Which manual to buy?

[Island Medic]

So what is the consensus, assembly manual or shop manual? Just wanted to have something to refer to when I start putting the truck back together.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Island Medic

So what is the consensus, assembly manual or shop manual? Just wanted to have something to refer to when I start putting the truck back together.

Here are some freebies. That way you can see which one will do you the most good....

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=5781194

LockDoc

[franken]

There are used and repros of factory manuals. Assembly and shop manuals aren't the same thing. and have different purposes. For service, get a service manual.
The assembly manual has pics of how the thing was put together. Interesting for a restorer.

[Gromit]

I can vouch for focusing on the GM factory manuals for these 67-72 Trucks - whether in Adobe Acrobat electronic PDF form or paper - because the two modern aftermarket "repair manuals" I naively bought (at the local parts store at the time I bought my truck) have turned out to be basically useless.

One book publisher's name started with a letter "C" and the other started with a letter "H"

So maybe look at O'Reilly's or Autozone or Napa if you still think you wanna or need to buy one or both of those.

In my prior life I worked solely with VW's and Porsche and Mercedes - and in that world the aftermarket repair manuals are excellent and indispensable (Bentley).. not sure why this was so much not the case with my first ever purchase of a domestic USA vehicle. (purchased in 2015).

There were maybe one or two pages that were helpful in each of those $25 aftermarket manuals. But at least I now know there is nothing I am missing in there.. so small price to pay at $50?

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by franken

There are used and repros of factory manuals. Assembly and shop manuals aren't the same thing. and have different purposes. For service, get a service manual.
The assembly manual has pics of how the thing was put together. Interesting for a restorer.

Exactly.

If you end up buying the assm. manual, which seems to be my preference over soft copy, 4-6 guys put together a soft copy index, and let me tell you they did a GREAT job. I went through at least half of it, and I think I found one error. That's a lot of pages man, all 1064. I HIGHLY recommend the index, there's little rhyme or reason on how the book is structured. Then all you have to do is number half the pages, or all if it suits you. So fun.

[franken]

There are also overhaul manuals that cover more in depth bits. A service manual is how to service and overhaul is rebuild things like the engine, diffs, carb, etc. I have both sitting next to me.
I have books because I love books, not so much that I need them. I learned to work on cars on the side of the road. You learn fast.
The manual for my 4x4 says pop the front hub off as if its easy. It isn't. You need a slide hammer.

But any manual is better than none...

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

Exactly.

If you end up buying the assm. manual, which seems to be my preference over soft copy, 4-6 guys put together a soft copy index, and let me tell you they did a GREAT job. I went through at least half of it, and I think I found one error. That's a lot of pages man, all 1064. I HIGHLY recommend the index, there's little rhyme or reason on how the book is structured. Then all you have to do is number half the pages, or all if it suits you. So fun.

The assembly manual on CD is even better because it is searchable.

LockDoc

[franken]

The OP needs to define what they want do and what manual they need/want.