Hi everyone,

I just purchased a 1977 21' Barth with a 350 engine. Turns out there is a lot more wrong with it than I thought when I purchased it and I definitely overpaid. I'm going to graduate school in August and am going to be living in it full time while I do so, so I've got to get it in good shape, and I've got to do so fairly quickly.

I'm planning on redoing all the plumbing, doing some electrical work, making some upgrades (radiant heat under cork flooring, installing solar power, etc) and giving it a cosmetic face lift. My DIY skills are limited (I basically know nothing), but I like to learn and want to do as much as possible by myself.

First up: When I hooked the coach up to water at a KOA last weekend, water dripped from under it along the entire length of the passenger side. Tackling the plumbing is first project. Just pulled out all the carpet, need to remove the dinette next. Carpet was soaking in the area under the fridge and subfloor is rotting under the dinette. Yikes.

Also, I noticed that a previous owner hung sheet rock in front of the original walls in the rear bathroom. Why would someone do that and what am I risking by ripping it out? Since I'm having to strip everything, I would rather just redo everything right. Should I leave this alone for some reason?

Finally, I am hoping to establish a relationship with a mechanic in SoCal, preferably the Los Angeles area, and preferably someone with knowledge of Barths. Can anyone here make a recommendation? She broke down on the way home after purchasing it and I had to have her towed a middle-of-nowhere mechanic. This sucked.

Anyway, hi everyone. I've been reading a lot here. Very glad this site exists.

..is it like this???

https://www.barthmobile.com/eve...123931987#2123931987

There is some conversation about left coast repair shops here.

Gasper, the owner of this RV repair facility, is a lifelong buddy of mine. We grew up in Islip, NY and lived on the same block.

My wife and I took a trip in 2013 with our '93 Barth, visited him and his wife, needed some repairs while we were there, and of course were treated as Royalty.

Gasper is a fair-minded good man. Contact him at https://faracerv.com/ . It appears he might be in your back yard.

Good luck and by all means give Gep and his crew Best Regards from Lou & Barb

Doug, I bout the one listed here: https://www.barthmobile.com/eve...1087061/m/8603994987

Just want to make it clear that I don't blame Mr. Ted or think he tried to mislead us though. He was a very nice person who my wife and I liked a lot. The Barth had been stored for a while and I don't think he knew some of the problems existed that we are finding.

Lou, thank you do much for the mechanic referral. We are definitely going to call up Mr. Gasper and will tell him you sent us via this thread. Thank you!