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Old 05-05-2011, 12:53 PM   #1
Brian T
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Default Ford repair shop manuals

Did Ford ever print shop repair manuals for the dealership mechanics? .... I would have thought that they must have had some reference to repairs and adjustments apart from the service bulletins.
I have never seen any offered for sale .... the reason I ask is I would like to have info on the worm axle and high low unit thats in my 29 AA .... not that I have a problem with them .... it would be nice to see the proper repair procedures.
Were Chilton....Mitchell....and Motors manuals available in that era?.

Thanks Brian T.
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Old 05-05-2011, 01:02 PM   #2
ratamahata
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

Brian may be this link to the model A truck club help you: http://www.fmaatc.org/
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Old 05-05-2011, 10:00 PM   #3
Tom Wesenberg
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

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Originally Posted by Brian T View Post
Did Ford ever print shop repair manuals for the dealership mechanics? .... I would have thought that they must have had some reference to repairs and adjustments apart from the service bulletins.
I have never seen any offered for sale .... the reason I ask is I would like to have info on the worm axle and high low unit thats in my 29 AA .... not that I have a problem with them .... it would be nice to see the proper repair procedures.
Were Chilton....Mitchell....and Motors manuals available in that era?.

Thanks Brian T.
If you don't own a DYKE'S manual from the early 30's or even early 40's I'd sure check ebay or book stores and buy one.

I too have wondered what was the first year for MOTOR"S MANUAL as I've used them a lot for late 40's to 80's cars, and think they are one of the best, outside of factory shop manuals for the specific car.
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Old 05-06-2011, 09:09 AM   #4
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

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...I too have wondered what was the first year for MOTOR"S MANUAL as I've used them a lot for late 40's to 80's cars, and think they are one of the best, outside of factory shop manuals for the specific car.
When I was in High School, I overhauled an automatic transmission in my 52 Merc using only a Motor's Manual.

Last edited by CarlG; 05-06-2011 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 05-06-2011, 09:38 AM   #5
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

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When I was in High School, I overhauled an automatic transmission in my 52 Merc using only a Motos's Manual.
I rebuild my first Corvair Spyder 4 speed tranny using the Motor's manual pictures. Unfortunately the picture of the sychro was wrong and showed the synchro backwards, so I had to pull the tranny a second time to figure out why I couldn't shift into 4th gear. After all that extra work I figured that was one lesson I wouldn't forget, but about 6 years latter when I had to overhaul another Corvair 4 speed for a customer I made the mistake of looking at that picture again. No, it won't happen again!!!!
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Old 05-06-2011, 11:53 AM   #6
Bruce Lancaster
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

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Dyke's auto encyclopedia had a whole fold-out supplement covering Model A peculiarities bound into the basic volume; this is currently available in reprint, minus the big book!
Anyway...I think what you want would be a couple of things together: A set of Model A Service Bulletins, and Page's Model A manual. Not sure what the repro edition of Page is called in the catalogs. Both readily available. Almost everything you need is covered, but navigation is a considerable problem...both are organized by dated layers rather than grouped by mechanical system, so finding what you need will drive you nuts.
A parts book is a good extra, too.
Someday I am going to supplement my originals by buying a couple of repos of each of those and a razor blade and spending about a week organizing the information!
Certain modern books are better organized, but have gaps and sometimes serious errors or simply dubious methods within, and so should not be used until you are familiar with the serious information from the Bulletins.
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Old 05-06-2011, 02:02 PM   #7
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

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... and Page's Model A manual. Not sure what the repro edition of Page is called in the catalogs...
Model A Ford Construction • Operation • Repair -- for the Restorer by Victor W. Page.
I just bought the "Thirtieth Anniversary Commemorative Edition" (1961)
Found it on Amazon.
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Old 05-10-2011, 03:38 PM   #8
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

Thank you for all for your inputs,
I posted here for more exposure than the AA forums would have, I have Goggled high and low looking for original Ford Motor Company printed service manuals, they printed shop manuals for the Model T for every year of production, I found them for 32 and up, nothing for the As or AAs, I was hoping to find them more as a collectors item.
I began working as a mechanic in 1957 in the UK , (Dagenham) lots of old pre war cars to repair, so making diamonds out of goats butts was the norm, I stayed up with the newest technology, I would never have dreamed that putting software into a car would cure a rough idle, I am now retired and have come full circle back to the old stuff.
Tom: I have been to that school of hard knocks many times, most of us only do them once, your postings have helped me a lot, along with the rest of the good people here.
I will keep searching, Thanks again Brian T.
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Old 05-11-2011, 09:10 AM   #9
Bruce Lancaster
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

I think that Ford USA published no normal shop manuals between the Model T one (1925 or so?) until 1949... everything was cumulative, based on the bulletins and requiring familiarity with them and their indexes. They did make the early Model A Bulletins and then again the 1932 bulletins into mini-shop manuals to get the dealership started when wholly new cars arrived.
The Dykes pamphlet I mentioned was similar, not a really comprehensive manual but enough to allow a mechanic to find his way when the first Model A arrived at his gas station for a tuneup.
The early private ones like Manly and Page's are also useful, but not at all equivalent to a modern organized manual, and after 1928 Page just stacked up relatively unorganized changes straight from the Bulletins rather than build the book into an updated manual.
The modern manuals take a real shop manual approach, but contain mistakes and controversies...they really require knowing the Bulletins as final authority and basis for judgement.
I know that in the V8 Years Ford Canada produced some service and repair manuals approaching real shop manual style, and all the National Ford companies produced excellent manuals during WWII as government publications.
Finding the books that are out there can be challenging...
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Old 05-11-2011, 06:50 PM   #10
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Default Re: Ford repair shop manuals

The Motor web site says they have been around since 1903... Man would love to have a Motor manual for 1929 Ford... I used them in the 70s (My Dad's actually)-- and still remember how detailed they were.
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Old 05-12-2011, 12:14 AM   #11
Tom Cogswell
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I have an eleventh edition Motor's Auto Repair manual printed in 1949. It covers 1935 thru 1948. If they have been around since 1903 they must not have published it evey year.

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