Dating by sink?

[kevschofield]

I've heard that the sink can sometimes reveal the approximate date of the trailer..

The little 1500 I picked up has a white sink, not stainless, but it sure looks original. On the bottom of that is a set of 4 numbers stamped on about an inch high or so by 5 inches long..

Says: 7965

Is that July 9th, 1965? or just a sink model number or something?

Thanks!

[safetybruce]

Kev, I have no experience sink dating because neither of my Shastas had anything on the sink, but my 1950 Travelo had a hand marked "code" on the bottom that sure looks like it was the inspector's initials and '50. Hope Members with dates on their sinks add comments so we can see if theirs jibe with yours.

[katstar]

We did not find any numbers stamped on the sinks for either of our Shastas. I did however manage to get a photo of a sink stamp recently, and I've attached it to this post. Not the best photo, but it is clearly a date.
That being said, I personally would NOT rely on that stamp to date a Shasta, or any other trailer for that matter.

We have several vintage trailers, and I can tell you that our experience trying to identify and date our first one was a challenge. It had absolutely no identifying marks and is an unusual little trailer all the way around. All we knew at that point was that it had to be from the 50s.
We looked for the sink stamp and found nothing. We looked on the back of the mirror and sure enough, there was a stamp. July 1952! We were so excited to discover we had a 1952 trailer. But later on we found a '57 stamp on the tongue, and even later than that the actual VIN. So what this taught us is that the parts may be from an earlier year than the actual trailer. Makes sense doesn't it?
We also have tail lights on another of our trailers that predate that trailer by four years.
If you want to figure out the year of your Shasta, there are a lot of visual clues to look for. Going through ads for various years of Shastas is a great reference tool. For example, some years had different windows than others. This can help you narrow it down. Juergen Eichenmuller has a Shasta archive CD you can buy for about $10. I highly recommend it.
Also, you can check your VIN against others. Both of our VINS fall in line with others from the same year. There's a VIN database on one of the Shasta yahoo groups you can check against. Or I'll do it for you if you don't feel like joining another group. Just pm me and give me your VIN number.

Kat

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[kevschofield]

Thanks Kat.. I'm on those groups too and have both Airflytes in the database

The VIN on this little 1500 is completely corroded away~

[Atomic Addiction]

Apr 5, 2011 17:13:55 GMT -5 katstar said:

So what this taught us is that the parts may be from an earlier year than the actual trailer. Makes sense doesn't it?
Kat

You are right. Our 1964 has 1963 sink. I think it is a good guide for folks though.

Brian

[katstar]

Absolutely, it is a great guide for a ballpark idea. What I meant was that I wouldn't base the age of the trailer solely on that date stamp.

If only Shasta had put a 'roll out date' somewhere in the trailer, on the closet door or inside a cabinet door, it'd be so much easier! Maybe they never thought there would be groups like this 50 years later.