I bought a 1972 Barth (22 ft) some months ago and have been slowly renovating the interior and fixing it up. It's coming along nicely, but there are a few problems that might be solved with your guidance. I'm pleased to have found the Barthmobile community and appreciate any input.

My heat is not working at all. The fans do not kick on and the heater is entirely disconnected/circumvented. I can figure out the electrical difficulties easy enough, but I have no idea what to do about the coolant supply and discharge. I see a place on the heater where a coolant supply line should go, but I don't know where the origin of this line should be. On the radiator? There is an unused port on the lower frontside of the radiator, but at the moment it is just plugged. I assume this is simply a drain plug. Moreover, I don't know where the coolant should go after it runs through the heater. There is a discharge port, but it too is disconnected.

My lower radiator hose was leaking and needs to be replaced. I have it out. It is a simple hose with one curve, but otherwise there is nothing fancy to it. I don't know how to find the part. If it's any use, I think I have a Chevrolet P30 chassis and a 454 block. If anyone could point me in the right direction as it concerns this heater or the lower radiator hose problem, I'd appreciate it. I don't want to replace the lower hose and then find out I need a different one in order to hook up the heater.

Also, a few other little things:
-If anyone knows where I can get a replacement driver's side windshield -they're impossibly rare and worth their weight in gold apparently- I'd love to know.
-I probably need new window seals. Advice welcome.
-The headlight switch is out and before it went I couldn't seem to get the brights on.
-The starter is slipping, but I haven't even located it. I saw a thread on an aftermarket replacement, but I'm not so sure about it.
-I busted an OEM interior light cover and could use a replacement.
- Has anyone put a wood burning stove or a propane heater in one of these?

I have many more questions, but this seems like more than a good start. Thanks for the assistance.

UPDATE: The heater core is bypassed. The fans in the existing heater core do not turn freely. I will remove it and replace it. The hoses in the bypass appear to be in good shape. I'll reconnect them to the new (or repaired) core after checking the electric.

We can probably figure most of this out. Since you have an older smaller coach I'm not sure which engine setup you have. The largr coaches have a 454 engine, the smaller ones may be a 350 or 400. We can get a listing of hoses and belts if we know which engine you have.

The wind shields appear to be unavailable. Worse yet we do not know what other vehicles ever used these windows. If you find out let us know.

Depending on what is left of your headlight wiring, this may be a good time to rewire the system. GM routed the power for the lights through small wires to the switch, uften resulting in dim lights and the switch getting hot. I would rewire a heavy power wire to a relay near the lights and use the light switch to trip the relay only. There are several references here on the site for this. Do a serch for headlight relays.

GM starters were known for problems, an aftermarket compact starter will do the job nicely. The new ones are smaller, lighter, crank faster and are easier to get in and out. Hopefully the flywheel teeth are OK. Run a search here for mini starters...

As for the light cover, again, there were numerous styles used over the years. Post a photo of the light and we can maybe find one.

Good luck with your project.

re windshield----

possibly this one ????

http://www.classicindustries.c.../parts/?q=windshield

Hey Doug,

That looks great. The years seem right too. I will probably move forward with this and if it works I'll be sure to post something. These windshields have eluded Barth folks for a good while.

Thanks!

UPDATE: I have a new lower radiator hose. It had to be cut, but it fits nicely. My sliding rear windows have been leaking and the water damaged some of the new interior I put in. Had a few roof leaks too, but I've resealed the roof with several coasts of elastomeric stuff and haven't had any more problems with it.

What do folks know about windows and their seals? I pulled two windows out entirely and resealed them, but am having trouble with the 'glazing' around the glass. I identified these seals as Hehr 3/16" or something like that. Need to find couple hundred feet of the stuff to do all the windows. However, I don't think that replacing these isn't going to fully address the leaks.

Most of the water appears to be coming in between the sliding half and stationary half of the window system. There is a visible gap here and no seal to be found on any of the windows at this seam. Should there be one?

The weep holes were looking pretty dirty so I cleaned them out and that seems to be helping. The plastic track the windows slides on looks like it needs to be replaced, not sure where to find it either.

Thanks again for the guidance everyone.

Hi Doug,

Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be the right one. Thanks for looking.

I pulled the heater core and need to replace it. It had been bypassed already. Any ideas about finding a replacement? The fans appear to be shot too. Looks like the motors are out and the blades were locked up in the housing.

Also, I think there used to be a furnace in the bottom of the closet, but all the HVAC has been pulled and there is no furnace/heater to be found. Does anyone have suggestions for a good propane heater/furnace that can go in a closet?

quote:

Originally posted by Zach:
I pulled the heater core and need to replace it. It had been bypassed already. Any ideas about finding a replacement?

72 P30 heater core? Rock Auto

As for the heater, a lot of RVs (including Barths) have Atwood propane heaters. They are forced air type, they mount through the wall to get fresh air and vent fumes. Available from 15K BTU and up.

see here: http://www.askforatwood.com/furnaces.asp

good luck with your projects.

Have Barth, will travel

I've had pretty good luck at NAPA using the 1T (C3500) pickup as a stand-in.

quote:

Originally posted by Zach:
Hi Doug,

Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be the right one. Thanks for looking.

are there any marking or info on the windshield(s)??
..anything at all?

Hello,
I've got a 1973 25 footer with the small windshields.
Mine are both good but I did do some research just in case.
I found these on as replacement for the 62' & up Bluebird Bus.
Center dimension is right. Haven't inquired about availability so it may not be an option.
http://westernbus.com/wp-conte.../05/QRG-07-Glass.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Flathead:
Hello,
I've got a 1973 25 footer with the small windshields.
Mine are both good but I did do some research just in case.
I found these on as replacement for the 62' & up Bluebird Bus.
Center dimension is right. Haven't inquired about availability so it may not be an option.
http://westernbus.com/wp-conte.../05/QRG-07-Glass.pdf

Very cool!!! Let us know if they are the same size and if they are still made. It would be a HUGE help for the owners of our older coaches!

Awesome discovery! If these are the right windshields, this has the potential to be huge for owners of the early small windshield Barth's.

Knowing what vehicle their windshields were originally intended for is a great starting point for a search for rare glass.

Here are a couple of links to school bus parts based on a couple of the part numbers.


http://www.schoolbuspartsco.co...indshield_glass.html

http://www.midwestbusparts.com...d%20Glass%20List.pdf

Thanks,
Wally