In a message dated 1/14/2003 8:04:59 AM Eastern Standard Time, DMCVegas@xxxx writes: > . I have what appears to be a "bootleg" copy of the workshop manual... > > The manual appears to be a "custom" copy that someone hand-edited. For > instance, every page has a # typed in the lower corners. The entire section > on > "Frame/Body" is hand typed with only a couple of clip-art inserts from the > Parts > Manual... >From your description, that's a DMC-written Technical Service Manual issued in late 1981. They look pretty patched together, exactly as you described. Yours may actually be an original. They're so poorly printed that even originals look like copies. > In reading both of the manuals, I can tell you that the problem with the > inaccuracies isn't due to incorrect information, so much as > incomplete/sloppy > tranlsations and adaptations for the DMC-12 application (ie. the A/C > section > has footnotes for 1979 & earlier vehicles). Actually, you can find both problems, as any vendor will tell you. For instance, Service Bulletin ST 36 -12/81 was issued with the Technical Service Manual. It mentions an illustration on page 4:5-19 that should say "needle up" not "needle down." Yet that change was not made in the later Workshop Manual where it should have been (page G:07:07) Since ALL the repro manuals available today are completely unedited, if you buy a brand "new" one from your favorite vendor tomorrow, it STILL has that same error in it. Not a good thing! If a rewrite is to be done, then one > person shouldn't take on the entire book. Individual sections should be > completed by people with specific experience in the particular repairs, and > they should be written/proofread one at a time. > I agree. I previously suggested a team compiling the amassed wisdom of the DML into a concise format but found out it can't be done. Since the individual writers, in accordance with DML bylaws, do not assign copyright privileges to the DML, you can't compile it. So I tried it the other way, with a separate, (presently dormant,) e-group for tech issues where it is understood that all submissions are available to be re-edited, republished or whatever without writing for everyone's permission or paying "royalties." Some folks were outraged, convinced I'd get filthy rich from requoting their valuable scribblings in printed form. Fat chance. As Dave Swingle observed, there's no money to be made at this, it has to be a labor of love. Others feared a competing site weakening the DML, though they serve different issues. When the dust settled, I decided to use the website for a page by page "what's wrong with this picture" exercise for input, to be issued free unedited on the internet, or in edited printed format for a fee. But first I had to ask: How many manuals were there? How can you tell an original from a copy? What constitutes a complete copy? Is this the best copy available? Sounds simple, but no one could actually tell me, including any well known DeLorean guru you might name. Two and a half years and couple thousand dollars later, I KNOW. (I've bought more than half of the original DeLorean manuals that have appeared on E-bay for the last several years.) I even have unpublished materials used to train DeLorean mechanics in the classroom before ANY manuals were published. Unfortunately, that was the EASY part of the job. A few years ago, Ed from DeLorean One told me I "must have too much time on my hands" to even contemplate this project. I have had time on my hands this week due to knee surgery, but after next Monday, it's back to 4 hours sleep a night. Are there any possible volunteers out there to help with this, now that the DeLorean Dead Sea Scrolls have been assembled? If you'd like to e-mail me off list, use waernst(at)aol.com so I spot it more easily. D owners only, please! Thanks. Wayne A. Ernst vin 11174 the new DeLorean manual project [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]