Reference Material

Today, I thought I would post information about several reference books I have found useful in daignosing problems and repairing those problems.  As I have no formal training in auto repair, I have had to learn by trial and error.  These books (pictured below) have been a tremendous help in keeping my bus on the road.  Of course I have still learned by trial and error and have had to re-do many repairs over the years.

Probably most useful has been the basic VW shop manual.  This one is in good shape because I recently replaced my well worn copy with a new one:

Another good resource for VW information in general is John Muir, "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, a Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat (sic) Idiot."  Although there are not the detailed photographs of the Official Shop Manual, the step by step instructions are very easy to follow.  Mine, pictured below, is very well worn:

The Haynes Shop Manual, picture below, is a good manual with detailed photographs and easy to follow instructions.  A lot of it is a repeat of the Official Shop Manual, so I do not use it as much.  Also, it is written with a British accent:

For rebuilding engines, there is no better resource than Tom Wilson's, "How to Rebuild Your Volkswagen Air-Cooled Engine."  The book covers every detail from part identification by year, to removal, to tear down, to build up.  It includes a chart on torque specifications, a feature that I refer to regularly.  If you own a VW and plan on repairing or rebuilding your own engine, I highly recommend this book:

If you have fuel injection and am like me with very limited knowledge of the magic of the system, then I recommend, "Bosch Fuel Injection Systems" by HP Books.  It does a great job of unraveling the mystery of all those little parts and wires.  I have a pretty good basic understanding of the Bosch fuel injection due to the information in this book, and in fact have replaced every componant in my Bus:

Of course I have read myriads of information on the Internet on subjects related to repairing and rebuilding various componants of the VW Bus so I cannot leave this excellent resource out of this blog.

Happy Bus Motoring :-)

Ron