Automotive Books

This book is GREAT! Awesome pictures and history well documented, you can almost feel like you were there to witness these cars and drivers in person on race day. I was very young when this type of racing was being replaced by funny cars and pro stock drag cars but this book brings it all back!

if you are at ALL interested in historic drag classes, horsepower, hot rods, etc. this book is a must. There simply isn't any other source of information and photographs on gassers out there. Hundreds of rare photographs of gassers from the golden age make this a perfect coffee table book. The appendix at the back listing all the cars and the classes they raced in is also very helpful if attempting to "recreate" a historic gasser. This book is required reading!

The book is an excellent coffee table book. Wonderful old color pictures of a by gone era. Highly recommend it for any one who likes to remember the old gasser wars.

Like Davis' previous book on Super Stockers, this one's a keeper. Unlike that one, this one has a wealth of color photographs. And Davis supplements the pix with interesting, well-researched text. Anyone with an interest in this class or drag racing history in general will love this book. An A+ effort.

The repair manual on the Pontiac Grand Am helped me to repair the car. I could not have done the repair with out the manual.

This book is a typical Haynes manual. If you do repair on your own vehicles, then you have probably used one at some point in time. They do a great job of covering 99% of the repair jobs you might encounter. There is also a part that covers troubleshooting of problems and a small section that explains a little bit about the options. After market products, of course, aren't covered in these nor is this a book for the total novice. It does assume some knowledge about the way a car works and an understanding of basic mechanical procedures. But definitely a must for anyone that wants to do any kind of work on a vehicle on your own. These books are a bargain for the information that they have in them.

I've always been an avid user of the Haynes and Chilton's manuals; I purchased this one at Amazon because none of my local parts stores carried the manual for my car (a 2003 Chevy Malibu).

If you're familiar with the Haynes/Chilton's books, then you will not be disappointed. The terminology is advanced, so if you know nothing about cars and are hoping for a basic-language, easy-read instruction manual, this won't help. However, if you're familiar with cars (which I would hope you are, if you're attempting to repair one yourself), this book is exactly what you need to get the job done.

I rec'd this item very fast. It will help me maintain my car on my own. Thanks for the speedy service.

I read this book here in Brazil.This book is easy to read, well organized and have correct informations, about this subject.There's many chapters and every chapter, is about one kind of earthmover.Every chapter has a little historic beggining and then, we can read about the biggests makers of each earthmover machine.Germany to example, produces the biggests hidraulic escavators.
The main failure of this book are the photos.All of them are B&W.There isn't a single color photo, in this book.If a book is a historic book such as about World War I, is good to have only B&W photos, because only this kind of photo was then available.This book, even about nowadays machines , has only B&W photos.Then all photos are basically weak.The text is excellent, but the photos are weak.Because of the photos, I'll give 4 stars, not 5 stars for this book.

This book teaches a lot of earthmoving machines, mainly the manufactories history, and you will see the most exotic kind of machines that ever worked. Although all its pictures are black and white, it worst. Buy it.

Keith Haddock has written a serious and lavishly illustrated introduction to the world of heavy equipment, a world not used to being treated in such an adult fashion.

Haddock traces the history and development of each type of machine listed in his book, along with their manufacturuers,and the history of each brand name in the field. Accompanying the text are a series of clear, relevant photographs that illustrate different brands and periods in the development of each machine. Whereas many books drop an adult approach for the "Oh Boy, What a Big Machine That Is!" view of things, Haddock sticks with his conviction that he is writing for an intelligent audience interested in the history and development of heavy earthmoving machines. It is an approach I greatly appreciate.

One qualm with this book and others like it: There is too much emphasis placed on the largest of the machines; probably in the belief that this is the only way to sell such an intelligent book. However, if this is the only approach, why are there no color photos? While I can appreciate the size of a Caterpillar Model 24H grader, let's face the fact that the graders we normally deal with, and the graders that helped build America's road system, are the Cat Models 10 and 12 grader. Also what about the automatic paving machine and ther roller. We never hear of their stories; yet without them, roads would be much the worse for wear.

But until such a book comes out, Haddock's tome is well worth the time and money and is guaranteed intelligent reading with much to offer in the way of learning.

This book teaches a lot of earthmoving machines, mainly the manufactories history, and you will see the most exotic kind of machines that ever worked. Although all its pictures are black and white, it worst. Buy it.

I needed to replace my wife's driver side mirror and the direction I found in this book was perfect. I looked through the rest of this book and they do a pretty good job breaking down each task and there are plenty of pictures to illustrate the steps.

I grew up in the house of a mechanic and always had access to Chilton books. I do all my own automotive work and since discovering the Haynes manuals I can honestly tell you some things Haynes covers in great detail are just remove and replace items in the Chilton Books. I have bought a Haynes Manual for every car I have owned and every car in our family from day one when we bought the car for reference on maintenance. I have yet to not find the information I needed to repair the car when it broke down.
And for a novice the best way to not be confused it to read it again and try to understand what they are actually saying and follow directions exact. Shortcuts are expensive

The descriptions of how to do the work are accurate, but can be hard to follow if you are not used to doing your own work on your car. Some of the pictures could have been more detailed/better angles to identify exactly what to remove during each step.

I am no mechanic, though I have worked on my own cars for years and have done many of my own simple repairs. If something seems too difficult, I am more likely to let a professional do it. BUT, professionals these days are way too expensive for things you could be doing yourself.

For example, I replaced a water punp on my 1998 Taurus. It was not too difficult, but this book provided some useful tips and things to avoid. Pep boys wanted $180-200, though I picked up the part for $30 and did it myself in about one hour. Saving that much is enough to get my off my rump and into the garage.

This book also gave me some very useful information on diagnosing my non-functioning A/C. This included how to pull the blower resistor from under the dash and how to test the connections with a Ohm meter. I bought one at Harbor Freight for $3 and found out that it (the resistor assembly) was bad. Ford sold me a new one for $15 and the A/C was fixed. This cost me $18 total and some sweat, but it would have been several hundred at at repair shop. I'm sure I would have had to pay for hours and hours of diagnosis - all for a simple-to-reach $15 part that I knew nothing about beforehand.

I just (a year ago) spent $600 on some front end parts at a repair shop, but looking through this book, think I could have done it myself for under $100. O'reilly auto will even loan you the special tool needed.

I also have used Chilton's in the past, though not for this car. In my opinion, Haynes is far easier to use and assumes less about the readers skill level.

I recommend fully, especially in the day of the $100+/hour labor charge.

If you would like to know who really started the Lean Journey look no further than Henry Ford

This is the book that made me appreciate Mr Ford's accomplishments and how he changed the world of business, particularly manufacturing. He was a leader and true visionary in many aspects of business, which are chronicled herein, and many of the roots of Lean are documented in this text. Aside from kanban and `jelly beans', he didn't miss much of the fundamentals of what we see as Lean.

The impacts of Ford's principles on business, the economy, social ramifications, and more are profound. The ideas, thought processes, and applications are expressed well and we can learn from these today. Too bad much of the rest of American business lost sight of Ford's techniques as they became enamored with scientific formulae like EOQ (economic order quantities) without questioning the assumptions.

There are different "uses" for this book - some I'd recommend, and others not.
I WOULD NOT recommend this book for it's insights on -
Economics: Ford explains a classic industrial notion that a company paying employees more will increase its sales because employees will buy more company product. Not only is this a false assumption of employee behavior, it also only approaches plausibility for very large consumer product companies.
Finance: Ford describes how financial instruments are short-term narcotics and long-term ills. His opinion seems to ignore the buffering benefits of finance, as well as the gains created for society by letting financial tools open possibilities.

HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE -

It is current: Ford describes a organizational skill poorly understood and mostly ignored: coordination. In the book, many processes are described that Ford says are all well known to other companies, but how the Ford Corporation made the processes interact was their power. Today's out-sourcing is more palatable knowing this skill.
It is insightful: An excellent alternative to the "profit-motive" of companies is presented: service-motive. Not because profits are bad does Ford present the service-motive, but because profits are give unreliable feedback. Ford sees the maintenance of service to the public as a more durable goal.
It is historical: Not only does it provide the roots to Taiichi Ohno's - Toyota's - operations strategy, but it also gives clues to why Ford lost dominance. The Toyota roots pop up in Ford's writing on waste, on cleanliness (5s), on continuous flow, and on timing. The clues pop up with his ignorance of customer desires vs. needs, his overconfidence in managing highly diverse businesses, and his inattention to downstream processes.

If you know the limitations of Today and Tomorrow, you then can reap great benefits by reading it as if it was written last week. Many of its ideas have yet to fully play out in the world of industry.

This is an outstanding book for those folks in manufacturing who are starting out on their "Lean" journey. The book teaches the uninitiated an original thinker's way of recognizing "waste" in manufacturing, and often, how to deal with that waste. Taiichi Ohno took a "shipload" of this book with him to Japan in the '50s and made sure that every Toyota engineer read the book. The rest is history as to how Toyota packaged this information for the rest of the world, including the United States, in its now famous "7 wastes of manufacturing." You will enjoy the book and learn what an outstanding visionary Henry Ford really was.

Probably the best book on the subject of the Model A Ford. In depth coverage of even the smallest detail of these cars.

The quality of the book is perfect. Of course the content is very well written and the pictures are very cool!

This book is a "keeper" for anyone with an interest in the Ford Model "A". All of the various body styles from 1928 to 1931 are covered in detail. High quality photos accompany descriptions of both "standard" and "optional" features found on each body style. Kudos to the author and the photographer for a high quality book.

As an owner of a recently restored Model A this book is a MUST. Contained in it are all the fine points regarding the various body types and accessories. No wonder this book serves as a primer for the expert judging of Model A's.

Having recently received the book "Herb Martinez's Guide to Pinstriping" as a gift,read it front to back. Well done,well illustrated by photos and "Big Al" Meadows' drawings. Herb covers Pinstriping history, materials/brushes, techniques, design thoroughly.For anyone interested in starting to pinstripe or an "Old Hand",I heartily recommend this book. I learned from and I've been doing it for 50 years. Nat Quick Herb Martinez's Guide to Pinstriping

Good mix of photos and text. Great illustrations. History of the art is interesting and the detailed instructions make it a great reference guide.

I have always been in awe of pinstripers. How they can lay down a line in such perfect proportion has always been a mystery to me. They are true artists. Herb Martinez has taken the art and mystery behind pinstriping and brought it down to the level where all can understand how it is done. This man not only paints a straightline, he can write a straight one, too. I've known Herb for going on 30 years and he is a character. His personality matches his designs and he is a sheer joy to talk to. Beautifully illustrated with clear and concise text, this book should be in every current and future pinstripers tool box. Well done, Herb!

My name is Miz Raven (formaly Von Raven), I am a self tought pinstriper who had the privilage to meet Mr.Martinez at the Pinstripers Reunion at the GNRS. Out of all the books I've read on pinstriping, this by far the most thorough, informative and easy to follow book I've ever read. I couldn't even put it down once I started to read it! It covers everything from history, to every brush and paint imanginable and its use, how to properly stripe a strait line down the side of a car (I'm no longer lopsided!!), goldleafing, and more!!!
I am forever grateful of the vast amount of info Mr. Martinez has filled this book with!!! It's definitely a keeper!!!

Excellent book. Great photos. I bought his posters way back in the early 80's. Good to see some ink on Pete Eastwood. My copy has already been well lloked at.

Robert Williams younger years are examined here and the influence of the car culture
and motorcycle culture on his art of the period and later. I liked the book,
as it exposes more of the man than his rather outre` work reveals.
I wish that more of his hot rod themed paintings had been included, as it is
mostly photos of Robert and his cars.
A helpful book if you're trying for a more rounded understanding of this
painter in relationship to his era.
His work from the period was more furious, than the ironic and fantastic
paintings of later years.
Reboundspring

I'm married 28 years to a hot rod guy. He always told me Robert Williams was "da man." Now, having read thru this excellent art-infused history-biography, I know why. Williams imagines, then creates. Nothing holds him back. In that way he's true to the spirit of hot rodding. His stories are highly entertaining, the art is spellbinding, and the overall organization of the book is first rate. Can't ask for much more than that! Totally and highly recommended.

The Hot Rod World of Robert Williams is quite a book. For Williams fans and car buffs alike, this title delivers a pile of steaming hot information, art and vintage photographs in an entertaining format. But like the man himself, there is nothing typical about this book.

What we have here is an illustrated family album with dialog that sounds like it was recorded sitting around the kitchen table. Robert and Suzanne Williams are two very knowledgeable, articulate and funny people, with the inside skinny on the outlaw car and art worlds. These folks grew up after WWII when the teen car scene was in its infancy; they built their own cars, partied, fought and raised hell with the rough kids, and placed their own marks on the car (and art) culture. In this book, Robert and Suzanne explain what real hot rodders were doing as they show the evolution of the cars they built.

But understand, this is not a sanitized version, a tale of rich man collectors, or the Golden Book of Car Show Winners. Even within their circle of friends, Robert and Suzanne's cars and ideas were not typical. For those familiar with Robert's contribution as a trouble maker, innovator and leader in the art world, it is interesting to note that even within a group of car and biker outlaws, this guy was different, a radical who pursued his own ideas, often in the face of derision. And Suzanne is clearly his partner in crime.

While others were chopping and welding together steel street rats, fabricating racecars, or designing from scratch exotic show cars, the Williams carefully planned, cut and built cars that were true hot rods yet preserved the integrity of the original vehicle. Then when their cars were assembled, upholstered and beautifully finished, the couple eschewed the usual high gloss paint jobs and mag wheels, driving and displaying their cars instead in glorious dull primer! Years later, when flat primered hot rods became a SoCal fad, Robert restored his car's original rumble seat and had it painted in an outrageous early race car style with an obnoxious color scheme of purple and chartreuse (!), once again offending most of the car boy purists. Why?

Buy the book and see....

It's a great read, a fun ride, and, along the way, all will be explained.

I think this book was a great book.I think this book was great because it had the most awesome cars every . I like the old Ferrias and other old cars. The car I like the most is the Chevy Blair it is the most awesome car i liked.I liked in the Book is the cars.You read this book and see what you lik the most

If you ever owned, rode-in, worked-on, loved or wanted a real HOT ROD then this is your book. The pictures and the selection of featured cars is superior to any other book like this one. You will go back to it over and over.
This would be a perfect gift for anyone who ever owned, rode-in, worked-on, loved or wanted a real HOT ROD and was to good a father or husband to give up the time or money necessary to make that dream come true. This is just simply a wonderful experience.

How many times have you walked into a bookstore and seen picture books of cars for $4.99? Well, this isn't one of them, Vincent is an artist and the pictures are beautiful. The text is interesting and informative even if you are NOT a gearhead. This is more than just a peek into a fascinating culture kept alive by a lot of greybeards, it's an education - a fun one too. This is not just a guy obsession - a lot of women love hot rods as well. All ages welcome...AC

If you ever owned, rode-in, worked-on, loved or wanted a real HOT ROD then this is your book. The pictures and the selection of featured cars is superior to any other book like this one. You will go back to it over and over.
This would be a perfect gift for anyone who ever owned, rode-in, worked-on, loved or wanted a real HOT ROD and was to good a father or husband to give up the time or money necessary to make that dream come true. This is just simply a wonderful experience.

Must have to read (or do) a lot of the old school type customizing for cars. Very complete. Well written and detailed sections.

Burger and Hendrickson have done a great job of covering the process of building a hot rod. With their years of experience, wit, and wisdom it makes for a very enjoyable read. Much of the text is obviously culled from the late, great RODDER'S DIGEST magazine, but it was good then, just as it is now. For anyone who is seriously into hot rods, this is required reading.

Okay, I admit, I am not a hot rodder. I like fast, water-cooled volkswagens. The book was a gift. "Great," I thought. "What am I gonna do with this?" It sat around for awhile before I cracked the covers. Good Golly, y'all!! THIS BOOK ROCKS!!

The authors have really distilled auto resto and modification down to were even a nimrod can understand it and envision doing the projects. I can't really speak to the "Model T-this," "Deuce-coupe-that" sort of stuff in the book, but man, the technical stuff about metal-bumping, welding, body work, paint application, suspension modifciation, and other how-to stuff is great. They have put the facts in simple, step-by-step sequences with loads of photos to clarify the procedure. This is the kind of stuff you find in good car magazines, but here, the authors have wrapped into one slick package.

Okay, so it looks a little funny on my shelf with all my euro-car books, but I am not ashamed to own (AND actually to have READ) a copy of Hot Rodder's Bible. My hat is off to the authors. I am sure hot rodders will love this book as much as I found that I did. Believe me, I was determined to not like, or even admit that I owned, this book. Now, I take it to my club meetings and show if off to my buds. I wonder if the authors would ever consider a "Pocket Rocket Bible?"

This book was designed to be a complete guide to finding, building, and enjoying a hot rod. Chapters include: * A Brief History of the Hot Rod * Finding Your Hot Rod Project * Building a Better Body * The Hot Rod Frame * A Rogue's Gallery of Hot Rods * Hot Rod Suspension Basics * Hot Rod Brakes * Hot Rod Engines and Drivetrains * Hot Rod Interiors * 15 Things to Do With Your Hot Rod * The Ten Commandments of Hot Rodding * Source Guide * Club List

Each chapter includes a section on general information and theory, followed by step-by-step how-to sequences. The "Rogue's Gallery" includes color features on a variety of hot rods.