Just in case someone wants to start a transmission thread elsewhere, I am still trying to sell my coach. I have added new pictures..

When I bought my '85 Regal from Jon Bourke three years ago, I drove it from Jon's home in Arizona to Charlotte, NC in three days. Jon's improvements included Thorley headers, and special Nology spark plug wires and a hotter distributor, but other than that, nothing other than the standard 454 QJ. I never got less than 10 mpg and was as high as 12.5 at a steady 60 mph. I put a gear vendors on it, mostly for being nice to the 454, and still get around 11 mpg, combined city/highway driving. I'm pretty easy on the gas pedal, especially when accelerating from a stop. I guess I just have a "good un". BTW, uses about 1/4 quart of oil in 2000 miles. I've thought about selling it because we don't use it very much but it would take a lot to part with it. Dave, IMO, your Barth is worth a lot more than that, and I think the 6 mpg may be due to a problem that wouldn't be too hard to fix.

I haven't seen a Barth Regal for any price sell here or anywhere else. I have had exactly two phone calls and no visits. And that $9.9K includes a brand new Brake Buddy, and a Roadmaster Sterling tow bar. Those things together are worth almost $3K. Olroy has a beautiful coach and his has been for sale for months.. So I guess it doesn't matter what I ask, no one is buying. I tried to put it on consignment because the coach is at my ex-wifes house which is not the best situation. They wouldn't even take in on consignment because the lots are packed with used coaches for sale.

As far as the MPG is concerned humbojb you must be the only person on earth getting that kind of mileage. I have never in 7 years on this website ever heard of anyone getting over 7 with a 454. 12-14 maybe in a Breakway with a 160hp cummins and a 6 speed Allison. Oil I agree with, I don't use a drop between oil changes.

Re: mileage - I had an old Mopar van conversion that gave me the most fantastic fuel economy ever. The speedo was off, but I drove by the tach.

One day I checked the odometer. It was racking up about 20% more miles than I was actually traveling. When I got the proper speedo drive gear & installed it, the speedo & odometer became accurate, & fuel economy came back into the real world.

I've had no experience with GM speedometer drives, but with the same transmission installed in different vehicles with different final drive ratios, & different tire sizes, there must be some way to compensate.

Humbojb should check the accuracy of his odometer. Might tell a different story.

Re: sales - I've had 5 contacts, & 1 visit, all from my rvtraderonline ad. The visitor was from VA, out here on business. One caller was from TN, one from Canada, one from CA, and 2 from within WA. Touted a couple of them onto Barthmobile.com. Exchanged a half-dozen e-mails with the CA caller, but haven't heard from him in a month.

Next step - find a place to park it on the street, per Dave's advice on how to sell a Barth.

My speedo -odo doesn't work so I go by the I 75 milage. I fill up at mm193 and drive to the Geo line, I think it's 418 miles or something like that, then to Geo mm 26 to fill up. I don't remember if these numbers are exactly right but when I do the math at this stop it always comes out to 9mpg. Once I leave flat ground it drops to 7 or 8, and if I get my foot into it, [75+] she really sucks it up. When I run the flat state roads down here at 50 I do great, but I couldn't give any definate numbers.

My previous 27' Southwind was on a lightweight P30 chassis with 16 inch wheels. My cardiologist forbids me to check gas mileage, but the present owner reports 11 mpg on good flat roads.

He has driven across the country and up the coast several times, but I don't know how accurate the odometer is.

I haul about 17,000 lbs. loaded, 20,000 plus with the toad. It do make a difference, particularly on the hills.

Dave, I'd love to make you a good offer on the Barth. After calculating the mileage for a 6000 mile trip, I would spend at least $3000 for fuel. As we only use it to travel between relatives and an occasional few days in a CG, I can't justify the fuel cost. I'm better off buying a VW diesel bug and towing a 13'Scamp!!! 30-35MPG. If I could spend the 10-15 grand for a diesel conversion, it would be worth it. I guess for now I'll have to get a Snoopy hat for our cat and tie him on the roof.

Terry

Dave I have to go to Florida next week will be there until July 25th, if you still have your Barth when I return I will come up to check it out . I'm interested.

I once checked the mileage on my 1976 Barth 454 got a whooping 15 mpg was really happy until I found the problem I was only using the left tank but the transfer valve was leaking through letting me use gas from both tanks.

Ralph Glover
1976 Barth 27'
454

I keep hoping to win the lottery so i could buy Dave's and Roy's Barths along with a couple of others, at full price of course, to give to friends of mine as gifts. So far no luck tho.

Good thought on the speedo. Maybe I'll check it out, but then on the other hand, what's wrong with living in "la-la" land a little bit? Dave, it's too bad you're not getting any bites. It's a really nice Barth and you've kept it in great shape. I don't know, maybe these older gas Barths just aren't desired anymore. They sure are going for what they're worth, but again, what something is worth is what someone will pay for it. I just can't see forking out $100000 for a new gas SOB that really won't do much more than an 85 Regal will. Guess people just have more money than brains.

I noticed that the older Airstream motorhomes, which have better name recognition, aren't fetching more than $8 - $11K on eBay either. Its got to be age and fuel prices that are keeping buyers away.

I may need back-up on this, but I seem to recall the early Airstream motorhomes not being well received by the industry experts. Somehow building the finest tow behind didn't automatically qualify them to build a top motorhome.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
I may need back-up on this, but I seem to recall the early Airstream motorhomes not being well received by the industry experts. Somehow building the finest tow behind didn't automatically qualify them to build a top motorhome.

We looked at the classic models seriously, even attending a couple of their rallies. (We made sure to park our Southwind far away, so they wouldn't mistake us for the Clampetts) They were crossed off for reasons of storage, both interior and exterior. Also, their 30 footer did not have a tag, and the ones with tags did not have air bag tags. We also didn't like most floor plans, but that is an individual thing. The build quality was high.

It is interesting that, while Airstream trailers are almost a cult, their motor homes, even the classic ones, seem not to have as much a following.

There's no doubt Airstream put a ton of quality into their early motorhomes, but that didn't automatically qualify them as "good" motorhomes. Just pulling the engine and front axle off a Barth and hooking up a hitch to your Buick Electra isn't going to make it a top notch tow behind. I do agree that Airstreams are a "cult" coach, priced many times higher that other comparable[ I know, wrong word!] trailers, but what I meant was that while their tow behinds are in a class by themselves, their motorhomes were just nice [expensive] motorhomes.