I posted a book thread the other day but hopefully this is different enough to avoid annoyance.
What would be your list of must-have Model T reference books?
I've got McCalley's 'Model T Ford' and Tom Collin's 'The Legendary Model T Ford'. I'm pretty sure I've also got Fajnestock's 'Model T Ford Owner'.
I'm hoping my wife will pick up Kreipke's 'The Model T' for my birthday. Any other must-have books?

Rick, yes, you definitely need what most of us refer to as "the black book", the Ford Service Manual. You can practically build a complete car from it! I have my nose in mine all the time. You can get it at any of the vendors, and sometimes one that's cheaper will show up on Ebay.

The current reprint of the service manual is good. Earlier reprints are better. Originals, when you can find them, are best. The difference is in quality of illustrations.

http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG80.html

Owners manual for your year of car and several current parts catalogs.

If you plan to buy and restore a Model T the Ford service manual is the one to start with.

I started with this book years ago. Early on I began to notice that you could disassemble a Model T a piece at a time and put it together in reverse order.
Its the easiest one man car restoration a person can do!

I bought the original reprint of the Ford Service book from Polyprints in 1960. I wore it out. It is the best book to have. I have since acquired originals, including the leather bound copy I posted a picture of awhile back. Kreipke's book is full of mistakes. I can't believe anyone who works for Ford could do that!

I just want a copy of Kreipke's book for the photos. It sounds like it contains a nice collection of early photos. I'll keep in mind that they may be incorrectly labeled. While I love the daily forum and Facebook posts of early photos, I still like to just sit down quietly with a book. I'm a bit old school that way. I like my book collection.

Please read Trent Boggess' post, excerpted from the link below. As always, he has a simple and direct way of explaining things.

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I am surprised and dismayed that one of the most frequently used books in my library has not made it on to any of these otherwise fine reading lists. The book I am referring to is Murray Fahnestock"s "The Model T Ford Owner". Fahnestock was a staff writer for "Ford Owner and Dealer" magazine, which later became "Ford Dealer and Owner", from 1914 through the 1920's. The book is based on the articles Fahnestock wrote, and covers almost every aspect of owning a Model T Ford.

For those who are wondering why I advocate the inclusion of this book, let me explain it this way. The Ford Service manual is very, very good, but was written for the benefit of a Ford Service mechanic. The underlying assumption is that the person performing the work has a fully stocked Genuine Ford Parts room only a few steps away from the service area. Oh, if that were true today. Most of us do not have a full line of New Genuine Parts at hand, Larry Smith being a possible exception to this, and when the Service Manual says to replace worn parts with new, that really doesn't help us a lot. For example, if the connecting rod journals on the crankshaft are worn, the manual would have us replace the crankshaft. Yeah, right.

Fahnestock often wrote with the typical Model T owner in mind, one who did not have immediate access to a dealer's stock of new Genuine Ford Parts at hand. He would often times describe fixes when a new part was either unavailable or difficult to change. This is the situation most Model T owners find themselves in when they have a broken or worn part. They will benefit as much from Fahnestock's book as they will from the Ford Service manual.

There is more than one way to fix a Ford.

Respectfully submitted,

Trent Boggess

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http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/599638/675929.html?1474318966

I highly recommend you heed his advice.

If willing to go off subject a little, are there any particularly good books with decent photos that focused on some of the earliest cars? Like a book of pre-1915 cars? That might be a nice one to add to the reference library.

The Dykes automotive repair manuals are excellent. The illustrations are very good, and the advice goes beyond the factory manual. On Amazon and eBay, reasonably priced usually.





This one is the book I am talking about, the price is high though:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0007ELP62/ref=sr_1_cc_1_olp?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1484421342&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Dykes+auto+repair+books&condition=used

The Dykes manual includes repair and operation instructions for many early cars, their carburetors, magnetos, transmissions, etcetera. Great reading material.

Interesting posts. I enjoy reading and collecting books.

The books referenced so far are great for serious reading. For owners who like to do their own work on Ts, the MTFCA Handbooks are a great hands on reference. I can't imagine any novice or even somewhat experienced guy doing any serious work without them. They were written by very practical guys who had hands on experience of fixing and running these old vehicles.