Autos Books

It looks very nice, but when it comes to having a lot of useful information it is lacking.

Bonita Espana from behind the wheel. This is for the 5th edition, 2004 printing.

Excellent guide to seeing Spain with a car or a moped. You will enjoy some great driving tours and routes through Espana.

Frommers has recently come out with more "Best-Loved Driving Tours" series ... guides that are not very inexpensive, but are very well researched and quite comprehensive. One will have plenty of driving tours and routes to chose from, whether you like arts and museums, scenic roads and breathtaking views, urban towns and shopping, or just want to experience a regione's culture and life.

Unlike the other Frommer guides that are fatter and heavier, this little book gives you not too many specifics on lodging or eating. It is geared strictly for the person behind the wheel and her or his passengers.

I have had a great experience using this guide and will recommend it to anyone who can afford it. Also, you might want to check to see if your library carries it and check it out for the duration of your visit abroad.

When I backpacked 4 months through Europe I had a copy of the Lonely Planet for Europe (a thick and heavy book) because it covered more cities and esoteric towns, a ripped chapters of all the international youth hostals Europe of the countries I visited, and as primary guide for nominal cities and capitals I used Frommers (ripped the book and kept only chapters of countries planning to visit - so I can keep the weight down).

I am a lover of Frommer's guides. In the past I've owned guides for Florida, Arizona, The Carolinas and Spain. So I assumed that this would be a good one. I was partly wrong. It has some beautiful pictures, for sure. But if what you are after is a guide to point you to the off-the-beaten-path places, if you want to drive away from the routes of the tour buses, this is not the right book for you. The tours it recommends are not too different from regular sightseeing experiences, so what's the point of driving the same routes that you can have someone drive for you?

If you are the adventurer type, you're much better off getting a copy of the Frommer's Spain book or the Michelin Guide. They will provide you with a wealth of details and tips that will enrich your travel plans.

This book is much to basic to call it a Chevy overhaul manual.
The first 1/4 of the book is all about tools and drills, etc. High school stuff.
When it does get to the engine bits. They refer you to the manufacturer or other specialist for the exact details for the engine you are working on.
Give me a good Helms book any day.

Bob

This is a good book to use as a guideline while overhauling your Chevy V-8. However, it does not go into great detail on specific cars, since this would probably be impossible to do. If you have a good general knowlegde of cars and how they work then this is an excellent book for you to have at your side for more information and excellent tips. But, if you don't know that much about your car you should probably get a service manual for your car as well. An overall good book.

The book covers not only the "nuts and bolts" of the engine family, but the methods and tricks used to do a good job. I would like to see more discussion on the design elements of the engine. For example, I needed to see the oil gallery flow diagram, but it's not in the book. Nevertheless, everything you need to know for a typical rebuild is well laid-out.

I've looked through this at a Pep Boys store. The printing job is lousy. The paper is low quality, the print is more gray than black, and the photographs were blurry enough to reduce their usefulness. The instruction for the work I'd wanted to do was simply to have a professional mechanic do it. Still, I'm sure it would be of use for some projects, and if I had more spending money I might have bought it.

I own a Plymouth Neon 1998, and since i know very little about mechanics,this book explains things in a way even i understand. its all there, from jumping a dead battery to overhauling the engine.
if you own a Neon 1995-98, you must buy this!

This book gets the bottom line done. I mean the conversion charts are good, and the information is all pretty much there, but I really had a hard time understanding some of the instructions. And they really should have done a better job editing. The myriad of typo's made it that much more difficult. But, that being said, the directions can get you through most minor repairs.

I got mine for 12 bucks at an auto parts store. That's about what it is worth to me.

Unless you are going to buy an actual GM service manual, this is the way to go!

I am very pleased that the manual is even newer than stated as mine covers up to the 2004 models. This manual covers all that I would be doing but does not go into detail on the 4.6 Northstar engine which is fine as I do not have the tools nor the knowledge to go that deep. A good manual for the novice.

This manual is too specific to just the car that was dismantled. The instructions were dead wrong for my 1997 Deville for door panel and window motor replacement. If I had continued trying to pry the door fasteners off, I would have broken the attachment hooks which replaced the press-in fasteners.

Just about any Weber carb is in this book, plus Zenith Strombergs and SU carburetors ... with four or five pages dedicated to each. In other words, a mile wide and an inch deep. But where else can you find this much information between two covers? Just a shame it's published on newsprint paper...
pj

Good diagrams and rebuilding information but a little light on troubleshootin, diagnostics, and tuning.

It's what he wanted, and he uses it.

I got a lot of useful suspension and brake tips from this book but as someone else pointed out the parts and cars mentioned may not be available in your country. I got what I needed and would buy it again.

Add it to your collection, however, it has it's shortcomings. The author is defintly knowledgeable about his subject, however the presentation of the material could be better. The book reads like a compilation of magazine articles at times. If you have a good collection of VW Trends & Hot VW's magazines, you probably don't need this book. The author is also from the UK, so there are references to items, that if you are in the USA, may not be practical (i.e. brakes from a Horizon Talbot or something like that). He presents alot of options on various topics, but never really tells you what product "in reality" is the best (pros/cons). He also does not really get into true suspension tuning. Things are left pretty loose (i.e. adding an anti-sway bar will improve handling)....Well, as a race driver myself I could disagree with this statement in certain cases. He does not outline, basic vehicle dynamics tunings. Example: He does not say that Stiffening the rear of the car increases oversteer, and stiffing the front increases understeer. Let alone define under/over steer. The affect of tire pressures, alignment, etc. These TRUELY "tuning for High-Performance" items are either left out or glossed over.

Unless, you need a good reference on Brake "Options", or how to shorten you chasis for kit cars or Baja's, spend your money on "Keith Seume's book on Volkswagen Bug Performance". If you already own Keith's Performance book, you probably don't need this book.

Stongest Point: R&Ring King and Link Pins, Ball Joints, basic maintenance on the supspension.

If the book were titles "VW Suspension Maintenence and Options" I would have rated it a 4. The "high performance" angle despite the many brake options is misleading.

As the first book written about volkswagen suspension,(that I know of), it has a lot of good information; I was however, a little dissapionted in the way the information was presented, it is sometimes hard to find what you want without having to read a whole chapter. I was looking for a comprehensive book that included setups for racing, including formula-vee, and this book is geared more towards just street applications. good info on brakes. A must buy if you want to modify your susp., but I'm hoping for a better second edition.

A friend loaned me Lingenfelters book and I agree with the other reviewers here that it has more detailed information about camshafts and cylinder heads. But I felt lost reading it. I had to re-read sections over and over, and some of it still didn't make sense to me. I'm sure he's right, but I just don't know if what he's saying to do applies to me. This book was easy to read, though. It was almost as if the author had written the book just for me. He explained things clearly, but didn't make me feel like the dummy I felt like when reading the lingenfelter book. I really liked how this book focused on street-legal modifications; most books and magazines always seem to talk about expensive racing parts that I can't afford. Yes, this book could be a bit more specific about some topics (especially camshafts) and I would have liked a few more step-by-step instructions. But I wouldn't let those shortcomings keep you from buying it.

I found the John Lingenfelter book by HP to be more informative concerning camshaft and cylinder head combinations for TPI and EFI small block Chevy engines. John Lingenfelter is a well-known racer and now competes in NHRA Pro Stock Truck Series. Lingenfelter also gives various combinations that are proven and dyno tested, making selection very easy for the avid enthusiast.

This book is great for a simple history of the TPI and fuel injected engines. However, I found the Lingenfelter book was more detailed in how to properly modify and make great power on TPI engines.

I willl always think of this book as my best friend!!!

This is one of the worst text books that I have used. It gives large amounts of problems to solve, but provides few examples that adequately help the user to solve those problems. It makes references, in examples, to exercises that it assumes you have completed. It doesn't provide many answers to these exercises, either. I would estimate about 10%, and the exercises referred to by the text are usually not part of this 10%.
The book does not go into great detail in illustrating a point. I suppose it would be a good reference for someone who already understands the subject matter. For new students, this book is definitely not recommended.

Using the 3rd ed. instead of the 4th ed. specified in Computer Language Theory syllabus. Instructor said it would be acceptable (he is using the 2nd or 3rd ed.). There is some variation in the exercise numbers, but those can be resolved with quick comparisons with someone with the latest edition.

Overall nice diagrams & explanations. I'm finding the text & examples to be solid. Nice to have solutions to selected exercises included as well.

The photos are very high quality studio shots, but a buyer should be aware the coverage is more impressive and thorough of the pre-1965 era. There are some omissions of important cars from the 1960's through 80's.

I bought this after reading a positive review in a British auto magazine and seeing the nice cover photo of the Ferrari 250GTO. You get very very nice studio photos of select classic Italian cars. The emphasis is on pre-1965 cars, but the title didn't say that. The cars are presented chronologically starting in 1907 and by 3/4 of the book we are at 1960. Fewer photos are dedicated to each post-1960 car. This leaves sparse and perhaps a bit Ferrari-centric coverage of the remaining years up to 2004, but even the lovely Ferrari Lusso gets only one photo. Everyone has their own taste. Personally I am disappointed by the following: You won't find the Iso Grifo, Ghia 450SS, Maserati Ghibli, DeTomaso Mangusta, Alfa-Romeo Tipo 33, or the Ferrari 288GTO. Yet you'll find the relatively unappealing and in my humble opinion "non-classic" DeTomaso Vallelunga. You'll find the Pininfarina Ferrari 512S showcar from which few styling cues were used on production cars, but you won't find the Lamborghini Marzal or Afla Romeo 33 Carabo. I do give the book credit for its early year coverage and beautiful photos of those cars, and I'm grateful it's not trying to be a historical or technical reference piece saving more space for photos.

Before I ordered this book, I read another review that said the reader was disappointed. However, I took a chance and bought it. The book was exactly what I wanted. It may not have all the technical stuff the other reviewer wanted, but if you're more interested in the sheer beauty of these magnificent automobiles, you won't be disappointed.

I got this book for christmas... there is a lot of nice picture like the enzo and maserati mc12... also the lambo miura...and lots of old car which i don't care....however this book is about italian car design... and to tell the truth it is not much... just think of the old 1950's F1 cars... and most of the old car design looks like the new Ferrari 612, very boring... and some pictures of supercars.... must be mid engine of course...it is better if you just watch top gear than buying this book... the information is not really deep... even a car mag would have better information... but the picture is really really nice... the problem is how the car is describe.. read this book like you are reading a history book... i won't buy anymore book like this book.. well... except for books about Ferrari cars...

Chilton sinks to a new low in automotive repair books with this one.If you have a Jeep pass on it. Says for professional technicians,hodge podge of Stuff not in depth on any part of a vehicle. For $60.00 you get a swell hard cover, not much else.

Chilton's Jeep Wrangler/Yj 1987-94 Repair Manua

Great Book. Has all that I need to get work done on the '87 Jeep I just bought. I love the wiring schematics. They have good detail and are easy to read. The section on the heating and air conditioning system provided me with exactly the view I needed to find and fix a water drain problem.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a Jeep and needs info.