Can you mount a gas shock to push the step out with a latch at the landing? Seems like they could be levered in.

Went back and reread you post. The motor on the stairs is a window motor from ford products. I think I got a unit from a Mercury station wagon (remember them). I just replaced one in my Jeep and it looks like the step motor also. I think I may have an extra or an old original one in my pile of good stuff that wife calls junk.

gcarter@usinternet.com

HELLO PEOPLE
i disconnected the power stairs and as i was doing it i opened the power unit up and i am 95% sure it is fine , maybe just a little out of adjustment or maybe i need to install bushing on a pivot point or two .
anyway i took your advice and made them manual stairs . they work fine manually and i made some overly complicated hooks to hold them up when traveling but it will work . i got to get the thing done foe our trip south . maybe some 80 degree day i will reinstall the power unit anyway thanks

Not sure if ours is another “unique” Barth but our Regency has air powered steps. Checking on the possibilities for parts I discovered that Newell in 1993 also offered air steps. They work flawlessly and sound like a freight train with air brakes when they deploy and retract, but they are not flimsy. The air cylinder and air solenoids are still available. Also found them on the Gillig busses as door closers. Gillig made our chassis.

thanks folks

figured out a little history of this thing . first owner put aPx 68,000 miles on this in first 6 years . second owner maybe 4000 in a few years and after 2000 it has only been driven 2000 miles in 20 years . the last owner out of the goodness of his heart put new tires and had the unit completely service before selling it ,

( as i said before we have put in the order of magnitude an amount equal to the purchase price to get it "big bend" WORTHY . DON'T BUY ONE OF THESE ON A BUDGET .

anyhow .

got the dash ( part with heater and radio ) back in . i wish i was around when this thing was built i would have paid $1.00 more and got all the wires 8 inches longer . anyway i took the dash out , did not label everything ( because i was going to have it fixed in an hour ) . that was 3 months ago
, the vacuum lines to the heater were broken or off or ??? ( no heat ) . got that fixed two months ago . and have been trying to straighten out the wiring . after many attempts juggling the heater , radio, face plate : i separated everything and added 12 inches to each wire , then re did it again . with the matching colors and went at it again . i finally have it back in ..... heat works , generator works , radio ( broken ground) works

everything but the ..." COMPT LTS" switch , I assume this is interior compartment lights ?? is that correct ? what are they ? the floor lights ? they have never been on . or the ceiling little row lights ? they were on once but not now .

does the ignition or some other switch have to be on for this ? the switch lit up blue a month ago but nothing now
a start ??????????

going to register it 2 weeks and head for Florida within a week after out second shot .

quote:

Originally posted by Jack Finn:
thanks folks

figured out a little history of this thing . first owner put aPx 68,000 miles on this in first 6 years . second owner maybe 4000 in a few years and after 2000 it has only been driven 2000 miles in 20 years . the last owner out of the goodness of his heart put new tires and had the unit completely service before selling it ,

( as i said before we have put in the order of magnitude an amount equal to the purchase price to get it "big bend" WORTHY . DON'T BUY ONE OF THESE ON A BUDGET .

anyhow .

got the dash ( part with heater and radio ) back in . i wish i was around when this thing was built i would have paid $1.00 more and got all the wires 8 inches longer . anyway i took the dash out , did not label everything ( because i was going to have it fixed in an hour ) . that was 3 months ago
, the vacuum lines to the heater were broken or off or ??? ( no heat ) . got that fixed two months ago . and have been trying to straighten out the wiring . after many attempts juggling the heater , radio, face plate : i separated everything and added 12 inches to each wire , then re did it again . with the matching colors and went at it again . i finally have it back in ..... heat works , generator works , radio ( broken ground) works

everything but the ..." COMPT LTS" switch , I assume this is interior compartment lights ?? is that correct ? what are they ? the floor lights ? they have never been on . or the ceiling little row lights ? they were on once but not now .

does the ignition or some other switch have to be on for this ? the switch lit up blue a month ago but nothing now
a start ??????????

going to register it 2 weeks and head for Florida within a week after out second shot .

Jack I believe the compartment light would be the master for your exterior bays. They normally have switches on the fixture but the main shuts them all off so they don’t drain the battery.

The aisle lights should have a switch often by the door and one in the bedroom.

This is speculation as every Barth is unique.

Hope I helped

Bravo, Jack! You are surely learning why these old coaches can be a real challenge. Many have sat idle for too long and do require a major effort to get back to full function. Sadly, many are approaching the point of no return, without extreme effort.

It sounds like you are one of the rare individuals with the talent and patience to revive a dinosaur. I commend your patience and attitude.

Having spent a LOT of time on my Barths I will say that the results have been ultimately satisfying and I hope you will enjoy yours as much as I have mine. I put about 45,000 miles on the Regal and have about 25,000 on the Monarch now. Once you get them running you can have a lot of fun.

As a fellow Michigander now in Florida for the winter, I highly recommend the trip south! I look forward to meeting you soon, either here in the south or in Michigan next summer. Given your efforts so far it appears you will find other Barth owners to be talented and interesting folks who happen to have similar taste in old coaches.

The vacuum heater controls are of vintage Chrysler origin. I found mine on the Regal to be a PITA. I discovered that with no vacuum applied, the default was to have all vents open. I ended up blocking the fresh air door closed and running heat through all the ducts. I did the same thing on my Monarch, since diesels do not provide a good source for vacuum anyway.

I made plexiglass inserts for the single pane windows on the Regal to hold in the heat and cut drafts. Eventually I installed an additional heater under the couch and it was great. I ran the coach with outside temps in the teens with no discomfort. (Do a search for "Kevin's heater" for the writeup.) Since my dash AC never worked and it was a Freon 12 system I abandoned it. I just ran the generator and roof AC, with good results.

Good luck with your coach project. Keep us posted!

This is Tere,

On our dash:

CLNS. LTS. AUX. START MIR. HTR. AISLE LTS. COMPT. LTS.

I thinks there is a light switch by the door that turns the aisle lights on too. Not high on my list right now.

Will you rewire my rv? I'll come to you where ever you are.

Always a challenge for a very amateur electrician.
So glad to have you in the family.

hello
we are still getting ready for our trip to Florida . today took it out for another test run and to get it weighed for plates .


Found out how to get the windshield washer to work . i also plan to install a apx 10 gallon air tank to power the air horn and recharge it as needed . no pump

anyway as i said before .. no one should buy one of these on a budget and so far my wife has accepted
my vague and non specific answers . ( we are not on a budget so it does not matter )

Previous owners kept record very detailed of all expenses . My records SHOULD WE SAY ARE VERBAL .

Anyway an acquaintance of mine , a fisherman , does not give very detailed answers after catching fish . when i ask him where he caught the fish , he says something like " in a little lake north of Detroit "

how far ? what lake ? when? with what ? he takes a slow drink of his beer and and an answer never seems to come


there are 20,000 little lakes north of Detroit .

anyway . has anyone kept a similarly imprecise answers list , i could repeat to myself ( and my wife ) when I think of what it is costing to get this thing ready for it's first long distance trip ?

if not i think we should start one.

You should know all fishermen lie! (You should have been here yesterday! The one that got away...)

Well, on my 33ft 86 Regal I replaced brake lines, brakes, calipers, tires, shocks, AC, furnace, water heater, installed fuel injection, new crankshaft, later a new 454HO engine, motor mounts, transmission, fuel lines, tank selector valve, filters and fuel pumps. New radiator, alternator, water pump, power steering pump. Belts, hoses, wiring. New Thorley headers, mufflers, dual stainless exhausts. New tag axle air bags. Replaced all lights with LEDs, inside and out. New fresh water pump. New GPS speedometer, tachometer. New U-joints, rear wheel bearings and seals.

Probably forgot a few things. Paid 10K for the coach. Never did add it all up. (would have been scary) Would have been more if I hadn't done all the work myself. Guessing about 20K more just for parts. Had about 30K in it and sold it for 13.5K!

Used RVs are no investment, other than fun on the road! They say there are the things you have worked on, and the things you will work on...

Since we were spending more and more time wintering in the coach, I upgraded to the newer, 37ft diesel Monarch. Over the next couple of years, new tires, brakes, wheel seals. New front Flexsteel seats, recliner. New air bags, drag link, alignment. New exhaust manifold, muffler, starter, alternator, water pump, cooling fan motor, belts, hoses. 2 new ACs, 2 vent fans, 2 skylights, LED lights, sink fixtures. New power steps. New upholstery on dinette seats. Another 20K or so... Never added these up either. The payback is I have a good reliable coach that will take me anywhere, still at a fraction of the cost of a new one. (They break too, a lot...)
RVs are like airplanes and boats. They always need something! Best not to add it all up, just gets depressing! Just enjoy it and have fun.

Have Barth, will travel

Hot Dog I do live on making lists!!

Nose Stuff!!!

New roof A/C
Replaced front air springs
New front brakes, pads , calipers, flex lines
New Radiator
New tires all around
New master cylinder
New front engine oil seal
Rebuilt Carburetor
New Alternator
New Water Pump
New steering stabilizer
New head lights LED
New wheel bearing front
Added electric fuel pump
New Mechanical fuel pump
Rebuilt Generator
Changed Fridge
Added rear cabin engine heater
Changed to Gilmer drive belts
New starter
Changed Driver and passenger chairs
New Radio
Changed CB radio
New front couch
New Exhaust system
New Back Window

To Do (planned)

Roof Seal Job
Pretty up Interior
Cruise Control (repair or replace)
Clean up my awful wiring (trim and remove unused mess)
Replace shock absorbers

Not to mention, general maintenance, Batteries, Plugs and wires, Might replace rear engine oil seal.

Did I mention, I love this thing!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Duane88:
Hot Dog I do live on making lists!!

Nose Stuff!!!

New roof A/C
Replaced front air springs
New front brakes, pads , calipers, flex lines
New Radiator
New tires all around
New master cylinder
New front engine oil seal
Rebuilt Carburetor
New Alternator
New Water Pump
New steering stabilizer
New head lights LED
New wheel bearing front
Added electric fuel pump
New Mechanical fuel pump
Rebuilt Generator
Changed Fridge
Added rear cabin engine heater
Changed to Gilmer drive belts
New starter
Changed Driver and passenger chairs
New Radio
Changed CB radio
New front couch
New Exhaust system
New Back Window

To Do (planned)

Roof Seal Job
Pretty up Interior
Cruise Control (repair or replace)
Clean up my awful wiring (trim and remove unused mess)
Replace shock absorbers

Not to mention, general maintenance, Batteries, Plugs and wires, Might replace rear engine oil seal.

Did I mention, I love this thing!!!

All that work and it's still ugly!

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder!! Back in the 80s, I had a VW van everyone said it was ugmoe! Today, like yours they are the coolest and expensive!!!

Just kiddin', you know. Back in '81 those were a huge break from the shiny toasters of the day. Like aqua, salmon colors and fins in the 50's, they all have their followers. I think they are pretty retro and cool but Liz not at all.

I am somewhat surprised the fiberglass nose concept did not reappear until the Monarchs in the mid 90's. They used fiberglass eyebrows through the late 80's, but still a barn door metal front.

Once you get the chassis all good we can give it a paint job with cool flames, etc. Can't wait.

Flames, Woo Woo!!! Jack sorry about the drift, perhaps when we all get over your way for the GTG this summer, we will do flames on both of our units, sure your spouse would love that!!

Steve, I will bring the Miata we can Flame it also Think we can do all three in as many days??

There is little doubt that Nose is a bit on the drab side.