I Got My Bentley!

[Jrm1080]

I realize this is a weird thing to be so excited about but I finally bought the VW Bible everyone always raves about and let me just say, If the quality of information and instructions are as clear and quality as the print and pictures in this book then I’m going to be kicking myself for not buying it sooner.
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-Constant over thinker
-Figuring it out as I go. (With lots of Samba inquiries)

•’67 Type I mostly original semi daily driver (temperature permitting 🔥☀️)
•’74 Type I work in progress.

[Randall]

When I saw your topic I thought you got one of these --

Seriously, I bought a new Bentley manual for $80 in 2004. I've never handled it with oily fingers. It's still as clean looking as when I bought it.

[jason]

It’s not that great. I have them because I like old pictures. Nothing in there that isn’t on thesamba, specs.

[Jrm1080]

[Glenn]

I wrote my own book

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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[67ctbug]

I got a Bentley around two Christmas' ago. Great book, but about 1 week after I got it, my dog chewed the corner of the cover. No pages were messed up, but it sucked. I hold that thing on a pedestal. It's on my list of things you NEED when you have a VW.
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'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[andk5591]

Not sure what one you got, but the big dark blue one is good for weeks and weeks of study and reading. Doesnt cover ball joint beams, but a lot of body stuff
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D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[Jrm1080]

[jsturtlebuggy]

Yes the Bentley manuals are a valuable source of information. You will be very happy having it to use when working on your VW.
The Without Guess Work books are also a valuable tool too. If you want to see what they look like they are in the Technical section on this site.
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Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

[79SuperVert]

I used mine so much that it started to fall apart and I bought another copy just to look at when I'm bored. Sad but true.
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Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.

[mark tucker]

just be warned, the bently isant always right

[Mark Evans]

[mark tucker]

things that arnt right. some stuff in the transmission section arnt and probably more sections too.I have about 4 different manuls that i go through to get more info than just 1 sorce that may or may not be clear or correct. no Im not pissing on the bently it is better than the others in may aspects.but....being a certified tech for a few diferent manufactures the bently manuyls are....about as good as my spelling perhaps it's in the translation &syntax. the chitlens is about the worst Ive seen...although I have a chitlens from 69 or 70 and it's much better than the one from 75 or so. keep an eye out for any manul that covers what ever you work on and do not rely on just 1.as that may lead you astray ... some manuals are a copy of other manuals some have diferent ways to do the same thing , and some leave out what you need to do...or tell you to take it to the dealer, WTF???or just spicfiy the service tool that you do not have...the bently is very good but it's not all thats needed.

[jwp67]

[VW_Jimbo]

I have had several Bentley manuals, blue and orange, since the late 80s. They were the VW Bibles in the shop I worked at. Several years ago, I finally had to repurchase the Orange book again. This time I bought the hard coverd one. And like Mark mentioned. I had to go through my new one and input my notes on all of the wonky information within those pages. Watch out, some of those torque specs in the suspension section are wrong. I got the right numbers from VW Technical Service Bullerins, from the last 40 plus years!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[calvinater]

is there a sticky some where that lists the mistakes/corrections for the Bently manuals?
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"Albatross"!

[Zundfolge1432]

Bentley assumes you are working on a fairly new car using OEM parts, for years and still occasionally people freak out over such things as adjustment of master cylinder push rod. Bentley cautions against altering the rod.

The other shortcoming may be no mention of interchangeability, how to mix various years of parts for better performance. In the real world we now have non stock parts and mixed year cars “ frankenbugs” running the streets. However for bone stock cars it’s the go to book and I like it. If you are going to get one look for older copy as newer ones do not have color coded wiring diagrams.

I’ve seen used ones in good shape selling for 10 to 20 dollars. Years ago I took my Bentley over to kinkos and got it spiral bound, now it lays flat for easier reading.

[Cusser]

I bought my Bentley about 8 years ago used from Ebay.

To be honest, I've only used it a few times, mostly for the color wiring stuff. When I resurrected my 1970 last year, when I rebuilt the engine I primarily referenced my old Clymer repair manual, even though all its pages are loose now.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[Zundfolge1432]

[KTPhil]