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Best Shop Manual for BE

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tiiM5

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Hello all, I am about to begin getting my BE on the road again after many decades of dormancy. I will need to do a front end rebuild, task looks daunting, and will be installing newer 948 and smoothies.
What are your recommendations as to the best shop manual(s) to use for work on BE's?
I have read that the front end can be shipped to a shop for rebuilding and then reinstalled, anyone with experience with this?
I will have additional questions I am sure once I get into things.
Thanks, all assistance appreciated.
 
tiiM5,
Welcome to the forum! I second Ricks suggestion and you may want to consider the Bentley manual if an electronic copy doesn't work for you...it's a copy of the factory manual.
Rut
 
Apple Hydraulics and Peter C at World Wide Imports can help you with your front end rebuild and your shocks. The orignal manual, this forum and the search menu will be sufficient to rebuild your B/E. I get to Menlo Park on occasion to visit friends so I might be able to give a hand.
Regards
Paul
 
Gentleman, Thanks for the advice, I'll check each source.
Paul love to meet you, my car is in a garage in San Carlos where my work will be done, save for painting, I still need to source a painter. Looking forward to getting her back on the road. It's original black plate car, I've had it since high school, rebuilt the 948 then, I think Nixon was President, so long time ago.
 
We always want pictures. Mine still has the orignal black plates but I purchased it as a wreck.
image.jpgimage.jpg
 
The only thing I would add is that you will find that parts are very expensive and hard to find for the smooth case gearboxes. Also, unless you have specialized tools and equipment, replacing synchros is not a "shade tree" job and will need to be done by a specialist. Unless you are doing a concourse restoration of just want to keep the car 100% original, you should consider upgrading to a later rib case gearbox. They are a much more durable gearbox too. Since you are just down the peninsula from me, I have several excellent condition rib case gearboxes, and even a couple smooth case ones, if you are interested.

San Carlos has a LOT of paint/body shops I have experience with a couple of them and can tell you who to steer away from and who's good. I have a Morris Traveller in one down there now.
 
Did you know you can have both ways? It will take some machining to the case but you can put the late model rib case gears inside the smooth case and no one would ever know!!
 
Gerard, I have a good smooth case to replace my current, in which first and reverse clunk, I also purchased a couple of years ago a rib case, I don't know the condition, noisy or sincere issues. I did take the side plate off and everything looked ok to my novice and untrained eye. I realize there are advantages to switching, I might want to send the rib case out to have someone trained look at it.
I have also heard the innards are the same, is the machining significant? Will that solve the PP, Fork, TOB, slave cylinder issues resulting from the switch to Rib Case?

Love to hear about body/paint shops in area. I am informed more reasonable pricing exists in the east bay.

Thanks Gents for the continued advice and assistance.
 
tiiM5 said:
Gerard, I have a good smooth case to replace my current, in which first and reverse clunk, I also purchased a couple of years ago a rib case, I don't know the condition, noisy or sincere issues. I did take the side plate off and everything looked ok to my novice and untrained eye. I realize there are advantages to switching, I might want to send the rib case out to have someone trained look at it.
I have also heard the innards are the same, is the machining significant? Will that solve the PP, Fork, TOB, slave cylinder issues resulting from the switch to Rib Case?

Love to hear about body/paint shops in area. I am informed more reasonable pricing exists in the east bay.

Thanks Gents for the continued advice and assistance.
Click to expand...

I've rebuilt many, so if you want help with it, let me know. There's really not much you can tell with the side cover off, but I can measure the synchros and check for a couple other things and tell you if it's usable as-is or not.

As far as putting a rib case on a 948, no, there are many differences. See my Tech article on the subject.

https://gerardsgarage.com/Garage/Tech/TO_Bearings/tobearings.htm
 
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