VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Which Manual Is a Must Have?

As I restore a 41 Cabriolet which manual(s) are a must have, i.e. Shop manual, body manual?

I'm going to be trying to locate the proper parts as I go through this build and I'll need a reference to verify I'm looking for the correct part.

Any ideas?

Shop manual, body manual, and if you can come across several gm parts books as they superseed numbers all the time so if you are able to get older ones and "newer" ones that way you can cross check any changes in part numbers

Thanks for the info.
Which book would be the one to reference when I wanted to look up interchangeability? For example if I was looking for a rear fender and I wanted to know what other years would work- which book would I be digging through?

I would try to find the oldest Genuine Chevrolet Parts master parts manual applicable to 41 that covers the least number of years. By oldest I mean the last number should be close to 41. The reason for oldest is the older manuals have more drawings that are relevant to your year. Those manuals that include data all the way up into the 50s will not have drawings of the 41. For me (I have a 38) the 29 -39 manual was the best and most used document. The year specific shop manual is good but is rather vague. One of the other vary valuable manuals for restoration was the Engineering Features Manual. For repair the Chevrolet Mechanics' Repair Manual was detailed with lots of photos. Try to find the Chevrolet Specifications for 41. I think I got mine from Chevrolet. Also, if you have to do body work, the Body Service Manual has lots of data.

Fleetboy,

Parts book. A 1929-1941 through the nest year available up to about 1953. With the earliest years after 1941 being best.

Maintenance Manual, nest.

Body manual.

Then interchange manual last.

Advertise for parts giving Group # and part #.

Best,

Charlie

BTW: I am finishing up on a 41 cabriolet myself. Pity we are so far apart geographically.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to start building my library

I basically agree with the recommendations for references.

The best is a parts book from year of manufacture or next year. The reason is some items such as interior parts are stocked for only a few years. Another is they are more likely to list the original factory installed part numbers. In order to better understand the parts that interchange between years, are replacement parts that can be used and sometimes are improvements on the original parts a parts book 5-10 years after the year of manufacture is useful.

For 1941 and several prior years the 1929-42 parts book published in 1945 is by far the best one to have. It contains many parts with expanded descriptions and illustrations that apparently were made available to service Chevrolets during WWII. Those parts go back 10+ years. I have numerous Chevrolet parts books that are duplicates from my collection. They cover 1929 through the 1950s. Available for sale. PM me if you might be interested on one or more.

Engineering features was an internal Chevrolet document identifying the improvements and changes from the previous year. It was prepared to feature the work of the Chevrolet Engineering Department to the rest of the corporation. It contains a lot of useful information not only on the current year but a year or so earlier.

The owners manual contains basic service and repair information that the owner might be able to perform. The service manual was intended for repair shops to be able to work on Chevrolets. They contain some descriptions and procedures that may be confusing to us today as the descriptions were common for the days written and differ from terms and procedures used today. They also may refer to tools that are not available today.

Factory photos can be useful. It is very important to understand that most were staged and altered. They were used for promotional purposes not to be accurate depiction of the vehicles and manufactured.

Reprints of many of the above items are available from part and literature dealers.

Thanks for all the good info Chipper

Lots of great advice here. The reality is that you cannot have too much reference material! I often refer to the Chevrolet Service News especially when I see something that does match the service manual. These are monthly publications that went to the dealer service department to inform them of running changes and solutions to problems.

You also get access to more technical information as a VCCA member.

FB,

In restoring your car, the easist advice to ignore is the one everyone who has gone through the pain of of looking for parts such as nuts, washers and bolts is the one about bagging and lableling every thing that is taken apart.

I have spent more time looking for these items than I ever admit.

The importance of taking such precautions cannot be overly stressed. You'll grateful for the time spent doing this when you reassemble parts. Believe me.

Best,

Charlie

I agree with Charlie's bag and tag. I also use a technique where i use a piece of cardboard to store screws and bolts. I punch holes in the cardboard in the position they came off the assembly. This is especially critical when the hardware is different lengths.

The only problem I have with my storing and locating techniques is finding them when I need them again! My experience is that the best way to find them is go buy replacements. When you get back from the hardware store you immediately find the originals!

LOL - Been there - done that

Dick

The garage gremlins love to move and hide needed parts, tools and other items. When you get back from the store with replacements they the have replaced the missing items. Can't tell how many times that has happened to me.

All good info. Thanks guys