why that deer in the head lights stare?

[grumpyvette]

one thing Ive always been rather amazed at is the small number of guys who took the time to buy a year,make and model correct shop manual for their car, now Im not referring to those cheap chilton manuals auto parts stores typically sell for $20.
I can,t begin to tell you how many times I have been asked about some electrical issue or the part number or correct fluid capacity, and when I ask what the shop manual said or if they have a wiring diagram , I get that "DEER IN THE HEAD LIGHTS BLANK STARE!"

a SHOP manual for your car is just as important as owning a decent floor jack and 4 dependable 6ton or better yet 12 ton jack stands,and a couple, LED trouble lights, and a mechanics creeper or at least a few movers pads and assorted hand tools to allow you to get your car repaired.
no one I know can remember everything about every year corvette, or muscle car , no one has all the part numbers, fluid capacity's, memorized, thats why most experienced guys usually buy shop service manuals,as a reference to refer too! when we buy a older corvette or muscle car., now Im not saying it has access to all the material, and a web search can produce more detailed info on occasion, but the shop manual is where you generally start looking as its got a rather extensive list of tests and instructions
after you purchase a new project car no mater the year it was made it makes sense to get a shop manual if its available as it will frequently save you a good deal of aggravation.
(YOU SHOULD OWN a FACTORY SHOP MANUAL)
HERES WHERE YOU PURCHASE ONE, LINKED BELOW
and ID suggest buying a trouble code reader/scanner and a multi meter,INFRARED TEMP GUN< TIMING LIGHT,VACUUM GAUGE,FUEL PRESSURE GAUGE also
http://www.helminc.com/helm/search_serv ... lass_2=CHV

EXAMPLES
a good example of why you buy a shop manual was pointed out recently when a friend backed his thunder-bird into a tree, the damage was minor but his car would not start or run, he called me over and we quickly found he had no fuel rail pressure.
I looked in his shop manual and found there was a switch in the trunk that automatically disconnects power to the electric fuel pump if the cars in an accident, simply lifting the trunk carpet and flipping a reset switch near the left rear wheel cured the no fuel pressure issue

I know it took me several days to track down a couple electrical problems we had with my brother-in-laws 1974 corvette, with a multi meter ,but once the shop manual we ordered arrived, for his car, it only took a couple hours to locate and correct the problems,that remained and most of that time was trips to auto parts stores for fuses , bulbs and relays once we had the test procedures, to prove the problems source

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[grumpyvette]

Good Corvette Mechanics are hard to find today.
finding A good Mechanic period......is rather rare!
finding one that is willing to work on and knowledgeable about older muscle cars is about as common as guys that make a living horse shoeing unicorns in most areas.
A lot of the professional mechanic's I know are almost totally dependent on reading trouble codes or using diagnostic equipment, and don,t seem to grasp the concept of isolate and test that was the corner stone of mechanics in the 1960s , and still in every mechanics mental tool box when I started working on cars,that skill has obviously been replaced by a computer print out.
now having basic tools like a timing light,fuel pressure gauge, vacuum gauge, dwell meter, and things like dial indicators calipers, piston stops, seem to be looked at as museum pieces
I know thats a fact! I was forced to learn nearly everything I know about corvettes simply because, I learned the hard way, that I seldom got things fixed but always got a huge excessive bill, and some moron test driving my corvette , when I took my big block 1968 corvette into the dealership.
and when I added any aftermarket part to my corvette ,even if it was not related to the problem, it was nearly always mentioned as the suspected cause of problems.
I decided I had to learn to do everything myself , after a chevy service order writer told me the reason my brakes on the 1968 corvette were making noise was related to my swapping to an aftermarket fuel injection system, and then with a strait face told me the brakes would work if I swapped back to the factory carb & intake.....back then there was no internet to consult, but a friends dad eventually came by and helped me locate a broken spring on my parking brake shoes, solving the problem, from that point on I knew I needed to learn All I could about cars and do as much of the work my self as I could possibly do.

http://keenparts.com/pages/detail.php?c ... &year=1968