My great grandfather was a well known auto mechanic in his neighborhood in the years following WWII and into the 60s and 70s. I never had the honor of meeting the man, but according to my father, he never met a mechanical problem he couldn't solve with his hands and his head. I was helping my father clean out our garage today and happened upon some of the books my dad inherited years ago when my great grandfather passed. It was a pretty surreal experience for me as a 27 year old hot rodder who now loves the machines he dedicated his life and livelihood to fixing. I found one particular book that really piqued my interest... "Ford V-8 Cars and Trucks" by Victor Page, this one being a 1936 edition. From my research online today, I can see that the book itself isn't particularly rare or valuable, but the fact that it was his is enough to make it special. What really got me are his hand-written notes and diagrams that he wrote to himself. I found a hair of his sandwiched between one of the pages, and a greasy hand print on the back cover with fingerprints clearly visible. I don't know if I'm alone on this, but the whole experience of looking through it was kind of other-worldly. I know that he and I would have gotten along, bonding over cars and wrenching whenever we got the chance. I just wish I could have met him. I hope you guys enjoy the pics. If you want to see anything else, just ask. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks, I'll bet that was a funny feeling, going through those books and papers. I have many old Ford books and used to know almost every detail about early Fords. Now it's a blur. Good luck and hang on to those pieces of family history. Strangely I can't find any info about any of my relatives being interested in cars other than driving them. Not sure how I got addicted but cars have always been my life. Just never made money off them.
what really strikes me are the factory explanation notes like on #8 of the door glass "this stop moves glass back" -- none of that in new books.
have the book - but oh-boy those notes and stuff he made are priceless... never knew mine either but my uncle has passed some stuff on....
I'd get a 3 ring binder and some plastic sleeves to preserve them. The binder can be customized to preserve the history of who they belonged to. That will preserve them and keep them together. Take care of your historical documents. Staples has everything you need. I have my fathers Motors manual from 1948.
That's bad ass - make sure the sleeves aren't like the old photo album type this can stick to inks and ruin them if you want to remove Bet my grand kid won't want my Prius repair manual ha! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Jalopy Journal
