Repair Manuals

The best way to get a start in finding out more about the cars and trucks you own is to buy a Haynes Manual. I like them better than any other books offered. With the exception of the dealer repair manual. But these are a lot cheaper than a dealer book. This manual is based off of a complete tear down of the vehicle. I buy one of these for each brand of car that I own. If I sell it, I keep the book. You end up with a library of repair books, and who knows....you might buy another one of the same vehicles down the road. Parts stores sell these for $14-$25 depending on the brand of car. My Passat book cost more than my Chevy and Ford books. I feel like a Fleet Manager. I maintain all of my families cars and trucks. They have a problem they call me and we trouble shoot over the phone discussing the way that the vehicle is acting. I have gotten each of them to buy repair manuals so that they can help me find the problem. It has also made it to where each of them are more confident and can often fix it themselves.

My last project

This is a 1987 Dodge 250 that I went through last winter. It has a 360/727 combo. As limited budget build, I only paid $250 for it. So,I bought a rebuilt 360 and put an edlbrock carb and intake on it. Paid $350 for the flat bed, and the rest was spent on engine components, interior parts, body and paint work. I did the body work and paid $250 for a Maaco paint job. For a teenager to drive, the Maaco job looks great. I felt it turned out rather well for $4000.

Here are some pictures of my 1977 GMC dually that I built in High School. My Mom and Dad were great supporters for this project. My Mom thought she was safe when she saw it trailered into our back yard. Little did she know, that 10 days later I would be driving it around the yard. My Dad and I learned a lot together throughout the following 2 years. I am forever greatful for the time spent with my Dad. My neighbor contributed alot of time, parts and expertise. It helps that he was an engineer for GM. If your have a wiring question, he will tell you what color the wire is and everything it goes to.

If You have a project and want to share, feel free to post. I bought it for $500 and tore it all the way to the frame and found it completely cracked in half in one spot. Welded up the frame and started putting on new/used parts. The only body parts used off of the old body was the right front fender. A lot of the parts were traded for or given to me. This was my first major mechanical adventure. It took me about 2 years and $6500 to finish.