The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Repair manual

Is the factory repair manual the only one available? I tried looking for a Haynes or Chilton but found nothing. I want to find one for my friends daughter for her 63 and the factory manual would be to overwhelming at this stage.

There is a Chilton manual, but it is a general manula that covers 7 different brand trucks (Chevy, Dodge, Ford, GMC, IH, Jeep, and Volkswagen). It's not really a bad manual, but it's very basic, not much in the line of model specific or year specific information. It's also very short on body and electrical. For the money, the factory shop manual is the way to go. Much more information, and it will be specific to the truck.
As a professional mechanic, I would feel much better going with a vehicle specific manual, than a general one, especially for someone just learning. Better to get the correct information.

I'm not sure what you are working on, but if it's a truck, you might consider the 19th or thereabouts edition of Motor's Truck Repair manual. The 19th edition was copyrighted in 1966 and they go back 10 years. Back in those days very few owners took trucks to the dealer because most dealers weren't equipped to work on trucks . The Motors Manual was the book used by mechanics who actually repaired trucks and it explains how it was done in the real world. I've got a 19th edition that I bought new, but I see them on eBay quite often.

I'm looking to find a basic manual for an 18 year old girl who has a 63. She just lost her father and I'm 2500 miles away. The truck is not a daily driver though as it's an x-movie vehicle. I'd like her to understand the basics so if something goes wrong she does not get taken advantage of. I plan to visit next month to fix a few issues and she's looking forward to getting to know her truck better.
Thanks for the info guys, I'll have look around for the 'Motor' manual

She or you might be surprised what the local library may have on its shelves. Check yours out.

I did think of the library and that's a good point for others to keep in mind. I know mine carries a large section from haynes and Chilton but no other brands of manuals

you might just think of photocoping the general and lube section out of the chevy 63 manual. i have a motors manual and chilton but i always use the chevy one. the general section has tune ups and upkeep and lots of basic stuff. while your at it include a wiring diagram at least for the engine bay and why not the engine electrical section. i know what you mean the 63 is prety thick and thumbing thru the different tranny and engine overhaul sections might be daunting. just a idea.

oh and i forgot, the library here in spfd had the 63 shop manual at one time. i have got 2 copies for myself now, one for clean hands and one for dirty hands.

I bought 2 manuals for my Australian car also.....one had wrecked covers so i removed the spine and 3 hole punched all the pages and put them into a heavy duty binder. With the amount of original 63 manuals out there i should probably do the same for it

The factory manual will NOT be too much for her.
Bring it out to her and show it to her. Go through it with her and explain that there's a LOT of additional information in it that won't apply to her truck. Tell her she needs to look at anything that says "C10" and "1/2 ton" and can ignore the rest.

The factory shop manual is excellent--it's thorough, and it's SIMPLE. If she's the least bit intelligent, she'll be able to handle it.

The voice of experience tells me to get a new wiring harness for the truck from American Auto Wire, and install it... it's a weekend project. I would also rebuild the brakes (easy enough) and replace the hard lines, the rubber lines, and get a dual reservoir conversion for it. Another weekend project.

After that, everything else is gravy and can be done at her leisure.

And tell her to sign up on this forum! She'll get a lot of additional help from us.
-Brad

She is a very smart kid so I'll hunt down another factory manual then. She's not looking to do any work to the truck unless she has to as she wants to keep it as close to what it was when the studio finished using it. The brake lines and such were done by the company that supplied the truck so it's mostly for 'just in case" issues. I'm heading there (hopefully) near the end of feb to fix the driver side window mech, trans filter change and go over as much a I can to make sure nothing falls apart when they use it (which is not too much really)

I was a kid once, and also had to teach myself the basics. I first picked up the Clymer and Chilton manuals because they were the easiest to find. Those manuals always left me frustrated and wanting for more specific info. Then someone turned me on to the factory shop manual, and that was it. Good info, pictures, everything.
If your friend knows absolutely nothing about cars, then perhaps an older automotive mechanics textbook would be just the ticket. Obviously, they are written for the novice and explain things in very general terms, with simplified illustrations. A textbook coupled with the factory manual should cover her needs.
Just a thought.

For a novice needing the best all around service manual I'd also vote for the Motor's Manual. I started doing serious car work when I was about 12 or 13 and the copy my dad had was the bible. Soon after I was given the 1960 version by a guy after I changed the clutch in his 55 Buick. He said I'd probably get a lot more use out of it than he would, and I certainly did. They had great information on troubleshooting and tune ups, and as I got a bit older I rebuilt 3 speed Chevy transmissions with nothing else.

When I got back from the service I bought a 1970 Chilton's manual. It was very impressive, over 3" thick - and was a great disappointment, lacking much of what the Motor's Manual provided. I have found Hayne's manuals worthless. I remember wanting information on how to do some detail work, and the instructions would start out - first remove the engine! I kind of needed the 35 step process that resulted in removing the engine.

Of course the Chevy Truck Shop Manual covers everything, including how to replace window winders, glass, align body panels, suspension, etc - and you won't find that anywhere else.

Another opinion for what it's worth.

I recommend the following:

1960-1966 Chev/GMC Truck Factory Assembly Instruction Manual
1963 Chevrolet Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual

Both manuals have a tremendous amount of technical illustrations and exploded views of every element of these trucks. There are many other references available, specific to these truck, however, these two are a great start.

They are available at:

www.ebay.com
www.classicparts.com
www.lmctrucks.com
www.oldchevytrucks.com
www.truckandcarshop.com

Good luck.