Hello from a newbie. I looked at a Barth 25' in Escondido recently and have a question. The front upper and lower front sheet metal panels were installed with "pop rivets", is this factory? It scared me off because the rest of the coach was blind rivets.

Cheers
Redlands Ron
Barth Hunter

If these are indeed pop rivets then they have probably been removed for some reason. Is it in the actual front under the windshield? If it is then they were probably removed during an engine swap. Mine was removed for an engine swap and replaced with dumb looking stainless sheet metal screws. I will probably try to replace them with pop rivets one day.

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Dave, you have a great site. Thank you.

The pop rivets are around the perimeter of both large front sections, above and below the windshield. They go all the way up to the roof on both sides. They appear to be the same as the pop rivets for the exterior access doors trim. I was concerned it could have been an accident repair. The owner was not present to ask about this. The coach also looks like it has been repainted judging by the masking line around the windows.

I want to learn what to look for. This is the first Barth I have seen up close. I need to go look at the other local coachs for sale in Victorville and the one in Orange County. The one in Victorville is too big for us but the one in Orange County may not be. A 28 foot Regal may be just the ticket. The more I see the better.

If you look at where these rivets are, you'll see why they used pop rivets. The front cap was probably the last item installed after everything else was assembled. As such, it would seem difficult to impossible to buck blind rivets. I'm sure pop rivets were a factory production expedient.

My '90 Regal, bought last January, has pop rivets throughout the area you mentioned. Quite a few were previously replaced, and I replaced about 30 more right after I got the coach

The heads work out, either corroding off on the inside, or wearing out as the coach panels work while you're driving.

It's most likely galvanic corrosion from the presence of dissimilar metals. The same kind of corrosion occurs on basement compartment doors. I have one door affected thus, and there are reports of similar problems by others in this forum.

When a rivet comes loose, I replace it, that's all. A proper repair would entail removing the entire front cap, cleaning the surfaces, installing new seam compound, and re-riveting the whole thing. But I want to use my coach, not restore it to show condition, so I'll keep plugging them in when they get loose.

Ron, Based on the observations of my own unit, I wouldn't be too concerned about the presence of pop rivets in the front......

My unit, from the original owner, came with 25 years of meticulous records, and I'm convinced I would be aware of any damage history or engine swaps - yet the front has pop rivets almost throughout...

Further, if you trace the skin overlap pattern, you can see that skins were applied in a back-to-front fashion...Based on overlap, the skin on the passenger side, just below windshield, appears to be the last piece installed......As to pop rivets up both sides of the windshield & across the bottom of the windshield, it seems that they are attached to square tubing reinforcements, which would not have allowed for buck-riveting anyway.....Just a guess......

...I wonder if the front of the coach was left open after the back & sidewalls were assembled so large items such as tub/shower base, sofa, base cabinetry, etc could be front-loaded?

This information sure shows the value of a group like this to a new kid. I was probably worried about nothing. I put a post in General Discussion also if you have any thoughts about those questions.

Just a short follow-up......In Dave's massive photo gallery, there's a pic of a coach body about to be mated to the chassis...it shows which skins were left out of the front end during assembly, and pretty much follows the bucked-rivet vs. the blind rivet patterns we see on the final products.

Go to: http://barthmobile.com/sures/cat11.jpg