shop manual instructions

[cheezestaak2000]

i kinda get the impression that many of you turned wrenches for a living. and when all else failed, we would consult a shop manual. so, my question is this: what was the craziest instruction you ever saw in one? i wish to nominate the 1968 rambler american book. under  instructions for installing the self-adjusting clutch in told you to depress the clutch pedal 47 times when finished. i mean how did they know 46 wasn't enough, and 48 was too many?

 

[padgett]

I always enjoyed the 1964 Honda Dream manual in which you were instructed to "parp your hooter".

[Terry Bond]

The British manuals are always a laugh. Their most commonly seen instructions for putting things back together are "assembly is the opposite of disassembly."

Terry

[Restorer32]

From an early Pullman manual regarding tightening head bolts "Head bolts should be tightened snuggly but be sure to stop before the bolt breaks".   I paraphrase.  From a '24 Cadillac Owner's Manual..."Have your man rinse off the car using cold water after every drive and you will of course put your vehicle up on blocks at the first sign of winter".

[TAKerry]

I have mentioned on here before, but my brother has a 1913 Rudge motorcycle, with wicker sidecar. The 'drive' for this bike is somewhat complicated for its day. There is a note in the owners manual for the passenger in the sidecar to make adjustments to the rear wheel drive while riding down the road at speed. The lever to make adjustments is on the end of the rear wheel axle adjacent to a bunch of spokes running at full bore.

Another note in the Rudge owners manual states that when the driver stops seeing oil smoke from behind its time to pump more into the motor!

[rocketraider]

14 hours ago, padgett said:

I always enjoyed the 1964 Honda Dream manual in which you were instructed to "parp your hooter".

Obviously written and proofread by the same people who gave us "all your base are belong to us".

 

14 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

The British manuals are always a laugh. Their most commonly seen instructions for putting things back together are "assembly is the opposite of disassembly."

Terry

Haynes manuals give that instruction even today!

[JACK M]

Seems I recall the method to get a spark plug out of the sbc in a Monza was to push a piece of vacuum hose on the tip of the plug and turn it out.

I found that undoing the motor mounts and jacking up the engine worked better.

[padgett]

GM made it easy to remove the two bolts and jack the 305 (350 cal only) up. Problem was the steering column.

[nickelroadster]

I realize that this is an older car but the manual for my 1915 Olds tells you how to adjust the oil flow to the engine. Adjust it high and back off when the engine starts smoking.  Adjust the level down and if the engine starts pounding turn it up a bit.  I prefer to not get to the point where the engine is pounding and I don't mind if it smokes a little. It is a total loss oil system. 

[Frank DuVal]

13 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Haynes manuals give that instruction even today!

They are the British manuals.🤣

 

Wash parts in Paraffin.👍

Edited April 30, 2021 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[lump]

Manuals translated from their original language can often provide some interesting mysteries, and laughter when solved. 

 

I once owned a 1933 Adler Trumpf Jr, with front wheel drive 4 cylinder, 4 speed manual trans (column shifted). Bought as a running project car, the first thing I did was buy an English-language-converted manual from Germany. It drove me crazy a few times, but the one I remember best is trying to figure out what the heck "Friction Cheeks" were. Eventually, I came to realize they were what Americans call, "Brake Shoes."