It seemed bold to consider driving the car from Mi to Fla Keys to pick up a 25 yr old motor home, work on it a while, then depart on a 1500 mi maiden voyage back to Mi with the car on a dolly behind it.
A previous post listed most of my work. It paid off.
Since the coach had only been run once a year and stored in the keys, most problems were electrical and ground related. (Most I found.) I was not able to test drive but the day of departure resulted in a 6 hr run with only minor problems: cranky hot starts (starter connections), tank #2 not accepting or delivering fuel (kinked filler hose and another bum ground connection) and unfortunately, the speedo cable broke (cruise gone too!) 0 oil consumption, about 7.5 mpg at 55.
Stopped near Arcadia 2 nights, left Sun morning with both tanks working, using tach for speed. Near Valdosta, GA we have signs of fuel starvation. Pull into town (Sun afternoon!) to pick up another set of filters. (I had changed both, but I think that empty 2nd tank had some "special" gas left in it) God bless Barth and Chevrolet..filters are there at Autozone. (it was the one in the carb inlet)
Back on the road..oooh Barth likes the fuel! Pulling better, higher vacuum, etc.
14 hrs to Tennessee. Gas up, sleep at WalMart across the street.
Mon morning: do my walk around, still no oil used!
20 hrs now!
Back on the road, 5% grade pulling 3500 lbs. Trans be gettin' warm! 45 mph best here. (Sure glad I got that fuel flow back!)
12 hrs more to Canton, Mi. Just missed the storm that ate the south. We had heavy rain, lightning and way more wind than I needed on the way through Cincinnati but mostly sneaked north of the mess. Home at 8 PM Mon.
All the way home I promised Barth if it got me home I'd remove that awful growth on its tail. We dumped the Prius and the dolly. Took my first ride without the tow just today! Wow! Way better performance in all aspects: stop go or turn! I can now get a better mileage number (as soon as I chase down a speedo cable)
32 hrs total around 3000 rpm, 1500 plus miles and still no oil used (I find it hard to believe) Good Barth! 87,000 miles on the original 454.
Great coach, good run, great time. Best month of March ever!

Congrats on having such a pleasant trip home.

Does your Barth miss the flora and sand yet?



I'll be expecting pics when it gets covered in snow for a comparison. In MI that could still happen

Here we are Sun AM near Arcadia FLA


Made it to Canton, Mi on Monday.


Back in Kalkaska (Look on the ground..Are you happy now Bill? I thought you were a nice guy..) Alternator quit today (Barth's last electrical gremlin I hope..I suspect bad slip rings/brushes)


For my last trick.. I will walk on water...

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For my last trick.. I will walk on water...

I guess! when you live in KalKaska. . _Al_aska

Glad ya made it back after a semi-uneventful trip!

Kalkaska, huh?....I spent lotsa hours on the Boardman River, some of the best trout waters anywhere!

Steve,

Congrats on your Barth! The more you get to know your coach, the more you'll realize how well built of a unit the Barth is. I also have a tag axle 1984 Regal Royale 34. If you have any questions, I've gone through a lot on mine in the last 18 months. I see you have some paint missing on the front of yours like I did(part of my 12 inch, 4 color stripe was chipping off). I didn't want to spend the money to repaint the front cap, so I went to a vinyl sign shop and had them make a matching vinyl stripe for about $75. It doesn't look perfect, but it sure looks good from 5 feet away or more....most people don't notice it unless you tell them....maybe later after I recover from the other items, I'll break out and paint the cap...for now this was a low-budget fix that turned out well...

K&E

Steve.. Congratulations!! Know how ya feel brought mine back from Springfield Mo (about 700 miles)in November also pulling a toad. Other than stopping twice for fuel we just cruised down the road. Just great coaches!! Looking forward to this summer as I am sure you are too! We may have to have a Midwest/Plains GTG... getting to be a few more of us all the time

K&E how does that vinyl work over the rivets? Wouldn't mind trying that myself. My bottom stripe has quite a few gravel chips etc.

By any chance Steve, do you see a logo on there that looks like this one?



Here are 2 more coaches that has the same paint scheme. Both sold by that dealer. Barth of Texas

Scroll up and down for more images

The vinyl stripes in front sound interesting! It would be way more resistant to further stone damage, too.
Aah, paint jobs. Remember the good old days spraying lacquer? Nothing to worry about except a ripping headache from the solvent buzz (my personal version of glue sniffing I guess)
A couple of years ago a tornado made a guest appearance at the Kalkaska airport, took my hangar roof to Oz and trashed my poor old perfect 1968 Cessna 172 (my other Barth) After a new wing and other parts, we stripped and repainted it. The new paint, which is totally better than the old, is amazingly costly and toxic.
The 2 gallons of paint, hardener, reducer, etc was over $800 and the hardener is full of isocyanates (yeah, like cyanide) and can kill you easy. Not to mention toxic waste disposal and VOC emissions!
The paint business is a new world.
The Barth, being aluminum, to me is just a very large, wingless, low flying airplane. (Seriously, if we had enough power, like maybe the shuttle? we could fly, I just know it) Just look at all those ribs and the double bucked rivets! Joe B must have liked old bombers.
I will be looking at metal prep and paint this summer.
Bill: My wife's sister has owned 3346 since 2001. They bought it from a dealer in upstate NY for 25k. It was tucked away in the back of the lot, had about 55k miles and Massachusetts plates. No info on the previous 15 yrs was available, apparently it was sold on consignment. Sadly, no manuals and very few papers came with it. It was licensed out of New Hampshire while they owned it. Sis seemed to think she was the 3rd owner, the 2nd having hit hard times? I found no evidence of a dealer on the coach. I would love to find those manuals, everything so far is "search and destroy" discovery style repair. Learning a lot, but slow you down!

Boy, I do get windy..oops,that would be my wife's sister

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K&E how does that vinyl work over the rivets? Wouldn't mind trying that myself. My bottom stripe has quite a few gravel chips etc.

Gerald,

The vinyl works "OK" over the rivets. I used a hair dryer to help stretch the vinyl around the rivets...much like what they do when they do a full-body-wrap on a vehicle. I do emphasize that this is a "5 footer or farther" fix. Up close, you can tell what it is but maybe one day when I get in the mood, I'll drop the money and have it repainted..... I also can relate to the price of paint. Two years ago, I had my Suburban repainted. The paint alone, was almost $1000. At O'Reilly's they showed me some of this new kind of paint that was $500 gallon...wow....things sure have changed in the last 20 years...

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At O'Reilly's they showed me some of this new kind of paint that was $500 gallon...wow....things sure have changed in the last 20 years...

Just a word about paint. If you intend to spray paint with the newer multi-part epoxy paints, they are highly toxic, in fact, deadly without the right equipment. I use a supplied air, full face mask that pumps clean air into my lungs and eyes when painting.

The hardeners in these paints can literally seal up your lungs. don't mess with them without the right equipment.

On the bright side, the epoxy primers and paint are incredible in their durability and forgiveness. It's an area that a do-it-yourselfer should take proper care.

Additionally, the cost of these new paints make it mandatory to use a HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure)or similar gun so there isn't massive overspray (spelled waste!).

K&E .. Thanks for the info. I think I may try it. Has to be an improvement over the chip marks .. not out much and can always take it off. I had the hood of my Toyota 4Runner repainted a couple of years ago(simple gloss black)and that was $300. I don't think I want to know what the front end of a multi-colored Barth would be!