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Apr 25, 2012 10:08:53 GMT
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Hi! There are books - and there are books. And then there are books that help you make your motor help you go faster! Make it handle - or just make you understand it better. I'm aiming this thread for the 'Useful Threads and FAQ' forum. So I hope it's not too much against the rules... First, a book that helped me a lot to understand a car's suspension and how it makes a car handle - or not. Fred Puhn - 'How tomake your car handle' ISBN-10: 0912656468 The next is about a man and his quest to go very fast with very low budget. This is perhaps the most inspiring book I've read and I learned a lot. It's not simply about low-budget racing, it's almost a philosophy for live. If you can, get that book and read it! It truely is inspiring! Unfortunately it's rare and expensive... Allan Staniforth - 'High speed, low cost' ISBN-10: 085059037X For the Mini crowd. The yellow 'Bible'. I've learned a lot here about internal combustion engines and how to make them make you go faster. David Vizard - 'Tuning the A-Series engine' ISBN-10: 1859606202 And next a little book that talks about SU carburettors and some usual and some unusual ways to extract better performance from a SU. And why you don't neccesarily need a Weber to go fast. Also tuning, needle filing etc. is explained. Des Hammill - 'The SU Carburettor High Performance Manual' ISBN-10: 1845840739 All other books I've read are in german. For diesel technology, have a look for the yellow Bosch books, the older the better (less common rail stuff). And the ultimate four-stroke-bible; the cylinder head book by Ludwig Apfelbeck ('Wege zum Hochleistungs-Viertaktmotor', ISBN-10: 3879435782). But I think there's no translated print out.
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Apr 25, 2012 10:27:34 GMT
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One of my fave books is the AA Book of the Car (no ISBN): 440 pages of pure retro awesome all bound in a 70's disco cover. What's not to like? So much stuff contained within, all beautifully illustrated and explained. Lots of intersting stuff covering every aspect of the car and also a great piece of history showing techniques that were acceptable then (using newspaper and chicken wire to repair rust holes and dents....as shown by the AA!!) Not so much a 'useful' book but a great read and something that's just lovely to have kicking around to marvel at every now & then. The whole entrance section of Area 52 is plastered with some of the pages (including the bodywork repairs section) and lots of people stop to read it. Having the book is even better (maybe use it to wallpaper the garage?) Buy them cheap on eBay, usually for about 99p with ÂŁ5.00 postage (they are heavy) - you can't go wrong. A must have book if you ask me. Essential toilet reading at its best.
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,448
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Apr 25, 2012 11:32:19 GMT
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My Dad had the AA Book Of The Car in his Victor FD. Always kept me entranced on trips up and down the M1.
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Apr 25, 2012 12:11:50 GMT
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'High speed, low cost'... Unfortunately it's expensive. *irony klaxon* btw... Bruce - that disco cover has sucked me in, I've bought a copy on eBay.
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Last Edit: Apr 25, 2012 14:03:52 GMT by dbizzle
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Apr 25, 2012 12:46:54 GMT
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My mate who is just finishing his degree in motorsport engineering at Coventry seems to have done his course out of Carrol Smith books. Flicking through them, I think they're great. They're pretty much all called 'xxxx to win', eg tune to win or engineer to win. IIRC, this one is the most 'average joe' friendly, without being boring.
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I've got Rovers.
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Apr 25, 2012 13:45:00 GMT
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Hmm, books eh? Let's see. For the small 60's Fords: Tuning Ford Escorts and Capris by David Vizard (Speedsport) (Can't find a picture of this one) Tuning Four Cylinder Fords by Paul Davies (Speedsport) and then there is the later Rebuilding and Tuning Ford's Kent Crossflow Engine by Peter and Vallerie Wallage Between these three you can build any crossflow or pre-crossflow you want and they are a wealth of information about what parts are interchangeable on both the engines and the cars. There is a Speedsport book on Anglias and Cortinas as well by the look of it. I haven't got it but it is probably as excellent. You'll need Webers if you build a proper 4 cylinder Ford , so How to Build & Power Tune Weber & Dellorto DCOE & DHLA Carburettors by Des Hammill (SpeedPro Series) is absolutely essential. I learned all my Weber knowledge from this book and a few years of fiddling with them. Moving onto the older stuff - I could have done with these when I was actually running sidevalves... These are really old books and can be hard to find, but are a goldmine: Tuning Sidevalve Fords by Bill Cooper The Ford 10 Competition Engine - A complete tuning manual by Philip H Smith Out in Front - The Leslie Ballamy Story by Tony Russell You can build any sidevalve with the top two, from mild to wild, to secret race spec. There is quite a lot on the divided opinions on how you build a fast sidevalve and the different ways to overcome the inherent design flaws. The Leslie Ballamy Story is more about the cars and the products that Ballamy came up with to make upright Pops and Pilots perform like racing cars.
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Apr 25, 2012 14:24:36 GMT
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Fred Puhn's other classic: Carroll's got a handy booklet. You look up your symptom and it tells you what to adjust on your car to go faster. Turn the book the other way round and you can look up your tehnique for going faster to see what the adjustment will do to your car: And of course: Charlie
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Apr 25, 2012 18:53:49 GMT
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I like this one, it's useful beyond Porsches and has some really good general car information in it. Not so much about tuning the car, more like making the most of whatever performance you have available... Can be had on Amazon, new and used. Roadcraft, the Police driving manual, is also pretty good. It's escaped the dumbing down that the Highway Code has experienced since I passed my test (I bet nobody picks the Highway Code as useful). My copy is quite old but doesn't seem to be missing anything that the newer editions have in it.
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Last Edit: Apr 25, 2012 18:54:53 GMT by Battles
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Apr 25, 2012 19:02:46 GMT
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Roadcraft, the Police driving manual, is also pretty good. It's escaped the dumbing down that the Highway Code has experienced since I passed my test (I bet nobody picks the Highway Code as useful). My copy is quite old but doesn't seem to be missing anything that the newer editions have in it. I have to get me this! Sounds very interessting! Thanks!!
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Apr 25, 2012 19:49:52 GMT
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And the great thing about Roadcraft is you can buy it, read it and apply it straight away. It won't make your car go faster but being able to "make progress" safely, spotting all the dangers, and better the opportunities is a great feeling!!
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Apr 25, 2012 19:56:53 GMT
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Good thing with billions of Kamikaze fighters on the road nowadays ;D
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Apr 25, 2012 22:41:01 GMT
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Who publishes the roadcraft book? I was going to seeing I could read it online as the old versions I saw on ebay were HMSO publications.
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I've got Rovers.
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Yes, its published by HMSO. Its the official police driving handbook. Its a very good read. I have or had that AA Book of the Car. I can endorse the Vizzard A Series book. Just a well written book about tuning the internal combustion engine. What I learnt from that I am still using now I'm working on big block Oldsmobiles. There are some good motor specific books by SA Autobooks in the USA. Great for learning the specifics on Carters, Holleys, Qjets, SBC, SBF, whatever. The one book I think taught me the absolute most is Hiller's Fundamentals of Motor Vehicle Technology. My copy is from like 1982 so doesn't distract me with all the modern ECU junk. Another good old school book is Herb Adams' Chassis Engineering which some reviewers when I bought my copy marked down because it was "more a guide on how to make some old rear drive car handle rather than a proper discussion of different engineering principals" or something. Which is exactly why I was reading it LOL. Its written in American English butif you have a yank tank or speak the lingo its a good one. Its probably no longer right up to date but a fascinating book on the theory and practice of forced induction written by someone who really knows his stuff is Alan Allard's Supercharging and TurbochargingIf you want a book which gives you the full low down on damage and rust and paint repair - The Car Mechanics Guide to Panel Beating does everything it says on the tin and more, and is aimed at the small garage or DIYer back in 1993 when it was written so apart from some of the stuff they use not being "legal" any more its a good guide for DIY as it doesn't go into all the compliant stuff like most modern books do. You may also enjoy Andre Jute's work - Designing and Building Special Cars which is intended for people building sports specials and the like from the ground up (and was written before we had SVA let alone IVA) but contains a lot of good practice and advice for building a rod, custom, modified kit, whatever.
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Last Edit: Apr 26, 2012 7:36:44 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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my reading material was originally aimed at a slightly older generation- the set of 5 'the modern motor engineer' books were bought by/for my grandad when he started his apprenticeship in '55. everything else dates between '36 and '54. they're from a time when everything HAD to be fixed not replaced, and usually with very limited tooling and equipment, so you can pick up some really good stuff from them. other ones worth looking at are this one if youre building a hot rod. its australian, but their legislation is much harder than ours, so good to build to- www.amazon.com/Engineering-Street-Practical-Rodders-Guide/dp/0949398810i cant believe no ones said this one yet either, pretty much the industry standard when it comes to that kind of car- www.amazon.com/Race-Rally-Car-Sourcebook-Competition/dp/1859608469/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335430304&sr=1-1and then, back to the 40/50s engineering books this lot i call the 'pocket reading; range, all A5 or smaller so handy to take with you if you know youre going to be waiting somewhere.
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kee
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,991
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Apr 26, 2012 18:07:36 GMT
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Dez, have you been round my house and taken pics of my books? ;D I have all of those, and Audels Automobile Guides suit American stuff, the pre war stuff is fascinating.
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Last Edit: Apr 26, 2012 18:11:12 GMT by accord83
74 Mk1 Escort 1360, 1971 Vauxhall Victor SL2000 Estate.
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Apr 26, 2012 18:57:46 GMT
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One of my fave books is the AA Book of the Car (no ISBN): Good call. Such an under-rated tome. Clear, but not condescending, and with loads of great diagrams, even a 10 year old can grasp a great deal about vehicle engineering. I know, I was that 10 year old. :-) My dad had a copy, and from where I'm sitting right now I can still reach out to it. Classic stuff. I'm also re-reading this off and on at the moment, which covers the subject in an entertaining way :
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
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Apr 26, 2012 20:17:54 GMT
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I picked up a copy of this a little while ago. I think it predates the A series bible it was published in 1971) and its a superb little book with plenty of, but not too much, science mixed in wiht plenty of practical hands on advice too. I also have a copy of this which was written in the mid sixties and has some great period information and some photos from some of the early American demonstrations of drag racing in the UK. The author was a successful motorcycling sprint racer and an aircraft engineer. There's a photo of him on his supercharged Vincent about to head off down the 1/4 mile with Tommy Ivo laying flat on his front on the racing type sidecar.
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Apr 26, 2012 23:05:23 GMT
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Quite a few already has been mentioned, but these are also worth sourcing. Clive Trickey Sometimes the complete opposite of Vizard in approach, but it gives great insight how people build fast Minis in the late sixities. It is also more about modifying than bolt-on purchases. I like the suggested junkyard treasures, now impossible to find. Easy to read, but not much of tests and numbers like Vizard. Still, he won races... Gert Hack I have seen translated copies in Dutch and French of this German writer. Also written in the sixties/ seventies, but this has some more theorectical backgrounds and is focussed on tuning in general. Ludwig Apfelbeck Absolutely hardcore engineering here. Ludwig Apfelbeck was a BMW engineer responsible for their F2 engines. He developed a trick head with valves in a dome shape setup. In this book he explains how to develop your own cylinderhead and he explains every thing. From designing valve trains to casting the head and making camshafts. Mindblowing stuff! Tony Pashley The most modern book in this list, it is about designing and building a hillclimb monoposto with a bike engine (sorry, if the book title is a bit fuzzy ;-)). Lot of pictures and a down to earth approach. Corky Bell You wanna a charged engine? Everything is in here, a bit Americano in style. But a redneck approach is what you need if you have boost. Costin & Phipps Another sixites classic, don't look any further if you want to know how Lotus, Lister, etc. designed their cars back in the day.
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Click picture for more
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