What book(s), particularly TECH styled, should every HAMBer, especially newbies, have in his garage or bathroom as the case may be? How about inspirational photo/history books? I know theres got to be a million specialty books. And I dont have ride yet to narrow it down but Im leaning hard towards flatty powered Model As and Shoeboxes. Thanks.
For the SBC guys I reccomed: "How to Rebuild your Chevy Small Block" by David Vizard. Even though I rebuilt probably 5 or 6 SBC's I wouldn't say each one got easier or I got a whole lot better at it, but when I do Have a question I love this book... (I actually need to go get another copy) But.. Its got a lot of crucial information in a compact little book, can usually find it at the Swaps... BYC
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679785892/103-2927971-7743030?v=glance
Every free parts catalog you can get yer grubbies on. Good tech in some of them and it's nice to know who builds what and for how much. Snap up those older Chiltons and Motors manuals at garage sales too.
Yea Rad Man, on the HS Thompson note, I'll add The Rum Diaries. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0747543151/qid=1086219952/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/002-4935506-3425623?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Catalogs are a great source for inspiration and dreaming. Plus they're usually free. (Except for Flathead Jack's, which is actually worth it if you're a flathead guy.) Catalogs I like: Mac's Anything, depending on what you're working on Aircraft Spruce, for construction and fasteners McMaster-Carr and MSC Direct for everything Eastwood for ideas for items I later buy elsewhere for less Books I like: How to Build a Trad Ford by Mike "av8" Bishop & V. Tardell Anything by Carroll Smith on race car fab & prep How to Build a Flathead Ford V-8 for the color pictures The 2 Sheetmetal Fabrication Books Various Factory Manuals Rules books, like the NHRA or SCTA And finally, I like old magazines. Usually, what was written years ago still applies to our hobby. --Matt
How to Build a Trad Ford Hot Rod, by Mike Bishop & Vern Tardel- The HAMBERs' bible A Motor's Repair Manual for your project The Complete Chrysler HEMI, by Tex Smith & Ron Ceridono Welder's Handbook, by Richard Finch Those Wild Fuel Altereds, by Don Montgomery- Great reference book Supercharged Gas Coupes, by Don Montgomery- " " Hot Rods By Pete & Jake, by Chapouras, Jacobs & Thacker- Not strictly technical, but inspirational. They were building trad rods before many of us were born.
For everyone . . . HOP UP: The first 12 issues Any or all of Don Montgomery's books Dean Batchelor's book Louise Ann Noeth's LSR book For the flathead crowd . . . Ron Holleran's flathead-building book Ron Ceridono's flathead-building book Ron Bishop's (no relation) flathead-building book Joe Abbin's flathead-building book For old-Forders . . . The "Green Book" -- FORD CHASSIS PARTS AND ACCESSORIES CATALOG Ford Service Bulletins -- the true "good book" Loren Sorensen's Fordiana series For serious go-fast gearheads (no superficial rat-rod posers) . . . Steve Smith's library "Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design," Costin & Phipps Just about everything from HP Books "The Miller Dynasty" by Mark Dees All the '50s-'70s issues of Hot Rod you can afford And this is just a good start on a library for anyone who is serious about plunging in and really learning what hot rodding is all about.
For cool**** pix "Gasser Wars" IDK the author and it's still in a box somewhere from the move... Same reason "Super Stock, Drag Racing the family sedan"... Hot Rod- the first twelve issues Hot Rod- best of 1949-1959 (lots of cool old school info) The shop manual for whatever I happen to own (right now the 1958 Chevy shop manual for 1958-60). I have a bunch more I'd add, but they aren't unpacked so I don't know the actual names. Jay
"the key to metal bumping" or something of that nature is a pretty useful book for getting the fundamentals of the hammer and dolly. i need to look over it again, actually. probably the most useful "tech" book i've got, other than shop manuals for whatever car you're working on. oh, and the HAMB. i've advanced beyond most of them that i have saved, but when i first joined here i printed alot of posts that i thought would be useful and put them in a 3 ring binder. good stuff.
I actually wrote a huge post for this during Tech week, and as I hit the send*****on, my machine crashed. My list (less wordy than the original) The AutoMath Handbook: Must have. A factory shop manaul for every car you have. These will have the answers to many, many questions guys ask car magazines and even on here. Particularly priceless for wiring diagrams. A factory shop manual for whatever engine is in your car. Got a '54 Buick? '54 Shop manual. Running a '56 322 in it? '56 Shop manual. Used a '68 GTO manual to rebuild the POSI unit in a '69 Camaro. DIY saved HUNDREDS over buying a new Eaton posi unit. Couldn't have done the job without factory manual. A nice addition are Technical Service Bulletins from the factory. For instance, mine for '56 Buicks indicates that the vibragtion/rattle between 55 and 70mph was found to be the radiator fan shroud rattling, and it has the fix. Try tracking that***** down on your own! All of these are frequently on Ebay, and if you shop smart there or swap meets, you'll find them in excellent condition for cheap (shouldn't pay more than $35 for a good one that's not all torn up) Motors Repair Manuals. Better than Chiltons. Chiltons: "Remove radio." Motors: "Here's how you remove the radio..." Also has factory engine tech info like CR, leak down test numbers, etc. Get the Repair manuals, not the Flat Rate manuals. Again, shop smart: Each book usually covers 7 years. My set covers 1935-1983, the books are all in perfect shape, and by shopping swap meets one summer, I didn't pay more than $15 per book. These also have info I couldn't find in factory shop manuals. Those are the absolute Must Haves. Nice addition is the Vintage Hollander Interchange Manual set, for things like "A Buick trans can be used with an Olds tailshaft housing to convert to open driveline," what glass interchanges, generators, etc. etc. etc. www,hollander-auto-parts.com (800) 825-0664 Painless Wiring's catalog has a good wiring diagram in the back if you're building your own car, and MSD's catalog has a good ignition system diagram that is very helpful. Books with casting numbers. Also must-haves. Don't buy hard parts without running the numbers, and can also help you "tune" your market when selling junk stuff, like the '58 283 distributor and '56 water pump I found out I had. Instead of throwing them in the recycling bin. That seized water pump you have could be worth some money to a resto guy. That'd be my short list of books to have. Many others in my library have already been listed. Take a long term approach to building your Hot Rod library, and you'll be surprised at what kinds of tech questions you can answer. Finally--any cool magazine article I want to keep gets photocopied, 3-hole punched and stuck in a ring binder, according to topic. Rear Ends, Induction, Brakes, etc. I like keeping old magazines as much as the next guy, but pretty soon you've got hundreds of magazines to sort through to find a particular tech article that you just have to locate. With the Hot Rod Tech binder, everything is instantly referenced. -Brad
Brad54, you MAGNIFICENT BASTID! Another true fan of Roger Hollander.....I scarf up all the Hollander interchange books I can find.. They're absolute gold. I also concur with Mike Bishop regarding the list of Flathead books and would like to add Mike Davidson's "How to build the High Performance Street Flathead"... He's an Aussie with a lot of flathead performance experience. Some great tips in this book for the serious flatmotor guys. Mike Bishop's book is mandatory HAMB reading/reference material but watch the book's spine...it's delicate. Frank Oddo's "Street Rod Handbook" is a good read and also valuable reference stuff, as is Tex Smith's "How to chop tops".. Tex's book is fairly generalized and even vague on details but has lotsa great in-progress photos of chops. And we all know a photo is worth a thousand words. One of my favorites is Power Secrets by Smokey Yunick. The text is really entertaining as well as informative. Great stuff if you aren't alergic to small block chevys. I'm not. But, I'll take a Hollander to the*****ter with me and be completely entertained until Mrs Rocky bangs on the door or my legs fall asleep...
[ QUOTE ] machinery's handbook -- more valuable than college most days. [/ QUOTE ] Gotta agree with EdMurder on this one. Everything from what's in a particular aluminum alloy to how to brown, blue or purple metal . . . without paint. [ QUOTE ] One of my favorites is Power Secrets by Smokey Yunick. The text is really entertaining as well as informative. Great stuff if you aren't alergic to small block chevys. I'm not. [/ QUOTE ] Rocky is right on with this one. Even if you don't run Chevy, you'll get a lot out of it. Crankshaft prep was my favorite part. With all the electrical questions I see here on the HAMB you'll find the answers in Skip Readio's book by Tex Smith publishing****led, "Electrical Systems." Best hot rod electric book I've seen and I have several. Plus, lots and lots of catalogs.
Yeah, Jay.........Desoto's book is wonderful for the entry-level wirer and the grizzled veteran as well. My copy is pretty stained and dirty from lots of use at the job site. Speeking of grizzled, Thanks, Skip!
i love ANY of the little books i can get my hands on...almost every one i find has SOME intersting tech article that's so cool and NEVER improved upon or changed by today's standards..i just picked up a 58 issue of rod and custom and it's got an informative article about lowering your car,and the only thing you could add to that article for now would be airbags.they were even smart enough back then to say to NOT take a torch to your springs cuz they'll become weaker and can bottom out.even some NEWER magazines forget to mention this safety fact. Creepy
"How To Wire Your Street Rod-From Start To Finish" By Jack Sweeden It is very informative. Its Mostly all Hand-Drawn Diagrams and pictures. Nick
The Jalopy Journal
