Hi all I have just brought my Barth it's a 22ft regal 1990 on lpg 454, I've never owned a rv before and I think it's a nice bit of kit, I'm in the uk in London, so must be lucky to have found a Barth and one this size as it's easy on our little roads,
I have a few things to do, the grey water tank is blocked and not draining, the right hand manifold is cracked so I'll have to replace that,shall I put a standard one back on or go for a better one I've found a company in Indiana, as I'm in the USA on holiday from next week i thought I'll bring one back with me,is there anything to watch out for on these engines or on the Barth it's self.

Regards

Steve

Welcome, Steve.
It is common to put performance headers on the 454, particularly in motorhome applications. The engine (and exhaust manifold) gets subjected to extreme heat, which is exacerbated by the relative lack of airflow through a MH engine compartment. As you go up a grade, the cast manifold gets super-heated. Then, after you crest the hill and descend with a closed throttle, the manifold is cooled rapidly -- it cracks.

sorry to evade your question regarding what to watch out for -- but I will. You need to spend a few hours searching topics and reading archives.
Each and every aspect of the chassis and the coach has idiosyncrasies -- things to watch out for.

Welcome to the forums! Yours is one of only handful of LPG-fuelled Barths anywhere.

I inferred that the Brit meant a place to get an exhaust manifold.

Ditto

You're in luck with that 454 engine, it is a mainstay of American power and there are lots of aftermarket parts for it. Concerning steel headers versus cast iron, be aware the cast iron do dampen the noise considerably. I would be tempted to replace the cracked side with another cast, stock manifold even though they will need replacement over time.

Thanks guys for the info, I leave for la in the morning and travel up to Portland oregan to compete in the jetski freeride championships in pacific city blowsion surf slam,i would love to be traveling in the Barth but would cost too much ship it over and back again,I'll collect a manifold while I'm over ive been quoted $124.00 seems a fair price from summit racing equipment part details are door 674-390 cast iron replacement oem Chevy,pick up, 7.4l
I think/hope this is the correct one

Oh yes it's a left hooker

...

Looks like its in amazing shape! Keep us posted on your adventures and good luck in Oregon!

Freerider,

Looks like you have a nice Barth. Good luck with it. You won't be disappointed in the quality.

We realize that to bring it to the USA and ship it back again would be an unreasonable expense, but please consider, on next year's holiday, attending the 2014 Barth Getogether in Milford, IN here in the USA. We'll have ex-employees of the Barth factory in attendance, along with many Barth owners from the USA. I can just about guarantee you that you will receive a wealth of information from the folks who attend, and they will feel privileged to have a UK owner in their midst.

Join us if you can,

Lou

K, go look at yours...

Freerider, like others, I would like to see your Barth in person and I realize the expense of shipping, but you could come to the 50th Anniversary GTG in Indiana next year and stay in a motel. This is what I did.

If at all possible try to come as we would like very much to meet you and I guarantee it would be worth the trip.

Well people had a good trip up to oregan from la we was on the look out for Barths on the way and didn't see one can't believe it saw so many rv's but not one Barth! These coaches must be really rare then. So I've got my manifold but it looks diffrent from the one that's fitted it's for he correct engine and year so hopfully it will be ok, thing is I'm really worried about tackling this job I'm going to give the bolts a good long soaking in wd40 for a month before trying to undo the bolts, any other advised on removing the manifold much appreciated

I agree - WD40 is overrated for just about anything.

PB Blaster is also effective. MWrench reminded us of the old trick of running the engine to heat the manifolds to make things easier to remove.