Well we got the barth home! No problem runs fine everything works, Boy was the man who owned it before me a butcher. This could take a while to explain. Instead of making brackets to hold sthings in place he screwed drywall screws into the headliner, what a mess. Luckely We do upholestery////// The wiring we incountered was whew! to say the least. C/B finials were toasted. Antenna was not hooked up . Holes in the interior everywhere. But We can fix it with a little bit of work . The hardest part will be getting the panels down for Repair. The Tow hitch wires were just chopped off and hanging, My Wife and I have been cleaning for the Past two weekends. I figure we ought to be done in about four more weeks just in time for christmas. Antenna wires crossed, took about two hours to figure out why the rear TV wouldn" work . What a butcher. Bill

I have seen real butcher work that was done by professionals, too. I can deal with old, worn stuff, but butchered up stuff really frustrates me. Especially on something as well-made as a Barth.

I know for some of us who have an almost cultish zeal about our coaches it is hard to understand how someone would treat their coach in such a way. My wife, Deb, wouldn't even let me use Pledge on the woodwork. She had to go get some stuff that cost $8 an ounce to do our cherry woodwork.

Well at least there is one coach in good hands now. "You're in good hands with Lancer"

When I tell you a butcher !!!!!!!!!! The window lock above the galley table was bent so bad that it had to be removed. About a 30 second job. took it into the garage , straightened out the lock with a propane torche which took another minute, replaced it another 30 seconds. It's a lot of little stuff, I'm A pretty pickey person for detail. The interior is going to take the longest time to get right. This is mouse engineering at it's finest. The lower compartments were full of leaves and pine needles. Took about 1/2 hour to run the Shop Vac Presto all cleaned up . Winshield wiper arms (Rusty) Removed , painted flat black ,Replaced Took about 1/2 hour total . Some of it just pure neglect. Tires on rear started to cup on the outside edge, checked Air of course one was low about 40 lbs. Dah I can't wait to get it done The Barth is probably the last coach I'll own, I can't forsee ever wearing it out. Oh yea they put a new toilet in . used one hold down bolt.The mounting flange was rusted away. That was a 6 dollar item at Lowes That was a bigger project. 2 hours.. I don't know if I'm nit picking but I like things right.When you sit on the throne I don't think i want it falling over. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to replace the upper storage doors where he cut thes big holes to mount speakers (surrond Sound) where could I ever find them????? the speakers are ugly I haven't quite figured all that out yet. Bill

[This message has been edited by lancer (edited December 04, 2004).]

You've joined the club. Sounds a lot like my rig when I got it last Jan., though I didn't encounter anything like the butchery you found. Mine was sheer neglect of long standing, in almost everything but the major mechanical components. It's still a work-in-progress.

If you have the plain front slanty overhead cabinet doors like mine, I believe they're made of structural foam with oak veneer. I can't detect any end grain, and the edges are iron-on veneer strips. Shouldn't be too much trouble to replace them with cabinet-grade oak veneer plywood, though getting the stain to match will be loads of fun.

i'm not a stickler for originality, I don't hesitate to replace materials or components with non-original stuff, but I do treasure neatness, and I cringe at the kind of butchery you encountered. Good luck on bringing your baby back.

I looked at that rig. Some of the wiring in the front looked like a bee's nest, always fun to figure out. Also, there were two spare tires lying up on the roof, tied up there. Good luck.

Anyone remember Polyplanar speakers?

These things are travesties, both sonically and visually, and our Barth has two of them installed in the ceiling. Big ones! One in the lounge and one in the bedroom. I hope Barth did not do that.

Hey Bill,

Didn't notice any cold air coming out of those speakers did you?

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lancer,

The nice thing about Barth cabinetry was its solid wood quality. Cabinet doors can be reproduced. You sound as though you are pretty handy, give it a try.

I work with wood alot, if you need any advice, just ask.

Bill G

quote:

Originally posted by davebowers:
Hey Bill,

Didn't notice any cold air coming out of those speakers did you?

Dave did a zinger! Evidentially bill is sleeping in this morning. :-)

The wiring isn't as bad as it looks. Most of the mess that you see is extra long air lines and extra long wires. That's the least of my worries. with an ohlm meter and test lite I have it made. The doors on the cabinet are solid oak. the trim is the hard part. I haven't had a chance to really get to know her but I'm sure that when I finish she'll be as good as new . ONE STEP AT A TIME. I'm only 58 so I figure I have lots of time to get her where I want her. It only took me ten years to get my race car where I wanted it. I never receive the tires with the Barth I could have sold them to my tire guy for casings. would have saved me $100 when I buy a set of drive tires. Bill

[This message has been edited by lancer (edited December 05, 2004).]

quote:

Originally posted by davebowers:
Hey Bill,

Didn't notice any cold air coming out of those speakers did you?

No, Dave, the Polyplanar speakers don't do cold air. Only tinny music.

The Coleman speakers do lots of cold air though. The station selector knob fell off, so I can get only one station on the front Coleman. Some talk show always ranting about black helicopters and the Trilateral Commission or something.

quote:

Originally posted by goodwinw:
lancer,


I work with wood alot, if you need any advice, just ask.

Bill G

Bill, have you found a router bit that will duplicate the raised panel doors on Barths? I will be making some doors for remodels in the future. Gonna put in a stove with a real oven.

bill h,

My coach doesn't have raised panel doors, so I haven't had any opportunity to check the specific raised panel contours. My Barth is the only Barth I have ever seen personally.

There are some nice raised panel cutters designed to operate on the heavy duty routers built today. A friend of mine has a set and likes them a lot. I'm used to making them on a shaper, but no longer have access to one.

Bill G

Sorry to hear about the neglected condition of your coach. At least you don't have to live in it full time. I had a nightmare experience when I bought my house -- mortgaged 30 years and biggest investment I'll ever make. The previous owner built half of it himself WITHOUT GETTING A BUILDING PERMIT FROM THE COUNTY!!! I hired an inspection service before settlement and discovered he was incompetent. He missed the fact the roof and siding did not overlap, which allowed rain to seep between the siding and interior wall. Over time the entire kitchen wall had to be replaced. I'm not an engineer or even a builder, so I hired what I thought were professionals to lead me through the buying experience. The seller slapped up the addition, sold it to me, left town. He's in Florida somewhere (Seminole). I kept praying for him to be washed out to sea during this past hurricane season, or die a horrible death some other way. The entire transaction was done through his realtor, a ditzy airhead. My realtor wasn't much help either and said "Just keep quiet and don't say anything" at settlement. I have proof through a tax plat that the footprint of the house when he owned it was different from the footprint of the house when I bought it, plus the neighbors told me he built it himself. Due to length of time, the judge (I took him to court) ruled that statute of limitations was up; too bad for me, the buyer. I think death by firing squad, drawn and quartered, a fair punishment for the seller, but I'm just a biased victim.
I've made major improvements and value has increased a lot, but I will never, ever, buy another house after the horrors I went through with this one.

Happy holidays everybody.

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Bev