Sage advice for Newbies

[TonyM]

When I bought my 1937 Ford, I also purchased about $400 worth of books--everything that pertained to my car. I never had worked on a pre-war Ford car. Using books and asking questions on FordBarn was the best thing for me. Last month I removed my differential/torque tube and removed my transmission. In May, I rewired the almost entire car--front to back (did not replace dome light wire or radio stuff). All from books and asking questions on Ford Barn.

Tom, buy everything that says 1937 Ford on it and read it. It worked for me. The books pictured are the nearest thing you are going to get to "how to" in the Ford Business.

[TonyM]

Tom, These books here are the nearest to "how to" you are going to get. They actually tell you how to take stuff apart and how to put it back together. These were very handy to me.

[TonyM]

Since my 1937 Ford shares parts and components with both pre 1937 and post 1937 cars, I elected to buy both the 1932 to 1937 Service Bulletins and the 1938-1940 Service Bulletins. Both have been handy and also very interesting.

[TonyM]

This 1938 Auto Mechanic Text Book was helpful.

[TonyM]

If you plan on working on Ford cars for the rest of your life--like I do--it's a good idea to get the so-called "Green Bible", also known as the 1928-1948 Ford Chassis Parts and Accessories Catalogue. Some have said that the chassis parts list and the body parts list books are useless. I disagree. Good reference material. Can't have too many books. (When I went to college, I never sold my text books back to the school book store--I still have almost all of my college texts).

Tom, get as many books about your 1937 Ford as you can and read. Ask as many questions on FordBarn as you can. Go back and read previous threads on FordBarn. Very Very Helpful. The EFV-8 club 1938-1939 Ford Book is also very handy for the 1937 Ford owner since the 1937 Ford shares some pieces with the 1938-39 models. (the 1938-1939 Ford Book is top notch and very detailed).

[TonyM]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by Tom in SW VA

A question to all Fordbarners: Where do I find these "how to" repair and trouble-shoot books on my car?


Yes, I belong to Early Ford V-8 Club of America, but it has been useless. I am just wasting my money on the membership. If you don't belong to a local chapter, you are left out.



PS - Like it or not, I will continue asking questions on Fordbarn.

Tom, all the books I listed --except the 1938 Auto Mechanic Text--can be purchased from many of the early Ford V-8 Vendors we all use here on FordBarn: Mac's, Drake's, Joe', C&G Fords, Carpenter, etc, etc.

Don't quit the Early Ford V-8 Club. The club publication, The V-8 Times, is worth the cost of membership alone. These are award winning magazines and very informative. Read Them.

And keep asking questions here on Ford Barn.

I would help you if I could. Good luck.

[Shadetree]

I honestly believe you learn a lot of basic mechanics over the years if you have had an interest. I am sure there are many people, perhaps not on Fordbarn, that have never changed the oil and filter on their car. Yet, these same people can do tasks other than mechanical that I would not attempt. I know this is comparing apples with oranges, but no amount of manuals could teach me how to be a surgeon....

[37 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Shadetree

I honestly believe you learn a lot of basic mechanics over the years if you have had an interest. I am sure there are many people, perhaps not on Fordbarn, that have never changed the oil and filter on their car. Yet, these same people can do tasks other than mechanical that I would not attempt. I know this is comparing apples with oranges, but no amount of manuals could teach me how to be a surgeon....

nor asking questions from your doctor in reality.

[ford38v8]

As a kid, like most of us, I was able to perform my rebuilding tasks with instructions from the junk yard operator. I'd tell him my problem and he'd tell me how to proceed. We don't have those experts available at our beck and call anymore, but we have Fordbarn, and a wonderful world of books I never knew existed as a kid. As I said in my first post, it was a major wakeup call to discover that the V8 Club member who volunteered to help me with my brakes wasn't any more knowledgeable than I was about mechanical brakes. I had obtained a vintage MoToRs Manual, which I knew and respected, but as some here have pointed out, there's nothing like hands-on-learning, and to reread the book in the garage with a buddy and a beer, it doesn't get any better than that. Two guys and a book can rebuild a Ford and the River Rouge factory that produced it.

As someone else pointed out, not everything you read is true, and a lot of it can't be understood until you dig into the job. To bolster my understanding of the job before digging into it, I began collecting books by different authors on the same subjects. Different wording of answers and different illustrations are important for full comprehension, and that right there is one very good reason that the Fordbarn today fills the gap of the missing junk yard operator.

Thinking about that junk yard operator, I have a gut feeling that he was well known in many parts of the USA. See if any of you remember this guy: He was short and wiry, his clothes were very dark in color as were his hands and arms from constant contact with dirty motor oil. Totally bald, black grease smudged forehead with a small fresh wound on one side. There were small islands of color about his bloodshot eyes, which squinted from the smoke of his ever present stogie. He had a nine day growth of beard always, which when smudged with grease would compliment the tobacco stain on his chin. His teeth defy description. Combat boots without laces sported a fresh dusting of dirt over the oil soaked leather. This guy was the filthiest example of mankind that ever roamed the earth, and he knew everything there was to know about every car in the world. He was my idol.

[Vic Piano]

Alan, that's a memory jog for sure. When I was a teenager (with my first Flathead), we had three competing "junk yards" in the town where I lived. The best one (because they let me search the yard and barn for parts) was owned by a man named Lester Cutting (not sure about the spelling of his last name), he was into early '20's Studebakers. I picked up a bunch of Flathead parts for my '48 TuDor Sedan from him, and you're right, he knew everything about "old cars".

[Shu47]

Good advice all. Read the books, get your hands dirty because nothing substitutes for hands on experience and have plenty of band-aids close by.

[1937pickup]

Great discussion, especially liked the comments about learning by doing. One thing that helps me is pictures, I am a north American male and I do much better figuring something out if there are pictures. I think most people on this site are the same way, how many times does someone ask a question and one of the responses is "post some pictures-they would sure help."

[BILL WZOREK]

Alan:

In your discription of the junk yard operator we had his brother.
We were mere teens playing with cars, if we needed any thing we would go and see "OLD" BOB / Heck he was all of 30 maybe 32 years wise.