Book recommendations?

[High Life]

Hello all,

I have been searching the forums for a bit and I see a couple/few of books on the classic 911SC that are recommended for technical support:

Robert Bentley manual and the 101 projects for your Porsche - along with the Porsche factory manuals..

I have the Bentley manual - not sure on the 101 projects - (I wasn't that impressed with the 101 projects for your E30..)

I recently came across the Title: Porsche 911SC: The Essential Companion by Adrain Streather - that looks to be a good book for me to read. Does anyone have this book? Is it a good book to own?


I'm open to suggestions / recommendations of any other book that would help me better understand (technical or historical) the 911SC..

NOTE - I cannot afford the 81 911SC Porsche factory manuals at this time.

[nameisbauer]

I also have the 101/E30 and agree is in not as good as the 911 book. They split time between E30 and E36, which is not as easy as 911's since they are much more similar. I use the 101-911 often.

[tirwin]

There is probably no right answer. It depends on the topic really.

I find that sometimes I need to go to different sources (including this forum) to get a complete picture. Rarely have I ever regretted asking a seemingly simple question -- somebody always seems to chime in with a useful tip.

The 101 book has a lot of pearls of wisdom. Do this/don't do that kind of stuff. It has the kind of advice your buddy might tell you instead of just the step-by-step instructions/procedures you'll find in the Bentley or the shop manuals. It's written in a very conversational style and is helpful in that regard.

Bruce Anderson's 911 Performance Handbook is good and if you're fiddling around with CIS the Probst Bosch Fuel Injection & Engine Management is a good book. Jim William's CIS Primer is also an excellent source.

[TibetanT]

Hello There:

Speaking from experience, I can say that the books published by our host, Wayne Dempsey, are both excellent sources for work being done on a 911SC. I purchased both of Wayne's books; 101 Projects and Engine building provide you with a wealth of information regarding the essential maintenance of the 911SC.

I also have the Bentley, Porsche Factory Manuals (complete set from 1970-1983) as well as the Porsche 911SC Essential Companion book. The latter is a valuable source of information with regard to components that are found only on the 911SC (such as identifying CIS components within the engine compartment).

I would also recommend Bruce Anderson's publications if you plan on DIY, have a good mechanical background, and have a full set of tools to work on the car.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[MBAtarga]

The Gold-Plated PORSCHE by Pelican member Stephan Wilkinson is an amusing read. Not a reference book in itself, but a story of his Porsche ownership.

[grizzfan]

+1 on both the Gold Plated Porsche and 101 Projects. I'm still laughing over the GPP book. I wish I had read it before I bought my 911; I might have bought a Mitsubishi instead!!!

Tom

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by TibetanT

Speaking from experience, I can say that the books published by our host, Wayne Dempsey, are both excellent sources for work being done on a 911SC. I purchased both of Wayne's books; 101 Projects and Engine building provide you with a wealth of information regarding the essential maintenance of the 911SC.

Very glad to hear they have been useful to you! As everyone has pointed out, Wayne's 101 projects book should be very useful to you. Don't forget to also check out our free tech article library (posted below) for DIY assistance as well. Also, if you're wanting something about the history of the 911 be sure to check out the 911 Red Book 3rd Edition (linked below) as it has some really great info about options, production numbers, etc.

Porsche Technical Books & Manuals - PelicanParts.com
Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[High Life]

Ok - 101 and Gold Plated Porsche have been ordered from Amazon..

Tim - I downloaded and printed the CIS primer (after reading through your thread).

I will put Bruce Anderson's Performance Handbook and Dempsey's other book on the 911 Engines on the to order list..

On a similar note - Is the PCA a good source of info for the older Porsche crowd?

I was a member of the BMWCCA for a few years - but had little in common with the others as I was the sole "vintage" member. (could be just the region) Plus the Roundel magazine began getting awfully political - so i bolted (as well as many other members - so Im told).

[Bill Douglas]

I've got hth Bentley, the 101, AND the Haynes. The Haynes is pretty useless but if I'm not completely understanding something I glean some information from all three. More the merrier.

[Jdub]

Here are some essentials:
= Porsche 911 Story - Paul Frere
= Porsche High-Performance Driving Hand Book - Vic Elford
= Porsche 911 Red Book 1965 - 1999 - Patrick C. Paternie
= Solving Bosch Continuous Injection System (CIS) Problems - James Weber

Buy all of the books you can. You will be surprised what you can find out. For example, the Haynes manual for all the abuse it receives is the only one that points out there is a pin in the clutch lever at the trans. in pre-'79 cars that has to be removed before it slides off the shaft.

Money spent on books is never wasted.

[Tremelune]

The information I've found on Pelican and Rennlist far surpass any manual I've come across. Have one on hand for the basic procedure and torque values, but always search before larger jobs to see if anyone has detailed their experience. A lot of these books say things like "installation is the reverse of removal" while a good thread on the topic will discuss the best way to remove an exhaust stud after it inevitably snapped off because nobody told you to get the nuts red hot and spray penetrating oil on them for a week...

[tirwin]

Originally Posted by High Life

On a similar note - Is the PCA a good source of info for the older Porsche crowd?

I was a member of the BMWCCA for a few years - but had little in common with the others as I was the sole "vintage" member. (could be just the region) Plus the Roundel magazine began getting awfully political - so i bolted (as well as many other members - so Im told).

It depends on the specific region I think. Every region likely has it's sub-groups (older air-cooled crowd, water pumper crowd, autocross/DE, concours, scenic drivers, etc.) Peachstate PCA is big enough that we have a lot of diverse sub-groups and there tends to be a group for everyone -- it all depends on what you enjoy.

I have met locals through Pelican and PCA. Honestly, I have met more local people who like wrenching on their cars through Pelican.

Individuals tend to come and go. I've seen a fair bit of turnover as some people have traded in the rising market value of their old air-cooled cars for newer Caymans and 911s. I heard someone actually say 'Miata' the other day which made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

[javadog]

I would say that the PCA has a much older demographic, on average, than this forum. I joined in 1982 or 1983, so I have seen quite a bit of its history. As "technical" as this forum is, I can say without reservations that almost all of the heavy hitters in the Porsche world in this country are in the PCA, or were. Many of them are getting older now, and many are gone, but enough of them are still out there that just about any question can be answered. The difference is that this forum is very accessible, the older gurus are much less so. They don't tend to spend much time on the internet, so you have to go about reaching out to them in a different way.

Regions vary, but in my area there are still quite a few older cars. Most of the member do have newer cars as well, but I significant number of them had the older stuff, when it was new, and many of them have been kept. You more often see the newer stuff, but the older cars are around if you ask.

I was also a member of the BMW club for a long time and found it to be next to worthless. It only surpassed the Ferrari club and the Audi club, which is damning with faint praise. Like you, I enjoyed the magazine, for a while.

I have some books for sale in the classifieds that would give you a general history of the Porsche marque. I have some other books to add, perhaps more 911 specific, so keep checking back. I've sold off most of my really technical books, but in general, you get what you pay for with those. The ones that are less expensive aren't ultimately as useful as the factory stuff, but the factory books were intended to be used with all of the other factory documentation, so to get the best out of them, you need all the other stuff as well.

JR

[Bob Kontak]

This is a good book. Published by Haynes but written by Peter Morgan and Lindsey Porter.

https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/author/lindsay-porter-peter-morgan/

[Joe Bob]

Bentley has some errors as well as 101. Read both with a WTF thought balloon above your head.

101, reparking the wipers. Recommends going thru the trunk and removing all the fresh air stuff. NOPE....remove the tach and clock, reach in and do the change. 10 versus 90 minutes.

Bentley has the ignition timing bass ackwards.....would irk ya if you followed the directions they have in the book and STILL sell it w/o a note of correction.


There are more but those are the obvious ones....