Hey Everyone. Because im flat out broke, owe my dad $3500 & teetering on the edge of a nessecity to sell my car, im trying to find a way for some income past my sh!t part time job & ontop of that trying to get into university! Anywho, I was trying to think of things i could do to generate a little income, and i thought of making a complete 4.8/5.3/6.0L Thirdgen swap write up. Wiring info, motor modifications, header mod info, tuning information, transmission info, DBW info, id include lots of pictures, GM partnumbers, measurements etc etc. I was thinking of doin this and selling the writeups for $5 each. Probably wouldnt make much, if any, in doin this, but it would be fun, and maybe i could help someone along the way. Ive got a website, i was thinking of making a special acess page, and id sell usernames/pswrd to the page to try to stop the page from being opened to the public for free. Would anyone be interested in this? I thought of doing a 2nd one on my 4th gen interior swap. (Wiring diagrams, body modifications, pictures, measurements etc) All input GREATLY appreciated! Sheldon

There is definitely a market for such things but not at 5 bucks you need to jack you price Shel. There used to be catalogs and manulas that we all bought back in the day before these message boards sprung up. JTR ( Jags that run ) is one that comes to mind and it wasn't all that detailed but it had more info available at the time than anything else so lots of guys bought it at $50.00 too I might add. The only issue with making a swap manual is to be more detailed and explanitory than what is already available via these boards for free so you have your work cut out for you. That said there is ZERO point in doing this if you dont seek copyright protection to prevent someone from merely scanning each page and hosting it online at which point you would be pretty much fooked. So by the time you take the effort, time, and money it will cost you to do this properly I would think at least 25-30 bucks per is in order heck probably more. Go see some editors and pitch your idea. They pay a good chunk up front which should solve your problems and take care of the legal issues for you as well as distribution etc.

I guess I'm saying there is a market just not one that could be limped into. Go big or go home. That said dont be frightened your a sharp kid and could pull this off I just thought I'd give you my 2 cents I was involved in producing a book already and how little we knew that getting your stamps were sooooooooooooo important. Another story...

Here about a year ago I bought a manual off of ebay for the ls1 for $20.00. It has a lot of info but it was just photo copied. It had Gm part #'s, diffrent oil pans, ls1 pinouts ect. There is a marke t for it. Make sure its not a photo copied pos that just has a staple holding it together.. "pretty sales!" I say go for it. Take all the info posted on your threads and you'll do good. How about over the phone assistance for more $$? Or modify peoples cross members?? Just my two cents.

Thanks for the input guys!

Definately see what your saying cam about copyrighting. Very good idea. Im going to see who i can get intouch with for a editor to see if i can pitch it somewhere, or atleast find someone to help me out with it.

As for the phone assistance. That would definately be cool. Few times during my swap i wish i could have had someone to call when i ran into a problem.

Im going to think of some parts that i could sell as part of kit.

Could possibly modify the Cavalier Fuse box's myself & sell them w/ the kit, not sure whatelse i could do.

Thanks for the input guy's, im going to start writing this, im going to send some of my "beta" versions so to speak to guys on here who have done the swap so they can validate info for me so im not getting anything wrong on it.

Sheldon

I hate to rain on your parade but this isn't going to work for a myraid of reasons. One being the market for this on ebay isn't what you think it is.

Two do you have a new swap to do right now to get the pics you need?
If not where are they coming from?

Three what can you really say that hasn't been said on here or another board like my write up(<-shameless plug) for free?

I don't know, maybe it will work out and you really don't have any initial investment so that's good.

Well my thought is people are naturally lazy.. So if they can spend twenty bucks and have all the info they need they will.. Just so they dont have to spend hours in front of the computer.. I don;t know how many more people will be doing the swap so I couldn't say how many he'll sale.Also good point. He'll need pics of the swap. If I can be some help I'd send some of mine.. JUst to get you started. But when ever you start rolling in the dough,, Remember where you got them..lol

Not a real interest in that I don't think, but I may be wrong. If you can make it a good presentation and write-up though you can always try to send it to a magazine like super chevy or chevy high performance. I've heard of 2 stories of people netting themselves jobs that way. The stories may not by true, but it's an idea. It's a job a lot of us would love.... you may make us all jealous one day. Good luck.
http://www.superchevy.com/contactus/index.html

I am doing a swap right now and I haven't hit the engine bay yet so I have potential for lots of pics. I currently rebuilding from back to front With enough key and detailed information - stuff you couldn't find out short of doing it or reading TONS of forums, I would have bought it.

I, for one, would hav loved to have been able to buy a manual for third gen ls1 swaps!!! I have never been so aggravated in my life!!! LOL, I wish I had been aware of the cavalier fuse box swap... That would have saved me a lot of aggravation.... The worst part is the wiring, and I'm an auto electrician!!! LOL, 50 bucks for a really comprehensive manual is a steal!!!!
do eeetttt!!!!