What I hate about factory service manuals ...

[dibbons]

a) They start off almost every paragraph with "using special tool #@#$% ... I don't have these special tools.

b) No specifications for real blueprinting ... can't find nominal block deck height, piston pin height, piston dome volume, piston deck height, piston to valve clearance, combustion chamber volume, what specifications have been used for the advertised compression ratio, how advertised camshaft specifications are measured (duration as of what valve lift?), what the governor set RPM shift points are for an automatic transmission full throttle acceleration in "Drive"? After engineering each engine combination, all of this must have been figured out beforehand to insure the motors/transmissions didn't blow up at the initial start up ... so why not share the specifications with us? I know each engine combinations is different, but somebody behind the blueprinting has it all written down somewhere.

 

[ssba]

So you don't like them including the special tools information due to you not having them for performing a rebuild but want machineing specifications for blueprinting engine parts?
Now that would take some tools. The kind they don't
have at the dealership. The manuals were written to guide the dealership mechanic towards a professional repair not build parts on an
assembly line.
They give you clearances +/- thru a complete rebuild.
They also include the specifications section.
If followed your engine will live as the factory intended. I find the manuals a great reference myself.
But I don't have the machines to mill engine blocks.
I can only dream.

 

[famous bob]

So you don't like them including the special tools information due to you not having them for performing a rebuild but want machineing specifications for blueprinting engine parts?
Now that would take some tools. The kind they don't
have at the dealership. The manuals were written to guide the dealership mechanic towards a professional repair not build parts on an
assembly line.
They give you clearances +/- thru a complete rebuild.
They also include the specifications section.
If followed your engine will live as the factory intended. I find the manuals a great reference myself.
But I don't have the machines to mill engine blocks.
I can only dream.

they make me think they are intended for real mechanics, which leaves a little to be desired on my part !

 

[jos51700]

Having written manuals for a living, they'd have to post, for example, a different part number for every governor weight used in every application, every year, and then as soon as the part number changes for ANY reason (it used to be red, now the same part is blue), the manual had to be updated.
The parts manual is what handles this, and the parts manual can't have all the relevant data on every part or it would be HUGE.
Ditto shift points, or other generally fixed values, it'll be called out in the specialty manual for that application.

Right now, I personally am changing five different documents because someone wants a motor installed ninety degrees about its axis "just because".

The more generic the service manual, the more accurate *over time*.

And if you hunt, the info to build most special tools IS out there.

 

[67Dart273]

a) They start off almost every paragraph with "using special tool #@#$% ... I don't have these special tools.

b) No specifications for real blueprinting ... can't find nominal block deck height, piston pin height, piston dome volume, piston deck height, piston to valve clearance, combustion chamber volume, ............

Sorry, I have no sympathy for you at all. You are living in an age, where, at the touch of a computer, the very one which created this thread, allows you access to world-wide sources of information and products, both good and bad.

In the years when I didn't HAVE a muscle car, there WAS no internet. You depended on word of mouth from friends, which was often pure bullshit. You relied on Hot Rod magazine and their other ilk, which was ALSO often not completely accurate.

If you wanted a factory manual, you had to go to the dealer and convince the surely, uncooperative parts guy to order one. Book on engines, transmissions? How did you find out about THEM? There was no internet. If it wasn't advertised in a car rag, you would never hear about it. Your information was directly proportional to the size of the "urban" area in which you lived. Here, "out in the sticks" things, tools, parts, and information was very difficult to pry loose.

 

[greg r]

convince the surely, uncooperative parts guy to order one.

Oh how true!
As to blueprinting spec? Most specs are listed, either in the front of each section or chapter, or in the back under the general heading "Specifications" and then you had to look under each division and read across for each engine or component. My Dodge manual DOES list cam lift and duration for example, and to what engine it was applied whether 2BBL 4BBL or High Performance. But when it comes to tweaking engineered features such as CC'ing heads, that's asking to DAMN much. That's our job to figure out because what we're doing is balancing out manufacturing tolerances. No, no one head will have "exact matching" volumes just because of casting and machining deviation that you have to have limits on so it's affordable to produce, and still work well for the customer. Shift points and governor specs are listed too, but sometimes it's buried in the procedure. However, while some I praise for the occasional inclusion of a tutorial or theory of operation; my beef is that the editing isn't always up to par. In one of my manuals for the mid 1960's, the Fuel division has the setup procedure for an automatic's throttle pressure and kickdown linkage. You'd think that would be in the Transmission's division, and it does, but the pictures are out of sync and for two different procedures for two different engines that same picture is used say for Fig 30 and Fig 32. Confusing? Yes, but we need to be on our toes and hopefully have a thick enough book or other reference than can fill the gap or "complete the picture" as they say. Be aware that "factory" service manuals assume a "qualified" or experienced mechanic that doesn't need fundementals in practice or the nature of the business explained. If you need more than that, maybe get the happiness in another place.

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

a) They start off almost every paragraph with "using special tool #@#$% ... I don't have these special tools.

If only they'd at least have put a drawing of what that particular tool looked like...so you'd have some clue of what it was supposed to do (or to see if you've got something similar) :-/

 

[greg r]

drawing of what that particular tool looked like...

There were books that have listings of these tools. You can get only so much in a manual and dealerships did NOT carry every tool, if at all. Many listings are vintage now for our old iron, but many dealers had the books that either had the vehicle's logo or were from the toolmaker. I've seen some from the companies, such as Rotunda for Ford, Miller for Chrysler, and Kent-Moore for GM and IH. As posted earlier, the i-net can be a great resource, once you get past the ads and banners, and swap meets are good sources too.

 

[Ferdinandbites]

a) They start off almost every paragraph with "using special tool #@#$% ... I don't have these special tools.

b) No specifications for real blueprinting ... can't find nominal block deck height, piston pin height, piston dome volume, piston deck height, piston to valve clearance, combustion chamber volume, what specifications have been used for the advertised compression ratio, how advertised camshaft specifications are measured (duration as of what valve lift?), what the governor set RPM shift points are for an automatic transmission full throttle acceleration in "Drive"? After engineering each engine combination, all of this must have been figured out beforehand to insure the motors/transmissions didn't blow up at the initial start up ... so why not share the specifications with us? I know each engine combinations is different, but somebody behind the blueprinting has it all written down somewhere.

I'll usually cheap out and by the Haynes Manuals and regret it everything. Not sure whats worse not having the tool or the proper guess specs.