BillyBob's Bookstore Store

Automotive Electrical Handbook by Jim Horner, Inc Staff Inkwell Co. This is a great book for those who want to wire or re-wire their vehicles from scratch. Basic theory and components are covered in detail. I got BillyBob's re-wiring 99.44 percent finished before I got half-way through reading this book cover-to-cover. I did not finish reading it but I still go back to it often for reference.

Automotive Paint Handbook by John Pfanstiehl. Haven't gotten a chance to look at this one very close yet.

Automotive Upholstery Handbook by Don Taylor. Haven't gotten a chance to look at this one very close yet.

California Bill's Chevrolet, GMC & Buick Speed Manual, 1954 Edition Published by Fisher Books. Reprint edition (December 1995). This is a is a performance how-to book written by Fred W "Bill" Fisher . It gives you helpful hints for performance on the early inlines. I'm sorry to pass on a report from the Ole Trucks mail list that California Bill Fisher passed on in the first half of 1999.

Catalog of Chevy Truck ID Numbers 1946-1972: Pickup, Suburban and El Camino (Cars & Parts Magazine Matching Numbers Series). Published by Cars & Parts Magazine. I was lucky with this book as it was given to me by my brother (the "Billy" in BillyBob) when he sold me the truck. I have seen reports in various mailing lists and newsgroups that not all the info in this book is accurate, but in my case, this publication has saved me considerable expense. The Pennsylvania Title for BillyBob did not have the year listed. The Florida authorities were going to require an "expert" to certify that BillyBob was a 1955 model, hitting me for about $200 extra in the process. An inspection of the door identification plate along with a photocopy of the appropriate page from this book satisfied them and saved me that $200.

Chevrolet 1954 Truck Shop Manual Published by Motorbooks International. This is another of the books my brother included when he sold me BillyBob. The one I have does not have any indication in it of being a Motorbooks International reprint but I think it is the same.

Chevrolet Pickups 1946-1972 How to Identify, Select and Restore These Collector Light Trucks by John Gunnell. Got this in July of 2000. Haven't looked at it closely yet, but I like the pics!

Classic Car Restorer's Handbook by Jim Richardson. Haven't read much of this yet but have picked out a few areas that I'm working with currently like the vent window assembly. An easy read with some good tips.

How to 'Hop Up' Chevrolet & Gmc 6-Cylinder Engines Paperback - 160 pages Reprint edition (September 1997). This is a is a performance how-to book written by Roger Huntington in 1951. It gives you helpful, if dated, tips for performance on the early inlines.

Engine & Chassis Detailing It's simple, to the point, and an easy read. A good primer for a non-expert like myself. Jim uses a lot of stuff from Eastwood Company, but that's OK with me since I do too. A regular on TV's "My Classic Car," Richardson covers a wide range of commercial products, tasks, and techniques necessary to produce award winning and show-car-quality chassis and engine restorations. This comprehensive guide includes new powder coating techniques and materials, painting and CAD plating techniques, intake and exhaust system detailing, rewiring, disassembly and media blasting, MIG welding, and hundreds of other topics.

How to Paint Your Car by David H. Jacobs, Jr. I saw this book listed in Eastwood Company's catalog when I was getting ready to purchase a quart of Corroless rust stabilizer from them. I ordered this book from Amazon.com after I received the rust stabilizer to research how to prep BillyBob for a temporary "Rustoleum" paint job to preserve him better until the big repaint which is still a few years in the future. I've only "scanned" the contents at this point, but it looks to be a great help to me both now and during that great repaint in the future.

How to Restore Your Chevrolet Pickup by Tom Brownell. The first edition of this is another of the books my brother included when he sold me BillyBob. I have read that book cover-to-cover once already. I consider it hits the mark so well that I will be using it as a template in the restoration of BillyBob. Highly reccommended, especially for rebuilding or restoring the "Advanced Design" Series of Chevrolet Trucks.

How to Restore Metal Automotive Trim by Jeff Lilly. I first saw this book in The Eastwood Company catalog. I ordered it from Amazon and arrived the week of 03/27/2000. I havn't had the chance to review or put it to good use yet.

How to Restore Your Collector Car by Tom Brownell. Similar to the Jim Richardson books. Lot's of glossy color photos.

Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts and Fasteners, and Plumbing Handbook. Haven't gotten a chance to look at this one very close yet.

This book is not very useful for BillyBob as it has only a few pages devoted to his single-barrel carby. If you have a car with a Quadrajet tho, you might have more use for it than I have.

Truck : On Rebuilding a Worn-Out Pickup, and Other Post-Technological Adventures by John Jerome. This is the tale of re-building a 1950 Dodge pickup in the mid-seventies. It is about 2/3 truck building and 1/3 other post-techological adventures. I enjoyed it throughly and laughed and cried along with the author.

Ultimate Auto Detailing by David H. Jacobs, Jr. I can't remember when I saw this book at a "bricks and sticks" bookstore and purchased it on impulse. it gathered dust for a long time but recently I've started using it to detail Renegade, my Jeep. I'm also going to apply some of the tricks I'm learning to spif up BillyBob too.

Welder's Handbook by Richard Finch. Haven't gotten a chance to look at this one very close yet.

Wired for Success : Auto Electrical Made Easy by Randy Rundle. This book is written in plain "common sense" English and explains exactly how antique vehicle electrical systems are "supposed" to work. Using real life "practical" and often funny examples, Randy Rundle has written a book for the majority of antique car owners who say " I don't care what the theory is..just tell me how to fix my car.." Randy's book is full of tech tips and practicial ideas to make any antique car more reliable and fun to drive. I haven't read this one cover-to-cover but I often consult it for reference. Randy is also the electrical forum moderator at Stovebolt.com

Hatari. The 1962 John Wayne movie directed by Howard Hawks about catching animals for zoos in Africa. The main star of the show is an early stovebolt AD chase truck. Nothin' can perk up an ole trucker more than watchin' (and listenin' to) that older brother of BillyBob running hellbent for leather across the savanna with the Duke perched on the front fender. The other vehicles are interesting too - a pair of long-bed jeep CJ types, a Jeep forward control truck, a Dodge Power Wagon and even an old WWII era Mercedes 1-1/2 or 2 ton truck. The AD even fords a river, then pulls out one of the Jeeps that is stalled half-way across . . . Doesn't get any better than that.

Hot Rods & Custom Classics. This is a CD Box Set from Rhino of four CD's (87 songs) with car tunes between 1946 and 1998. It is well done and packaged in a simulated model car box that any of you who grew up in the sixties like I did will recognize (do companies like AMT, Monogram, Revell and MPC ring a bell?) Each CD has a different custom wheel graphic imprinted on it and each CD case has recognizable decal images (remember the eight-ball lady luck?) and famous custom engine graphics. There are real vinyl decals included (Rancho Diablo Speed Shop, Rhino Flames Logo, Mooneyes), a Mooneyes keychain/bottle opener, A replica Moon catalog, a book with excerpts from Tom Wolfe's "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby", and best of all, a pair of "Fuzzy Dice" (which now hang proudly from BillyBob's rearview mirror).

Black & Decker Workmate 225. This lightweight, fold-up workbench is a good substitute for the real thing. It will be my "main" workbench until the well-worn dream of a workshop of my own materializes in the distant future.

Dremel 3981 Professional Tool Kit This professional tool kit from Dremel features an electronic feedback controller that enhances overall torque and performance at low- and mid-speed ranges (5,000 to 30,000 rpm). Separate on/off buttons and variable-speed buttons make the unit easier to control. Also features soft-start technology, ball-bearing construction, and a 10-foot power cord. I've wanted one of these since I was a kid. I finally "went for it" in July 2000.