I would guess it is a 97 for sure. The front is the same as my barth, the dash is the same, Levelers are the same place and type also, and the paint job is exact. I don't think a 34' would have a tag axel but I do like the side entry door. I have a front entry and it interferes with sightseeing, not as open as a window would be to look out while driving.

Mr. Paulus tells me:
"it is built factory with the Dinette, I purchased a seat and turned the dinette into a bench and added the passenger seat, this is easily removable and returnable to the dinnette, but not a swithc that is made at will, Although the one part of the booth could be replaced and have the seap rotate 180 degrees so it could be a passenger seat and a dinette seat if that is what you like, All of the parts for the dinnette are still with the home."

Not quite as exotic as what I had envisioned, but at least we cleared that up.

Yesterday I finally met with Mr. Paulus and inspected his Barth. I took several photos and have to figure out how to post them here or on the photo hosting site.
Mechanical: The coach had been moved to a repair shop because the owner was checking it out earlier in the day and discovered that it has almost no brake pedal. Never the less, he drove it through town to a garage. There was barely enough juice in chassis batts to fire up the 460. But it did, as did the 7K genny. Tires are mismatched as to front/rear. The former are Nokian "Finnish For Journey" LT235/85R16. The latter are Cooper SRM II the same size. All are like a M&S tread, especially steerers. Owner says all tires were put on last Fall. don't understand why steerers are what the are.

Exterior: There is minor collision damage to the left rear and right rear. There are dozens of rivets, on both sides, through the trim band that runs just above the storage bay doors. The owner said that it was done by dealer on account of the hinges causing separation there(?). The floor of the storage bay for plumbing stuff is badly rusted.

Interior: It was cluttered and not prepped for a good showing (as evidenced by some dead mice in the tub). However, the layout was interesting. I already passed along the description of the rt frt interior. So, I won't do that again here. The 60X75 queen bed was positioned with the head against the road side, as I have seen in coaches with a BR slider. This enables the entire rear wall of the BR to be closet and drawer space. The lower curbside corner of which is a large laundry hamper all the way down below floor level. Entry to the BR is through a nice wide oak pocket door. Sink is at the front curbside corner of BR, whereas roadside bathroom enclosure has only only a stool and tub/shower -- a much wider shower than I have in our Breakaway.

quote:

Originally posted by Mogan David:
It was....and not prepped for a good showing (as evidenced by some dead mice in the tub).

DING! DING!

We have a winner for today's Understatement Award.

quote:

Originally posted by Mogan David:
Yesterday I finally met with Mr. Paulus and inspected his Barth. I took several photos and have to figure out how to post them here or on the photo hosting site.

Send me the images and I'll get them up.

bill_ny@barthmobile.com

quote:

Originally posted by Mogan David:
Yesterday I finally met with Mr. Paulus and inspected his Barth. I took several photos...

Here are 25 images. Thanks!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Mogan David:
There are dozens of rivets, on both sides, through the trim band that runs just above the storage bay doors. The owner said that it was done by dealer on account of the hinges causing separation there(?).

Does this sound right?





Anyone have a thought as to why this would have happened?

Maybe they didn't realize that you could remove the plastic trim piece and rivet it on at the metal instead?

I'm guessing the door is attached with a piano hinge, adjacent to the bottom of the trim, and probably with a steel hinge pin.....water draining down the side entered under the trim and settled in the hinge, creating corrosion issues and maybe water issues in the compartment.

Apparently, the gobs-of-goo on the top edge of the trim are supposed to resemble a properly installed caulk line to further prevent water intrusion. But you're right Bill, a correct fix would have simply involved pulling the trim insert and re-riveting within the trim channel, then reinstalling insert, followed by a neat caulk line on top.

That this was done by a "dealer" ($80-$100/hr shop rate?) reinforces my preference to do this kind of work myself. Based on caulk & rivet head color, looks like it was all repainted after the "repair".

But if I acquired this coach, I'd make that re-fix a low priority....I'm pretty sure the bride would want me to de-mouse the bathtub first....

Rodent Control!!! Must be why there is a gun laying on the floor of the closet.

Nick

It also has the wretched cosmetic bumpers introduced around '93.

quote:

It also has the wretched cosmetic bumpers introduced around '93.

Think of them as lower body trim rather than BUMPERS. Heaven forbid you BUMP anything with them

I did the exact same thing on my Barth. The trim/compartment door hinge was coming loose. The rivits were breaking due to them being in steel. The insert strip is NOT PLASTIC but alum or steel. It bends when taken out of the trim and is really in there. I just drilled some holes thru the trim and put pop rivits the same as in the picture. Worked great so far. If you removed it you would need to buy new insert trim after you riveted the strip in place and then paint it to match. Or replace all the trim and leave it a black color.

quote:

The former are Nokian "Finnish For Journey" LT235/85R16. The latter are Cooper SRM II the same size. All are like a M&S tread, especially steerers. Owner says all tires were put on last Fall.

I can see the DOT code that ends in "4008" in one of the photos, which indicates the tires were made in the 40th week of 2008. So they are close to 3 years old, not something that was new last Fall.

It's a shame to see such a nice Barth neglected up to this point, and I'd recommend that anyone considering purchase REALLY know what they're getting into.