Not to be discouraged, I'm headed north, probably this weekend to look at an '89,32' Regency with a 300 CAT. Learned a valuable lesson this past week and asked for the Data Tag #. Last sequence is '32RDG'. Still a lot of information to sort out. Nick sent me a lot of information regarding his 32' last week and that has helped. The couple say they're the second owners and the coach has 60,000mi on it. What should I look for and what questions should be asked. I've only owned P-30s w/454 before. What kind of mileage does the 300CAT get (not that it matters except to my wallet)? Well, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Herb

Herb, the coach is definitely a 32 foot on a gillig chassis. My coach and the sister to mine in Texas are both 300 CAT. he seems to get a little better mileage than I do. He is in the high 10's and I'm in the 9 miles per gallon range. I have smaller tires and hope when I replace them to be in the same range as Tom.

One thing to look at is the rear suspension. Mine has four air bags, most have two in the rear. The mud flaps on mine were rubbing the rear most bags and I had to replace them.

Ask about the chassis batteries. The 3208 requires two big CAT D8 type batteries for the starter. About 150 pounds and $250.00 each. If they are fairly new or have been replaced you are money ahead. Coach batteries, I have four 12 volt deep cycle wired in parallel.

Generator should also be diesel.

Check the overhead cabinet hinges. minor point but a weakness. Less than $2.00 a piece to replace.

Coach probably had an alarm system but after all these years most don't work. If it does consider it a plus.

Levelers- do they work and hold the weight of the coach. Let them down, extend, and see if they leak back down.

Other than that go to vintagebirds, a web site for Bluebird Wanderlodges and print their buyers check list. It is about the best I have seen.


Good luck and I hope it's a winner.
Nick

When I purchase mine it had tire wear on thef ront tires and after crawling ouder the coach I found the sway bar bushings were slipped out of the mounts. A simple fix with a good bottle jack but Gillig said the "old" bushings did this but the "new" bushings did not. So far they are right. As for a check out just run everything, look for leaks and be prepared for a noisy generator - I completely rebuilt mine to make it quiet enough to use when parked anywhere near another coach. Check the maintenance history because you can spend $400 to $600 changing all the fluids, filters and stuff. You might check the muffler for rust, mine had to be changed and some of the window rubber seals had gotten brittle. But if the price is right it is a great coach and I do get 10.4 by driving the rpm rather than the speed so that I let the engine climb the hills on its torque even if it slows down rather than try to run at higher rpm with the turbo pumping away and dropping into the 8's.
Post some pictures when you get it.
Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
be prepared for a noisy generator -

LOL I was wondering if that was gonna come up.

Do you have any figures on the genset fuel consumption?

Thanks for the posts. It' almost a 500 mile trip 9one way) but will be worth it if it's anywhere near the condition the owners say. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks, too, for the wishes.
Herb

quote:

Do you have any figures on the genset fuel consumption?

Bill, nothing scientific or too exact. We have run the generator on summer trips so that we could run the air conditioners at the same time the CAT is running and we are on the road. It seems to hurt the fuel mileage by about 1 mile per gallon.

Nick

When standing still the generator, 10kw diesel, consumes about 3/4 gallon per hour when both a/c units are running on ours.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
When standing still the generator, 10kw diesel, consumes about 3/4 gallon per hour when both a/c units are running on ours.

Our Kohler 7kw specs at .5 gph for half load and .7 gph for full load, but we have never really checked it. We are so embarrassed about its loudness that we only run it when we are around Regencies that will allow it to go unnoticed.

quote:

We are so embarrassed about its loudness that we only run it when we are around Regencies that will allow it to go unnoticed. Smiler

Ouch, that hurt.

Nick

You shoulda' heard my old propane Kohler...

quote:

Originally posted by bill h: We are so embarrassed about its loudness that we only run it when we are around Regencies that will allow it to go unnoticed.

Actually, our Kohler is not as loud as Generacs, some Onans, Colemans, Champions and contractor Hondas(got one). But we still don't like it and don't like to inflict it on others. We carry a little EX650 Honda for cloudy days. Sitting inside a cylinder of carpet, it goes unnoticed until you walk up and look down inside. It runs between one and two hours on a beer can of gas. (scientific test)

Went up to No Cal to look at the '89 not really expecting much. Got a huge surprise. It's a fine coach (of course, it's a Barth). The only problem will be getting back up there to pick it up in the next week or two. Those who do Quartzite probably know the coach. The couple who owned it (the Joiners) wintered down there for the past 18 years and bought it from La Mesa in 2000. The previous owners Barth Ranger # is still on it so I looked them up in an old Ranger Directory. They were the Cotton's from KY. I'll try to post some pictures.
Herb

I do need to know how to fit the pictures.

I hope Bill can make them fit. Done Bill N.Y.


Here's the interior.

That's a great looking coach. More pictures. Did you get the data tag?

Nick

Thanks! I'm really pleased with it. Can hardly wait to get back and pick her up. I've got the Data Tag and more pics I got Sunday and will post them tomorrow...been a little busy.









Herb