Re: Delorean Manuals

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxx>]

Your DeLorean Workshop Manual (the "Tech Manual") is one of the best
resources available (not perfect by a long shot, but very very useful
nonetheless). I would supplement it with contemporary Volvo issued
B28, CI, and CIS factory literature (in English, vs Renault and Peugot
in French), and the Bosch K-Jetronic manual. A DeLorean parts manual
is somewhat useful as well. 

Haynes, Chilton, and the like are what I affectionately refer to as
"reverse of procedure" manuals -- disassembly instructions are often
cryptic at best, followed by the ever helpful phrase "reinstallation
is reverse of this procedure."

Those manuals cover way too much ground in too few pages. For example,
I have a single Haynes manual that superficially covers ALL Lincoln
models built between the years of 1970-1996. Compare that to my 1977
or 1978 Ford manual sets (5 books each year), or even better the
Electrical/Vacuum manual that covers 1978 Lincoln Mark V's exclusively
(in stunning detail -- Ford outdid themselves with that one!).

Even though AMC was essentially building only one car by the 1980's,
my 1981 AMC factory manual is 3,000 pages long (2.5 inches thick).
Compare that to my Haynes AMC manual at less than 300 pages (.75
inches thick).

The worst part of Haynes and Chilton manuals is the massive amount of
boilerplate text and illustrations -- generic descriptions of
"typical" repair procedures. You will often find that the actual part
before you looks nothing at all like the one pictured!

Armed with the Workshop Manual and a basic understanding of automotive
repair, restoring and maintaining a DeLorean is surprisingly easy to
understand.

Actually accessing some of its nuts & bolts is a different issue
altogether...

Bill Robertson
#5939