Hello everyone,

My name is Rodney and we recently bought our first RV. We bought a 1988 Barth Regency 38 footer. It is equipped with a 3208 turbo and intercooled diesel. I took a huge leap of faith when we bought it. I hope that the well built construction and diesel engine will do me well. We just took our first trip and boy was it a blast. We took a four day trip up to Charlotte, NC for the Coca-Cola 600. I had a lot of fun figuring all the little things about the RV and the RVing life. I have a lot of things to work on and figure out still. I am really interested in all the DIY projects for our RV's so please post small projects and big ones too that you guys have done to upgrade/maintain the RV. I am in the Navy and currently in Charleston, SC so if you're in the area let me know and maybe we could meet up for a weekend or something. I have attached some pics. Let me know if anyone wants some more specific pics for your projects or something. By the way if anyone else is interested or has done it already, I am going to eventually convert the Barth to run on waste vegtable oil. I have converted to trucks to run on oil and have BIG hopes to convert the Barth soon to ease the pain on the wallet when it comes to paying for fuel. Let me know if you are interested.

Welcome Rodney. That is one heck of a way to start out camping. That is one beautiful coach. Enjoy.

Welcome to the site Rodney. Thank you for supplying us with your data tag. Nice looking coach you've got there.

Rodney, that is a fabulous coach! You probably found one of the finest Barth's of 1980-1992. I look forward to seeing more photos. How did you find it?
Your 3208TA is probably the 300hp version that was in the Foretravel Grand Villa I had tried to buy. The standard 3208T of that era was 250hp. You might get the same (10)mpg I do with a much less powerful B5.9 Cummins.
With the heavy Gillig chassis and unusually long Barth body, your GVW is waaayyy more than most Barths. It must float down the road like a Greyhound bus.

Welcome to the site. If you have a project you are interested in go to the search tab & type in what you're looking for. There are so many projects on this site it would be almost impossible to list what folks have done over the years. Don't know about the veg oil makeover. I think it's been discussed though.

Hope you weren't routing for Dale Jr.-Ouch!
Tere

Welcome Rodney, glad to see you found your way to this friendly site. Navy huh? What's your MOS?

As far as veggie oil, sounds like you might be the leading expert here if you've done it already. It still concerns me on four fronts, a) filtering, b) consistency of base, c) lubricity, and 4) availability if it ever gets popular.

Our friend Rusty (ret. Navy by the way) is the resident expert on slippery fluids).

Nice rig. That has to be one of the nicest Barths I've seen! Search this site, you'll find a ton of good stuff. Ask any question and the response will amaze you. Great people, great support.

Looking forward to more Barth tales. Good luck with that beauty!

Thanks for the Replies. We found our Barth in Buffalo, NY while we were visiting. my Dad on Christmas vacation. I only had a day or so to do my research and make the decision to make a deal on the Barth. The final deal was for 22500 dollars. I hope that was a decent deal. It seemed like it to me. I had an interior make over in the 90's so it is a little more upto date than the original late 80's style. The coach has 146???miles. The bummer things that have happened already are a refrigerator replacement and I need to replace the tires. So I have had to explain to my wife how we just bought this coach and it already requires 1000's more to get it up to par. Here is some more pics for everyone interested.

Tires are your #1 investment for safety, followed closely by brake system maintenance. Get good tires and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they are right.
That is is a primo rig. I am also a recent Barth owner and that one of yours is one of the best of the best. The market is fickle with these things, but I can't see how you could have done any better with your dollars.

WOW !!!!

A real beauty !!!!

Maybe this is the one I considered that had some paint rubbed off the rear corner from bungy cord hooks holding tarp on years ago. House might have been out toward the airport. Coach had been on Craigslist a couple times.

Welcome to the forums!

It's not uncommon to have to spend a bit of money on a new acquisition, but you got it for a VERY good price.

You did get it at a VERY GOOD PRICE or more like stole it! Should have been more in the $30K to 40K+++ range...a Barth is like no other coach...only comparisons are the BlueBirds, Prevosts, Newells. Unlike typical motorhomes, it is built to last and built to be safe. Other coaches may "look nice" but their structural integrity is only skin deep....

I understand about your concerns spending money after purchase. I probably spent $8-$10,000 getting my coach "right" according to my terms. I now can feel comfortable traveling and not worry about things....also, remember, it's a LOT CHEAPER AND SAFER to fix it at home than out on the side of a 2 lane road. Think about changing fan belts on the side of the road....in the middle of nowhere....or trying to cajole some guy with 3 teeth to come out 25 miles on a Sunday afternoon to replace a minor item.....been there...done that....fix it before hand and it's done.

Enjoy that fine piece of machinery!

I am so glad to hear all the good comments on the price that I got the Barth for. Good to know that a gut judgement still works. I am looking at getting some Sailun tires from a reputable big rig tire distributor in the area. I just don't have the money to spend 4-500 on tires and these are 280 installed per tire. But I am scepticle(sp?) still. Any thoughts?

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Mogan David

This probably is the one you looked at. I has some rubbing on the back quarter panels. And yes Bob(previous owner) said it was from a tarp/cover rubbing the coach. I only seems to be cosmetic though.

This brings me to my next thought. I have numerous bubbles in the paint and areas with paint rubbing off from over the years. Any suggestions on paint restoration/repair.

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Waste vegtable oil(WVO) has been a project that I have been working with for a long time now. But by no means am I an expert. I am definitely willing to help out whoever I can.
I am thinking of converting one of the potable water tanks to carry wvo. What do you guys think?
The two tanks appear to be about 75 gallons a piece. Do you think that 75 gallons of water is enough for camping or should I keep the two water tanks and install another fuel tank for the WVO.

Thanks for your comments in advance.

Rodney
P.S. Moon-beam I am a (E-7)Chief Nuclear Electricians Mate.

Rodney,

I had some areas where the paint actually chipped off in large pieces like size of a dollar bill. I had a vinyl sign company color match vinyl and I put it over the areas.....most people don't notice unless I point it out...It looks OK, not super great but from 10 feet you don't notice. Eventually, I may repaint my front cap.

On tires, there are different philosophies. If I was driving a lot, I'd spend the money and buy high end tires. Since we are a younger family, staying local lakes and not going long distances, I bought new, cheaper tires (mine has 8R-19.5) at $140 installed each.(I hate to confess but they are Chinese but I'm finding out many tires now days are Chinese) My local, reputable,tire dealer says he sells a lot of this brand and has had good luck with it. My thought is the new Chinese tires are better than not replacing the Michelins I had with bad checking... I don't push my rig so I figure this will work for me...it might not work for your heavy rig especially if you travel long distances and in a lot of hot weather...