'Vette Restoration Guides
 

I have the "1981 Chevrolet Corvette Shop Manual" by General Motors bought through the dealer. Although it has trouble-shooting for the different sections which includes some first echelon remedies, most of the manual is 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th.shop info as it breaks down the carb, transmissions, brake mastercylinder, differential, A/C compressor,etc.,all in great detail.
I've recently noticed, as I've read through afew posts and replies, that these "restoration guides" that so many of you guys mention from time to timegive alot of tips on what to look for and what to correct, things that the factory could have done differently or things that they over-looked. Obviously, these tips, etc.aren't found in manuals and BOTH would be the way to go for the enthusiast/owner.
Could you guys give your honest opinions of what "Restoration Guide" is the best and for what reasons if indeed you're familiar withmore than one, and/or what you think of the one you have. I'm interested in getting a "restoration guide" as I think it'd be beneficial.
Thanks.

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

Me too Texas, I'd like the same info. :)

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

I have 2 books. Motorbooks, The restoration guide and How to restore and Modify you Corvette. Both have nice covers and interesting to read but pretty much worthless as a restoration guide! They give you some id numbers but very little info on restoration. They should name the books = Read this if you have nothing better to do. I've restored lots of cars and nothing beats talking to other people and looking at real cars and seeing what other people have gone through. When I see restoration guide I expect a ton of info with lots af pictures and exact details. I don't think one exists yet. If it does, I want it.

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

I have the same books and have found them somewhat useful but the information is limited. I think the Motorbooks are the best restoration guides I've seen but as Rich G said, none of them are all that great. The best info I've gotten on any of the cars I've restored is from the forums where people have hands on experience and can follow up on your questions. With that and the factory service and assembly manuals I think you can get a lot more accomplished than with the restoration books.

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

I agree with you totally! I have the same books.
There must be a book to determine guidelines for Bloomington Gold judging.....

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RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

Check this out!

http://www.bloomingtongold.com/

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RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

Hi Texas Jim, for the actual repairs on our cars the shop, service and assembly manuals are all that is needed.

Some of us like the Haynes manual others like Chilton or Helms and thats a matter ofchoice as far as which one is best, we all use the one that we like.

As for the Restoration Guides, they give us a chance to look over the authors sholder and see how they did a repair. Most times they don't give us all the information but we can get a general idea of what is involved. There are lots of photographs and many drawings and exploded views and sometimes a photo or a drawing gives a better view of the area that we are working on.

As a enthusiast /owner there are many chapters that were interesting and informative, there are also many chapters that were put in to fill up space, for example all of the books have one or two chapters on what to look for before you by a Vette, well for us it's too late for that.

Here's my 2 cents worth on the booksI have:

How to Restore & Modify Your Corvette by Richard Newton.
Best of the batch, I give it an 8 out out of 10.

Chevrolet Corvette Restoration Guide by Lindsey Porter.
Originally must have been marketed in England as they spell words differently, for ex: earth wire= ground wire, petrol= gasoline.
6 out on 10.

Corvette Restoration Guide by Richard Prince.
Tells you that a 1970-72 base big block had valve covers painted orange and or that the radiator hose in a certain year had a ribbed surface. Not the information that I want.
3 out of 10.

Sports Car Color History by Mike Mueller. Totally useless unless you want to see 10 different Corvettes photographed from different angles.
0 out 0f 10.

Water Leaks and Wind Noise Book by Michael J. Davis.
Total waste of money, I returned it for a refund.
0 out of 10.

NCRS, they sell lots of books.
Went to there Website and found a debate over if a washer should by zink coated or not, my car is mine and I don't need for anyone else to tell me if it's factory correct.
Same with Bloomington, if yours isthat goodor NCRS than enjoy trailering it around, for me I bought my Vette to drive.

Last one to not buy is:
Corvette Performance Projects by Tom Benford.
Upgrade you A/C by changing 4 "O" rings, thats not true.
Bogus information.
0 out of 10.

These books can be found at any book store, go there and take a little time to read them before you spend any money.

Hope this answers some of your questions, PG.

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

I have read a couple of books and articles by Tom Benford. This guy thinks he is an expert on Corvettes. In my opinion he is a legend in his own mind. The information he spouts is mostly worthless. It is a shame so many of us have been duped by the titles of his books.
My .02

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RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

Well C3, Obviously Rich, Fil and Dee Vee gave us the low-down on the Restoration Guides. Thanks you guys for your honesty,and saving me some money. pg, Thanks for all the details. You really went at it buying and going through all the available literature, so thanks for sharing what you've taken your time to find out. I guess I better say thanks to you guys for saving me moneyAND time. I've run a copy of your details pg, and the other replies,this way if I see a guide of some kind, I'll beable to check the list to see if it's a "bunk job."
I used to, a long time back, swear by Chilton as Ialways had accessto the hard leather covered shop manuals that had great detail and accurate info. As time went on and I bought afew of the paper-back jobs, it seems like the quality has fallen off, especially in the last ten to fifteen years. As for my GM Corvette manual for my '81, it's really good. Although it doesn't cover tune-ups, it does give you all the basic specs for everything and anything. For tune-ups I use a Chevy Chilton manual for '64-'88 mid-size cars which is pretty good overall. I have to say that basics on a small block Chevy is a second-nature thing for me, so with the GM and Chilton manuals, I'm well covered. If you want a REALLYGOOD manual for your 'Vette, get the GM Corvette manual ordered at thedealer parts department. It's by far better than anything you'll get anywhere else. And I like the fact that it's specifically for the one year you have, not three, five or eight years.
Your idea that the site is the best place to get hands-on info from people who are currently "into it" is well taken.After reading everything you guys have said about the guides, it even makes more sense that the site is the BEST guide.
Thanks so much for some very valuable info.

RE: 'Vette Restoration Guides
 

Your right Jim, Chilton was the way to go years ago. Just like the assembly manual and other books, there is plenty of info how to "repair" a Vette which is completley different than "restoring" a Vette. I don't think most of us here are into matching number trailor queens. But if we are going to the trouble to take something apart it would be nice to know what it was supposed to look like when it was new. It's the same amount of effort to do it wrong.Thats the info that is limited and would have to be seen on an unrestored original. For me I just make it clean and neat and give it my best guess.