?

Thanks,
Scott

[dbj216]

Wow, what a find. I suppose you were out dumpster diving again. I wonder if any of this info is on the Airstream Inc, document archives? I've only seen sales literature there, but haven't explored the site in depth.

I wonder if Airstream ever used Olympic style rivets in production. I doubt it, but they were a significant "invention" back in the day. A good looking "blind" rivet.

David

[PA BAMBI II]

Originally Posted by skucera

These are really intriguing. Do you have a scanner with a document feeder that can save them as PDF's?

Thanks,
Scott

I am considering this as a possibility. It will be a lot of work to scan all of this, but the benefits to the AS community would make it worthwhile.

[jeffmc306]

PA BAMBI II, what an incredible find!

I gave up on sheet feed scanning after finding an app for my phone called Scanner Pro. It allows you to scan each page then save as a PDF. You can also save as JPG’s.

The key is to get the page as flat as possible although it will flatten a slightly curved scan. I do this on a table near a natural light source (windows) but not direct sun. You can also use a table lamp.

It’s much faster and you can adjust each page’s exposure afterwards if necessary.

Below is a scan of a 1912 document, my grandfather’s Illinois National Guard discharge as an example.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

-Jeff

[PatLee]

These docs ought to be PDF’d and put in the new JC museum.