History What do you guys do with old car books and manuals"

I'm a retired auto shop teacher. I have several books and repair manuals that I hate to throw away. Admittedly, they are not collectors items, but contain information that our generation of hot rodders might find useful.

Not going to auction them or spend a bunch of time advertising.

Maybe just junk as I'm sure you can find all the information on the net.

 

You could offer them up on the classified section "Pay It Forward", and just charge USPS mailing charges (flat rate or periodical boxes). For the guys that are trying to learn about their old rides these are invaluable... much better than the myriad of "opinions" you can find on the web! I've scrounged just about everything I could find for my '51 over the years, and the old repair manuals always come through for me.

 

If you know anyone that the manuals car match up to, just give it to them. I like the suggestion above too.
I recall my dad having a lot of Motor Manuals and it was really hard to move them. Even donation goes to waste, better to someone that can use it.

 

ditto to two posts above…..

Ray

 

That's a tough call on hard bound manuals. I have a pretty extensive collection myself and a grate office to keep them in. I found over the years I used them less and less just because I knew what I was doing. Of late I find myself questioning myself more and more, Back to the Hard bound memory. As for printed magazines I have Life long collection of them. I can't give them away. I have rairly gone back and picked one up. Now that I'm retired I'm going to do a large part of the walls in my playhouse in a collage of all the color photos I like. It will be like having all the Mag's open at one time without the mess.

 

I am at that stage also.
Why do I still have this?
Do I really need it?
Cool enough to not throw away.
Some body could use it.
Too much way more fun stuff to do than trying to find that person.

 

GearheadsQCE and others: Please don't trash your old manuals. They contain much info. that is not available on the internet along with photos. Take a few at a time to car shows and give them away to those seeking knowledge. As the years progress, even the info. on the internet will fade away. Your manuals are the historical BIBLES of your trade.

 

I still collect these kind of things. As a kid, I used to thumb through encyclopedias looking for anything that caught my attention and then I'd read about it. I could never have had that same experience with the internet. To me, they're two different beasts, but they work together to further my knowledge of things.

 

This one ^^^. Man was I happy when I found an old hot rod manual last year that I just knew I had chunked during my last move. Never thought I would need it again but here I am back at it after a long layoff. I try to pass on that information to others when I can as well. The Internet don't know squat!

Joe

 

What do you mean old? I've got books going back 40 years before I was born. Okay so not too useful, but shows where we came from.

Poor ratrodder, he's going to have to deal with them someday...

 

I Loan Mine To Relatives And The Books Are Never Seen Again...The Magazines Are Scanned And Posted On Various Sites And Then Given To The Veterans Administration....Done...

 

The printed word is far far better than scrolling through information one page at a time on some computer screen. For me anyway, its easier to absorb in book form. Like mentioned, either advertise them as free for shipping, or take them to a swap meet and give them away, or see if a library or used book store will take them.

 

I keep them and collect more. I seldom use them but when I need one it's a lifesaver.




Technical - Motor Manuals | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

Please don't throw them away. As said above give them away if you don't want to jump through the hoops to advertise them.

There must be youngsters out there who would love to have some of the information contained in them.

 

I remember when I started teaching in 1972 at Stranahan High School in Ft. Lauderdale , I found an old used
1935-48 CHILTON MANUAL in the shop storeroom. I still have it and have used it many times over the last 50 years for my 40 Ford.

 

I have a couple that sit on the shelf in my hallway. Add to them as I can find them. Around here I will run into 1 every once in awhile at flea markets but you know they're gold so usually they want 25 to 30 bucks a piece. Some sit there alooonng time.

My pride is my 60's interchange book. I do alot of work on 60's style cars for friends and boy does that come in handy!

My pinnacle that I haven't got yet is the " this is your hobby, car customizing " that's my holy grail! In grade school and Jr high I checked that book out so many times that the librarian told me I should just buy it! One day though... one day.....

 

Our local library used to have a pretty fair selection of paper shop manuals at one time. If I remember correctly you used to be able to check them out like any other book. But they kept getting returned in such terrible shape (dog eared, grease stained, missing pages etc.) that they were later restricted to in-house usage only and you had to pay to make copies of the pages you wanted.

Maybe a library in your area could make use of some older manuals in good used condition to put back in circulation again.

 

Next time someone you know is having a car show ask them if they want a few to give away as door prizes. Sure beats some of the junk that gets donated for door prizes. I still haven't used that free manicure from Maude's Salon.

 

WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO WITH OLD CAR BOOKS AND MANUALS"
I read them.

 

I put them on a shelf.


Unless I’m using them.

 

You might contact some of the automotive museums and see if they would like to have them.

 

@lostone Here are a couple for sale right now
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...w=here+is+your+hobby+car+customizing&_sacat=0

 

The HAMB and the net can be great. But....it’s one heart beat...one server melt down from being gone and I mean, gone gone....
Info that was available on the net just a few years ago is gone. It’s not there. Empty domains is all that remains. Look at photo bucket.

All of this could .... go away. Hard copies are always a good idea. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

 

Yeah . . . Well we've been meaning to talk to you about your nails . . .

 

I have a hard time not buying them lol. If they are nice they go inside on the bookshelf for research.

if they smell like death and you could wring an oil change out of the pages they go in the shop for quick “how the hell does that work” reference.

those diagrams are a life saver

 

Level out a wobbly table...

 

That's what I did when I taught high school. Find what you want, then I will give you a pass to the library make a copy.

 

Believe it or not,,,,there are some young guys on here,,,,,,,might be absolutely tickled to have old books .
And the internet is not perfect,,,,,some crap on it is flat out wrong .
Nothing,,,,I mean nothing,,,,will ever replace a book or manual for teaching and learning .
My old Daddy handed me down an old Motors Manual a few years ago,,,,,I loved it .
It had all kinds of details that you would never think of asking about .
After that,,,I bought two more online to cover years I didn’t have .
Now I’m covered from 1940-1962,,,,,I was glad to find them .
Please,,,hand them down to someone .

Tommy

 

Disposal of printed material:

Shop Manuals - keep, offer here or ebay for sale, or pay it forward.

Car Magazines - I offered PIF, member here picked them up and takes a stack to the VA hospital when he goes.

Porn - dropped a cardboard box in a high school parking lot between 2 cars about 20 years ago.

 

Believe it or not :

NOT ALL INFORMATION USEFUL IS FOUND ON THE INTERNET.

Even here, there are a profound amount of inquiries solved only because someone had a hard copy, in an era printed book.

The amount of times that the HAMB has saved someone, is high, because of experience yes.

... but also because one has posted scans of printed pages, not find in the library, or the world wide interweb.

**Edited because "autocorrect" isn't. ( stupid computers )

 

The problem I find with the internet is you have to know exactly how the to ask a question the computer understands. I often put something I think is simple and short and up comes several different things not even close to what I'm looking for. Word it different a second time and it evens get's further off track and a 3rd time almost guarantees you a Porn sight will pop up. How can that possibly be?