Re: [T2] manuals

[wabbott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (bill abbott)]

	Lori has the Bentley manual, wants more.

	Lori,
	I recomend the Haynes, since the photos in it are of a real bus
with dirt and grease and everything that makes your bus different
from the beautiful brand new one in the Bentley pictures. Haynes books
are written by buying a <whatever> and doing all the fixes and repairs. :) 
Text in the Haynes has slightly more explanation, I find. More words
anyway, and more pictures. How do they do that? Smaller type, often
smaller pictures.
	Note that Haynes have a 1600 book for bay-windows with the Type 1/2
("Upright") engine (1968-1971) and a SEPARATE BOOK for 1700-1800-2000 
1972-1979.

	John Muir's "How to keep your air cooled VW alive, a book of step
by step procedures for the compleat idiot" is also on my shelf, and I
check it along with Bentley and Haynes. Its Beetle-oriented but covers
all air-cooled VWs. Muir has a folksy style and offers great encouragement-
he really believed people should be able to fix their own cars and he
offers lots of encouragement, information and suggestions. All for the good.
This was the second car repair book I bought and I learned a lot from
it- mostly the attidude that I could do it, whatever it was. 

    On the other hand, he transcended this material plane about 25 years
ago, and his opinions on automatic chokes and multi-wieght oil are,
IMHO, just plain wrong, though defensable, perhaps, when he wrote them.
Its a good book to start with, though. It has lovely illustrations by
Peter Aschwanden. I wish there were more. If you can find the spiral bound 
version of this it will lay flat while you work, a distinct advantage.

If you want to learn more about how cars work and being a mechanic,
I STRONGLY recomend the Idiot's Rabbit book, (How to keep your
watercooled VW alive, a book of step by step procedures for the
complete idiot) which is long out of print but still available used < $10. 
All the folksy strength of Muir's aircooled books, but better wrenching, 
hundreds of drawings. Sealy is Solomon to Muir's David. Aschwanden's 
illustrations in the Idiot's Rabbit book (and Richard Sealy's text) 
raise the humble how-to-fix-your-car book to something that I class as 
literature. Something to read for pleasure, even when your car is ok.


Chilton probably published a VW bus book. They are at least one grade
less good than Haynes, though you can use them in a pinch. Whatever
is available, Chilton is my last choice. 

Lindsey Peacock has probably got a VW Bus Guide to Purchase and
DIY restoration- he does these books in Great Britan, where Haynes
are also, and they also buy one and fix it up. the DIY Restoration
will show you pictures of what people talk about on the this list-
welding new pieces on, fixing rust, etc. Routine maintenance and
fix-ups are also covered. Peacock also has history
and purchase tips, though they're for busses in the UK.

You can find all kinds of other VW service books- several hardbound, from
the 1960s, and the brown-vinyl covered Motor series from England.
Haynes, Bentley and Muir form a holy trinity for me, Bentley because
they're closest to the factory, Haynes because their pictures and tools
are more like what I have and Muir because of attitude. Other than
more of Aschwanden's pictures and identifying what year the pieces are
from in Haynes and Bentley, the only complaint I have about any of
them is that they don't handle issues like how to replace the window
seals in the doors  There isn't a mistake I've made that I couldn't
have avoided if I'd read more carefully, and I've managed to do a LOT
using those three books.

	Cheers!
	Bill Abbott

'97 Bob     '96 Marriage     '93 Corrado    '70 Single Cab    '48 3br/2ba