Hey guys not sure if this is the right section or not but I read through the post where someone gave someone a service manual to scan and the guy never came through. It kind of got me thinking if all of us that have service manuals would scan them into pdf files would you guys post them up on the site? I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind posting them but I guess it comes down to would it be legal? copyright infringement and what not or is this something you guys would rather not have on here?

 

Sorry, but there would be a big copyright issue. Those service manuals are still in print by Helm, the publisher, and scanning/posting entire books on here would not be allowed.

 

I bought my Helm Manual for $25 off of ebay. It's not like they are $1000 and rare. Just do the right thing and buy one.

 

Ok I did not realize they were still in print, I thought ebay was the only option. And I was thinking if they didn't make them anymore nobody would care if there was digital copies on the internet but I completely understand why it would be a problem.

I actually do have one for my car that I also bought off of ebay, I was thinking they were no longer in print and was more worried about them disappearing for good. I don't have a problem paying the $35 that I paid for mine I just thought it would be nice to have a digital copy that we could all access but with them still being in print that's not a problem. It's very good info in there and I was willing to scan mine just to help out. I thought it would be nice like in my case I have a 92 Camaro TBI but say I bought a L98 out of a 89 Trans am then I would have all the info for both (I'm going LS1 eventually so that wouldn't have even helped me). I guess it has more to do with this site is great and I have learned a whole bunch and I would like to give back somehow.

 

Great minds think alike.

Aside from the obvious copyright issues, The manuals are over 1000 pages in most cases. I don't know about anyone else, but scanning even a couple pages on an old flatbed can be a major PITA. Factor in everything, and the bottom line is there's no excuse for anyone with one of these cars NOT to just buy the correct manual. Even if you have to buy a manual NEW it's a fraction of the cost of the car.

 

And a Parts and Illustration Catalogue if you can find one for your car. I recently bought two 82-85 Camaro catalogues and I'm very impressed. A single cat. requires a three-inch ring binder to hold it.

JamesC

 

Except the P&I catalogs seem to be out of print, obsolete, and used copies are usually expensive.

 

No reasons, IMO, for not purchasing one, if you can stumble on it.

JamesC

 

I bought a parts and Illus. cat from ebay for $20, and a assembly manual for I think $25.

It doesn't cost a lot to be rich with literature

 

Again guys just so I'm clear here I wasn't suggesting this to try and get a freebie, as I stated I already have a service manual that I bought off of ebay for my car (92 camaro) I truly thought they weren't being printed anymore or even if they were the only way you could get a new one was if you were a GM dealer. And I thought before they all got destroyed (my year and a half daughter was nice enough to rip the cover off of mine a week after I got it) it would be nice to have a digital copy, but since they are still printing them that won't be a problem.

 

It doesn't hurt to ask and it sounds like your intentions were in a good place. I guess I got lucky three times for my '83 Z28. I bought my first factory service manual off EBay for $20 (the Haynes/Chiltons are good for older cars but still lacking). I scored a second later in almost new condition for $10 more again off EBay which made me feel silly at first for what I paid for the first one - but now I have one to look through and one to use. And then the big deal for me was a complete '82-'88 F-Body P&I for around $50. Those books have helped me an helped me answer a few questions on here.

Now for newer vehicles you are looking at 2+ books in a factory service manual set. My '02 Envoy was a 2 volume set and my '07 Avalanche has 3. But with ECM/PCM,TCM,BCM and ABS computors they have to be. Now even the trouble codes are 4 or 5 pages alone. And if you do a LS swap you have to deal with a great deal of this. The nice thing is the ground work has been laid by others in books and write up (on here for a start)