which book should I read?

[De Konjel]

As I mentioned in my "newbie" post I picked-up a bunch of chassis parts.
All on a pallet and as I can see it is compleet (almost).
I'm an experienced mechanic but new to the Ford Model A scene.......

What are the books I "need" to read??
Regarding chassis, suspension, brakes, engine, gearbox, etc.
What are good illustrated parts manuals?
Workshop manuals?

Thanxs, BART

[Mike Crehan]

Fifty Shades of A


I look forward to the serious answers as I have similar gaps to fill in my bookshelves.

[RUNNERBUN]

The Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook by Les Andrews, Available from all the regular Model A parts suppliers is a must have especially for the beginners.
You will also get valuable information from parts catalogues supplied by the Model A part suppliers.

[Mike V. Florida]

There are additional manuals specific to body style as well.
Get the owners manual to learn how to drive it.
Join a club to find friends with the knowledge you don't have.

The large format service bulletins is another source of information.

[kenparker]

You describe yourself as a "newbie". My answer to your question of "what books do I "need" to read?" is all of them.

I was a newbie 45 years ago and there were very few books to read and they were not that great , and of coarse no internet. Boy, life would have been nice if I could have found some of the current reading material and places like Fordbarn. ken

[De Konjel]

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Originally Posted by kenparker

You describe yourself as a "newbie". My answer to your question of "what books do I "need" to read?" is all of them.

Thats true Ken, and I love to read books.
I work all day with computers and that is a big source for info but (for me) nothing beats a good book!!!
I have to start somewhere!!

[Kevin in NJ]

Start with the owners manual.

Then 'The Legendary Model A Ford' to learn about how the car came about and how people used and abused the car. It is important to understand the A was not some fragile car. It was a car that was precision built and designed to run 60 MPH on really bad roads all day long.

When reading the various books you must understand they all have various errors. When in doubt check the Ford prints. Les's books are great, but are also horrible. They have great pictures for how stuff goes together, but if you built a car based on his dimensions it would not work well. He really fails in telling you how to discriminate good parts from bad parts.

When approaching the rebuild of the mechanical parts think like you are building a race car. Do you own and know how to use micrometers? Ford built a lot of parts to .001" accuracy.

Of course, you need the Judging Standards so you know when you have the right parts. Sometimes crossing 28-29 and 30-31 boundaries can result is issues in building a car.

One last piece of advice. Learn about screw thread tolerances. Ford used tighter tolerance screw threads in many places. You can not chase threads with tap and die on many parts without causing issues.

[Rowdy]

Don't forget a copy of the Service Bulletins. Rod

[Y-Blockhead]

As a “newbie” myself in the past year (has it been a year already??) I have found a wealth of info in just perusing the various vendors catalogs (all free) Beside getting familiar with the parts and the ‘jargon’ of Model A’s, most have exploded views of sub-assemblies.

Bert’s has a section in the back titled “Helpful Rebuilding Illustrations and Diagrams” that also includes hardware sizes (Nut, bolt, cotter pin. etc.)

Bratton’s has specs on the inside back cover and gives thread sizes in hardware descriptions (i.e. wood screw sizes, bolt sizes). Both MAC’s and Snyder’s have installation instructions in their online catalogs.

I’m also a big fan of Tom Endy’s articles (altho online) I have picked up a lot of tips from him. http://www.santaanitaas.org/technical-reference/tom-endys-tech-articles/

A book I like is "ModelA Ford for the Restorer" by Victor Page

Another book "Henry's Lady" has lots of info on the different models as does "Ford Model A"

A fun read is "Those Wonderfull Unauthorized Accessories for Model A Ford"

[dansluck]

"The Model A as Henry Built It" great book lots of details and pictures.
Dan

[Jacksonlll]

Hey Bart, once you get that car running, the book you need to keep in the car is my book, "Get a Horse". It will help you get it running when it stops on you. Snyder's, or Blurb.com. You can see the whole book on Blurb without buying it. I set up the preview of the whole book.

[mshmodela]

Aside from reading the posts here, Les Andrew's books, and the Service bullets are good reading to start with. Also, Mac's catalog are the best in terms of drawings etc. --you may or may not like their service but their catalog for education purposes are the best.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Remember, Model A's are a very simple, basic car, with a few oddities, like settin' the TIMING!
AND, don't be too critical of a few mistakes in Les Andrews' Books! (Love you, LES)---- Have YOU ever tried to WRITE a BOOK?

[Rex_A_Lott]

Les Pearson's book is a good one if you;re going to start a restoration.
Good Luck

[Bruce Lancaster]

1. Service bulletins.
2. 1928-32 chassis parts catalog. That covers original, get a Bratton's catalog so tyou know what's available.
3. Victor Page's Model A manual, heavy overap with #1 but features complete disassembly of a new A Model.
4. The Model A Ford as Henry Built it by Deangelis

[Tom Wesenberg]

Owner's Manual
The Model A Ford as Henry Built It
The Service Bulletins (full size, not the small yellow book)
Judging Standards
Dealer's parts catalogs
Model A Mechanics Handbook by Les Andrews

An excellent source of information is to attend the national meets and take lots of pictures of original survivor cars and high point restored cars.

[Fred K-OR]

I also think this site, Ford Barn will be a good source of info for you. When you get started with a task and can't figure it out, post some pictures of your situation and you will get about 5 million (kidding) answers to your problem but it is (mostly) all good info.