Shopping for Shop Manuals?

[Fredensborg]

I have seen several posts on here where people are refencing their Shop Manuals for torque specs, wiring diagrams, etc. Where did you all get yours? I have seen several different versions of these on eBay and from other retailers online, some are digital and some are physical books, some appear to actually be from Ford, and others appear to be some type of reproduction. And of course, there are always the Chilton/Haynes manuals. I am looking at getting a set of these, but I don't want to waste good money on crappy manuals.

 

[Don C]

The digital manuals are what I would call medium resolution scans of old printed manuals. I got mine from FordManuals.com, they are published by Forel Publishing and are copywrited.

I was able to print mine out and put them in binders, so have them for the workshop. The digital copies are handy to look at when in the house. Some of the illustrations leave something to be desired, but I believe they weren't all that good in the originals, either.

Forel was responsive when I had problems with printing them out, due to the copywrite protection, and they send me a revised authentication key.

If I ever come across a decent (quality and price) original set I will get them also.

 

[goodnigh]

Got my set (5) on eBay some time ago.
These are the original Ford shop manuals.

mike

 

[Hemikiller]

I have a fair library of manuals and "how to" books. Some repops, some originals. The 71, 68 & 65 are reproductions, the rest are originals. 

The 71 & 68 I bought ages ago from Mustangs Unlimited. The 65 I bought last year from Rock Auto and it's a Detroit Iron publication. Quality is excellent and the paper is good, heavy stock. They have the 73 manual set for $60. The only caveat there is it's missing Volume 6, the one with the emissions and vacuum diagrams. RA also sells the Dave Graham reproductions, which I've heard terrible reviews on, as they supposedly have huge watermarks. 

I recently bought a Detroit Iron digital manual for the 73s and it's pretty darn good for $20. It's also missing volume 6, but does have the complete dealer service department wiring diagrams. 

FWIW, the Haynes V8 Mustang manual is worth the $20 as a good reference piece. Try to find a used one with the 72 Mach 1 cutaway on the cover, as it has the heavier paper stock, not the newsprint they use today. 

 

[Idaho Chris]

Jason-

I have a set of the original Ford Shop Manuals that I bought direct from Ford back in 1975.  They came in a five volume set and I use them most every day I work on the car.  I highly recommend them.

It looks like NPD sells a repro: https://www.npdlink.com/product/shop-manual-printed-1973-ford-mercury-car/138046?backurl=search%2Fproducts%3Fsearch_terms%3Dshop%2Bmanual%26top_parent%3D200001%26year%3D1973&year=1973

If the above repro is anything like the repro I recently bought from them for the 1970 model year, the repro is just as the original but they combine volumes into a couple of bindings instead of separate books for each volume.  The separate bindings are easier to lay out flat on a workbench but other than that the repros are just like the originals.

Worth the $ if you are planning to get serious!

 

[detritusmaximus]

There is guy on Minneapolis Craigslist with a fairly used set of the 1971 Ford shop manuals, all 5 for $30.

But, you'll want the right set for your year due to changes in the 1973.

As said, the Haynes is okay for reference, but the Haynes/Chiltons/etc. leave out a lot of information.