I recently bought a set of factory manuals for my 87 camino. I have tried to understand some of the stuff but it is just over my head I guess. I would like to buy a manual that tells pretty much everything you need to know and how to do things that is simple for a wanna be shade tree mechanic. I would also like to find out about interior and exterior color combinations and stuff like that. Any body got any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill

The Hayne's manuals you can pick up at you local Autozone are pretty informative and easy to understand. You can do most jobs just be reading one of those.

Yeah, ditto on the last post about Haynes.
Chilton is another one but is little more than a reprint of the factory manuals and usually makes about as much sense. Worse, they often leave out critical steps leaving you high and dry in the middle of a project.

8)

Yeah, ditto on the last post about Haynes.
Chilton is another one but is little more than a reprint of the factory manuals and usually makes about as much sense. Worse, they often leave out critical steps leaving you high and dry in the middle of a project.

8)

I am trusting you on this James. :lol:

As mentioned in another thread, after the Haynes and Chilton recommendations I was luck enough to find both on eBay. The only problem was both traders would not deal outside the US so I got a mate in AZ to bid on them. We won both and I am waiting for the postman to deliver them, any day now.

8) I buy a Haynes for every car that I buy! I have a small library of Haynes manuals. I get calls from friends to borrow them all the time! :cool:

A lot of us buy Uncle Chilton and Haynes just because we always have. The most valuable sections will be the Specifications, Torque Values, etc. As far as Procedures, I personally put about 70-80% credibility in what they say.

Before you do anything dramatic or traumatic, carefully read what they say two or three times. If you've got two manuals, read them both. Then, just take a step back and visualize the process. You may well come up with an easier way.

There are also independent manuals that address particular components. Such as 350 engines, brakes, body work, etc.

The ole pro's on this forum appreciate folks who are actually trying to learn and they will share their tricks. The guys I don't have time for are the ones who won't even crack a manual, but want us to tell them how to build a stroker engine.

Lastly, smear some oil on the manuals as soon as possible. That's what Snaggleto0th does and he's a certified professional now!

Take care.

... I would like to buy a manual that tells pretty much everything you need to know and how to do things that is simple for a wanna be shade tree mechanic.
The pros use the Helm manuals, the shady tree/backyard mechanics use Chilton and Haynes. I like the Helm manuals myself because they have much more specific information, especially the electrical schematics. Haynes and Chilton manuals cover a range of model years. Helm manuals are for a specific year.

I'm so glad that Snaggletooth is a member of this forum so that everyone can take humorous pot-shots at him. I'm even happier that Anduh takes it all so well! He's gonna have a long line of customers when he opens his own shop down the road in time. Hey Anduh, what manuals do you recommend??

I'm with Ernie on this one. The Haynes manuals are heck of a lot better than nothing. And That is the first thing I always buy because they are easy to find and cheap. But the most over-used word in a Haynes manual is "typical". The next thing I do is start scouting eBay and Google For a Helms Service Manual for my year of Elky.

Doug

Love Helms too. Didn't mention them because of the way he worded his post. $75, right here:

http://www.helminc.com/

Agree with John too about Snaggletooth. Snag is a good guy with a good sense of humor and knows we wouldn't kid him if he wasn't one of our favorite folk. Face it, how can you not like a guy with a diamond-plate dash?

Take care.

... I would like to buy a manual that tells pretty much everything you need to know and how to do things that is simple for a wanna be shade tree mechanic.
The pros use the Helm manuals, the shady tree/backyard mechanics use Chilton and Haynes. I like the Helm manuals myself because they have much more specific information, especially the electrical schematics. Haynes and Chilton manuals cover a range of model years. Helm manuals are for a specific year.

Problem with HELM is they tend to go out of print after a few years. Hard to get if you're not a pro too. I have the factory manuals as well as Chilton and Haynes. Fisher Body manuals are great for stuff like seats and dash pads or figuring out how to code an ignition key. Service manuals handle mechanicals and electical and overhaul manuals deal more with specific repair procedures on individual components like steering boxes and power steering pumps or how to code. I got lucky and Classic industries had factory sets a few years back.

8)