Customer Reviews

Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

...This book is indispensible. It's written for the race car driver who does at least a little bit of their own fabrication. And that's almost any club driver, and many entry-level pro drivers. Making sure additions to the car stay put, supsension bits adequately bear their loads and stresses, and repairing these things in a pinch, is no small part of winning races.

This book doesn't explain everything ther is to know about fasteners. And it isn't dripping with technical detail; ...

But this book does provide something more valuable: explanations. It looks at a couple dozen of the most popular fasteners in each category and explains why a fabricator or mechanic would or would not want to use them. Carroll uses his incredible experience and approachable, conversational writing type to discusses their strengths and weaknesses, applications, and design.

I think the book isn't limited to racing applications; it's useful for anyone who works metal, and will offer something of value to anyone who's ever tried to replace a fastener in an emergency. Were you overwhelmed when you went through the fastener aisles in your local hardware store or home supply center? This book can help.

The book is a little weak in two areas. First, there's few pages devoted to plumbing. Of course, this is about real plumbing: laying lines and connecting them with pressure-tight fasteners. It explains Army-Navy fasteners and their applications, and discusses all the subtleties of pipe flange fitting. The book isn't about stopping a leak behind your toilet.

Next, the book is showinng its age. It doesn't treat some of the materials that were not exactly commonplace ten or more years ago, but are quite common now. For instance, I can buy titanium lug bolts for my car. (Well, I could, if I had a spare $500 lying around.) Carroll doesn't make much mention of the more interesting alloys being used more commonly in fasteners these days. He also doesn't spend much time discussing the material to be fastened: holding down a carbon fiber body panel is different than getting the same bit fabricated from fiberglass to hold. Some of the illustrations look like they were drawn by a plotter 20 years ago: terrible resolution, confusing lines, poor perspective. Freshening some of the illustrations would be a real shot in the arm for the book.

Those shortcomings withstanding, I can't give this book less than five stars. Mr. Smith's incredible reputation and outstanding experience hold up a dry subject, and give the reader more background than a broader (or deeper) technical reference ever could.

Fabulous book on fasteners. Up front it sounds really dull, but C.Smith makes it painless. You will find out things here that simply are not available elsewhere. Must reading for people into cars, airplanes or machinery in general

This book is VERY good, it's informative, comprehensive, fun to read and goes a long way to improving your understanding of the "whys" rather than just the "hows". It's an excelent resource for someone looking to build their own race car. Anyone looking to attach something to something else or move a fluid from one place to another will get something out of this book. As an added bonus in the years since it was first written most of the fasteners that the author found hard to find have become available easily online.

This a must have resource for people who are not professionals yet would like to figure out how and why race cars are kept together the way the are (or why they are not). While similar books are often written in an - to be kind - ill defined language, this one is in plain English. In fact the author even endeavors to render the subject somewhat entertaining while literally dealing with nuts and bolts.

Admittedly this is a dry subject, but this book should be considered required reading for anyone who is serious about building a safe race car. There's more to fastener technology than most of us realize and a right and wrong way to do things. Mr. Smith gets the information out in an easy to understand format with splashes of well-timed humor. While we have all blamed a poor performance at an event on a broken fastener, Mr. Smith explains how to eliminate these problems, plus your vehicle will be safer. You won't even think about using grade 8 bolts from the discount hardware store on that flywheel after reading this book. The section on plumbing was particularly helpful to me.

A very thorough guide to automotive hardware. Very readable as well. Mr. Smith is very opinionated however.

THIS BOOK IS NOT ONLY VERY USEFUL, BUT IT IS VERY ENLIGHTENING WHILE ENTERTAINING AT THE SAME TIME. THIS BOOK CAN BE UTILIZED AT SEVERAL LEVELS, NOVICE TO PROFESSIONAL. I DON'T KNOW HOW I'VE DONE WITHOUT IT. AND IT WAS AN ENJOYABLE READ!

I'm a motor-head turned aircraft junkie (physicist turned MD to support my habit) who designs, builds, and flys/drives what I create. I've yet to see any aviation publication that covers fasteners to the depth that Smith does. ARP's essay on "aerospace" fasteners adequately addresses the unenlightened snobs who've yet to stretch a rod bolt. 'Nuf said!

I have all this guy's books. Packed full of info. A must have in a racer's library. Check out his other books on racing and building.

Screw to Win, or Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and Plumbing Handbook

Friends and other gearheads have recommended I get this book for over 10 years. I finally decided to order it and wow, does it deliver! It is probably a one-stop shop for learning about different fasteners and plumbing systems used in racing applications that can also be applied on the street.

The discussion on Ford ring gear bolts was very interesting namely because I ran into a situation several years ago where people told me to buy new ring gear bolts because they stretch or wear out. However, Carroll Smith insists that the Ford bolts are definitely re-usable although Ford Racing parts does sell a kit for about $10-$20 that have the Loctite pre-applied. If you're doing a ring gear change, differential swap, or some other project - getting a new set of bolts locally isn't a bad idea.

The discussion of Loctite's products was also informative, although I might disagree about storing threadlocker in an environment that has as much airflow as possible. If the threadlocker goes bad due to lack of airflow, then they wouldn't sell them in airtight packaging. I found that threadlocker only cures when in the presence of metal and lack of air (such as bolt threads). It remains fluid or semi-fluid in plastic containers.

In any case, if you are a gearhead or know someone who enjoys working on cars or motorcycles, this book would be a great gift.

Overall: 5/5 stars