Recommended books?

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phaelax

phaelax

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I didn't grow up with these cars. So aside from basic mechanical know-how, my knowledge on cars pretty much only covers those things I've had to fix on my modern car over the years. Replacing simple parts like alternators, hub assemblies, stuff like that. So aside from my lawn mower, carburetors are new to me sadly. But now that I have a big block Duster it's time to learn! I've gotten as far as replacing the diaphragms in the carb and the the valley pan gasket to fix a few minor leaks.

I've look at a few books on amazon. Is there a particular book that anyone would suggest is a must have for someone new looking to learn everything they can about their 440? From engine rebuilds to figuring out what pieces are missing from my heater box (which came tossed in the trunk) Not that I plan on driving in the winter, but if it's got AC too, it would be nice to just have it all complete.
 
How to rebuild your big block
Mopars "Engines book" for B/RB engines
 
A haynes manual always helped me out, take the torque specs wrote in there with a grain of salt though. Not a big block but from personal experience the torque specs for a slant intake/exhaust manifold in the book are way higher than what is actually cast onto the intake.
 
FSM for certain. larry sheppard compiled a book called mopar engines, put out by ma mopar. mr . sheppard was a leading factory engine engineer to say the very least.

there are books on holley and some on carter carbs. since I don't know squat , I like to have various books available to me for reference.
 
The best book I ever read on Mopar big blocks was written by the founder of Muscle Motors, Chuck Senatore. Big Block Mopar Performance. Bought it from him at the Nats many years ago. I'm pretty sure he was a mechanical engineer and he has a lot of good info in the book. If you read this from cover to cover you will learn a lot. I never even owned a big block but I have lots of books. I loaned it to someone who was building a 383 and never got it back so I bought another from Amazon.

Larry Shepherd just kind of rode into town and took credit for a lot of stuff the Ramchargers developed. Those guys literally wrote the Mopar bible.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557883025/?tag=joeychgo-20
 
have driving and repairing chrysler products since 1965. there is NO better manual than a chrysler factory manual. AND much better than ANY other american brand manufacturer. but at rare times you might find a mistake, but nothing serous. and double check torque specs.
 
I've got these and as I look.......where the heck's my Holley book, Lol.

All really good and as mentioned the FSM's are invaluable.
 

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Service manuals are only good for so much, like wiring diagrams, how to take stuff apart, etc. They were/are written for dealership technicians working on cars that were still under warranty or were within their projected service life.

The FSM does not generally delve into hows and whys unless it has a direct bearing on a specific repair procedure. Service manuals are really dry.

Also keep in mind they also do not cover anything other than original, factory equipment so unless your car is totally factory, they are somewhat limited in what you can learn from them. Factory engine with a dual point distributor? Go by the service manual. 45 year old hot rod engine? Throw the FSM specs out the window.

I read ALL the performance how-to books back in the 90s. I also had subscriptions to all the mags that were being published at the time, I gobbled all of it up. I lived in NYC, I'd read that stuff on the subway. It was like buying an education. I even started collecting old drag racing mags for the old tech articles. Tony Defeo was a great writer.

Andy F wrote a big block book that came out fairly reently. The Chuck Senatore book is also good but it's old now. Arvid Svendsen also has a more basic book which has pretty good pictures.

The Mopar Engine books are OK but take them with a grain of salt. They were written 30-35 years ago and have not been updated much since then. You need to wade through a lot of company propaganda to glean what you need. They contain so many obsolete part numbers etc. that it can be counterproductive to read them thinking you can just go out and get the parts they suggest. Plus, Sheppard was a really wooden writer with a slightly condescending tone.

I'd also start looking into some of the older performance how to books, like the engine blueprinting ones, David Vizards books etc. There's so many books out there for everything, just pick a few to start.

The internet is good for specific types of things but books can give you a better overall sense sometimes.

There's no replacement for experience though. No book is gonna help you learn better than by doing it.
 
The Haynes manual for whatever car you've got is a great way to go, the one I have is for 67-76 darts and valiants with six cylinders. Make sure the manual you have has the motor you have, I am going to buy a satellite manual later for the small block info.
 
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