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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Need a book with the basics of older Vettes? This is it!, November 30, 2004
This review is from: Corvette Performance Projects 1968-1982 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)
Some automotive technical books are devoted to complex, expensive procedures modifications that sometimes require intermediate or advanced mechanical skills. It's refreshing to run across a book on basics and <u>Corvette Performance Products 1968-1982</u> is exactly that.
This book covers a variety of service and maintenance tasks a DIY would perform on a 68-82 Corvette (aka "C3" or "Shark") from the very basic, such as how to jack and support your car and changing your oil and filter to more intermediate tasks such as simple body repairs, brake service and electrical troubleshooting.
Each project, and there are 31 of them, is covered by a separate chapter which explains the task in detail and illustrates it with color photos. This "modular" approach means you can either read the book cover-to-cover or use it in the shop as a supplemental service manual, looking-up information on a specific task and just reading that part.
Author, Tom Benford's easy-to-read style and his extensive, hands-on experience working on his own C3 project car make this book an excellent resource for the DIY service technician who is just starting out working on his or her own Corvette.
About the only weakness of this book is the use of the word "Performance" in its title. In 31 DIY projects suggested in this book only two have anything to do with increasing a Corvette's performance. What the publisher needs to do is simply take the word "Performance" out of the title, but leave the rest of this useful book alone.
If you're an automotive DIY and you're just getting into the Corvette hobby with a C3, next to a factory service manual, <u>Corvette Performance Products 1968-1982</u> should be the most important reference in your garage. It's emphasis on basics is well worth the cover price.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Useful for the "Weekend Warriors", November 26, 2006
This review is from: Corvette Performance Projects 1968-1982 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)
I found this book fairly useful, asa well as being an enjoyable read. The book is set up into six sections (Basics, Under the Hood, Brakes & Suspension, Interior, Body, and Electrical). Within each of these sections, there are 2-6 projects requiring varying levels of skill. Some jobs are as easy as changing the oil, while others require enough skill to remove and replace the front fiberglass clip of a damaged Shark. Each project description provides an estimated time for completion, tools needed/used, talent level, tips, and rough amount of cost. This was helpful in letting the reader get a quick overview of what that particular project entailed. The rest of the project description is more of a narrative of what was done. If you're looking more for a cook-book, by-the-numbers instructional manual, I'd suggest sticking with a Chiltons books.
While the sub-title states "performance projects", some people may find the wording a bit misleading, since the word "performance" invokes images of turning your stock Shark into some quarter-mile racer. This is not the book for them. It is, however, more of a book for the weekend warrior who might want to try tackling certain repair, restoration jobs rather than paying a mechanic/shop.
In summary, if you're going to do an NCRS or Bloomington style restoration job on your C3/Shark, you'd be better served to pick up other more technical books like the GM Assembly Instruction Manual. This would be a good book to have as a supplement, not your main guide. However, if you're just looking to take on some projects to "fix-up" your car because you like getting your hands dirty for a weekend or two, then this book will do the trick. For it's intended use, I gave it a high rating.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
More Disapointment, July 1, 2011
This review is from: Corvette Performance Projects 1968-1982 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)
I own a 1982 Corvette and was looking for a book that would help me conduct maintenance on it. This is not the book to own.
Unfortunately I purchase a number of these types of general maintenance books to help me with my corvette. They do provide you with the most common repair processes for the most common Corvette but if your maintenance requirements for your Corvette are not common this book is useless. Unfortunately the (C3 body style) Corvettes underwent a lot of changes and unless you are really in luck procedures to repair your Corvette may not be correct in this manual.
You need to purchase a Shop Manual for the year of car you own. They are available from different sources a lot from Amazon.
Do not purchase these types of general maintenance books if you want to do anything other than change the oil.
Unfortunately I did not figure this out until I connected with C3VR.com guys and got some help.
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