|
More About Our Manuals & Service
Literature Types Of Literature You Can Find
| Factory
Shop Manuals |
This is the service manual provided by the car companies to their dealership
technicians, and available for sale to the public through the parts department.
For completeness of information, there is absolutely no substitute. For
most examples, one manual covers most of the information on a particular
car line. For instance, the 1966 Fords are divided into full-size and mid-size
with a manual for each group. So your Falcon shares the same manual with
The Montego, the Mustang, etc. This is important to remember, as all the
owners of similarly platformed cars are looking for the same manual,
and the more popular ones get scarce.
In later years some companies (Ford, notably) divided their manuals
into several volumes, each covering one or more systems. there might be
one that covers the engine, one that covers body and chassis, and another
for electrical. The wiring diagrams might come separately, still. This
might sound stupid today, but remember, these manuals were designed for
dealer mechanics. No need to have the mechanic balance a thick book on
his knee while peering under a dashboard, when a set of electrical diagrams
will do.
Factory manuals are probably the best investment you can make in your
car, and even the most expensive manuals will pay for themselves many time
over in saved labour charges. Even if you never plan to service your vehicle
yourself, you will be able to visualize the systems to the extent that,
should your car need repairs by a qualified mechanic, you'll be able to
concisely identify the symptoms or problem, and intelligently discuss solutions
(i.e.: you won't get taken for a ride if you know what you're talking about). |
| Owner's
Manuals |
This is not the same as a shop manual, but people
confuse them all the time. Your VCR comes with an owner's manual, but it
doesn't tell you how to fix it. The owners manual explains how to operate
the various features of the vehicle like seat belts, keys, radio, jack
etc. Some may contain information on tire rotation, fluid requirements,
and possibly basic tune-up procedures, but they are by no means a viable
alternative to a shop manual. If you find one in good condition, they are
a perfect finishing touch to a restoration, as they were OEM equipment
provided with each and every new car, truck and motorcycle. |
| Parts Books |
When the mechanic is working on a vehicle and identifies a part that
needs replacing, he hollers across the shop the Parts Manager 'It needs
a Pitman arm bushing...' The Parts Manager then turns to his trusty
parts book, and orders the part from the warehouse. The parts book identifies
avery single individual part of the car. The parts are always shown in
table form, and usually in exploded diagrams. If you're really lucky, the
parts book will cross-reference by model, so you can see which cars used
the same parts, and use it as an interchange guide.
Most parts books cover a range of years and models, and some are separated
into chassis parts and body parts. In the 70's, some started appearing
on microfiche, and now some are being produced on CD-ROM. The parts book
is one of the handiest books for restoration. If you're like me, and you
took your car apart six years ago, you're not gonna remember how
to reassemble the window winder mechanism six years from now. |
| Body Manuals |
There's a sub-division of General Motors called
Fisher that produces all their bodywork, and if you look at the door sill
on a '60s GM product, you'll probably see their carriage logo on it. Fisher
had their own service manuals specific to the care and repair of the bodywork
and optional extras like power windows and tops. If you need to replace
your vinyl top, you'll need the "Fisher Manual" to do it properly. Chrysler
Corp. did their own body manuals, and Ford body information is included
in their shop manuals. Most import vehicles did not have body manuals. |
| Special Equipment Manuals |
General Motors used to produce manuals for things
like Hydramatic transmissions and Delco solid-state radios. At the time,
these were high tech, complicated assemblies, so a separate manual seemed
like a good idea. |
| Assembly Manuals |
So rare they're almost an urban legend, assembly manuals are provide
to the assembly line workers and are basically instructions on how to build
the car, with diagrams and notes on what goes where. Since very few ordinary
people needed this information when your car was new, there are very few
assembly manuals out there. There are companies who have reprinted the,
but these are normally for the most popular classics and muscle cars, and
it is second-hand copies of these reprints that we usually see offered
to us. |
| Haynes Automotive |
Haynes manuals are what many people think of
when someone says "shop manual", but anyone who ever bought a factory manual
never got confused about a Haynes again. Haynes are like the learner's
license of shop manuals. It will cover the basics, and is the only
manual some people will ever need, but more involved operations and assemblies,
such as automatic transmission rebuilding, are avoided. Haynes manuals
generally cover vehicles of a similar platform and production period, and
are not normally available for vehicles made prior to 1970. |
| Haynes Motorcycle |
Haynes motorcycle manuals are a separate division
from their automotive manuals, and they're great. We all use them for our
own bikes, and we have no reservations about recommending them to you. |
| Chiltons |
Chiltons are similar to Haynes in detail, but
a little broader in model coverage. their newest series of manuals, called
Total Car Care, replaces the more basic Repair & Tune-Up Guide. They
include transmission info and good wiring diagrams. |
| Clymer |
Clymer no longer makes automotive manuals, but
we do have a good selection of used copies. They currently produce a great
selection of very good manuals for motorcycles and snowmobiles. They also
have other divisions that publish manuals on all manner of bats, small
engines and farm equipment. |
| Mitchell |
Mitchell produces a library of manuals designed
for the independent garage. they're not full service manuals, but they
do provide key information such as tune-up and torque specs, time and labour
guides, emissions information etc. |
| Hollander |
Hollander is an independent publisher of parts
interchange manuals aimed primarily at the collision repair and automotive
recycling industry. |
eAutomobilia Home Page
eAutomobilia
2531
Ontario St
Vancouver,
BC V5T 2X7 Canada
Phone:
604-873-6242 :: Facsimile: 604-873-6259
E-mail:
info@eAutomobilia.com
Portions
Copyright © 2005 by eAutomobilia.
All
Rights Reserved.
Portions
Copyright © 1998-2001 by Active IQ Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
