reptileis

I guess I need to get a set of shop manuals.

what are my options here?
I have a 78' old b*st*rd.

Haynes?
Chilton?
Used set of Porsche volumes?

any FS on this list?

My wifes gonna kill me!

<img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" /> <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Erik Juhl

Your cheapest option is probably microfiche. I just got a copy of the repair manuals for MY 78-84 on microfiche through ebay for ~$90. I think this is a good deal, since I have been trying to get the microfiche for awhile and they were selling for an average of $125. Also, compare this to the printed set at $350 minimum and fiche starts looking pretty good. Only drawback to fiche is how to view, but I plan to go to the local libary and print what I need as I need it. Anyway, they are hard to find so start hunting now and good luck.

reptileis

Ugh! too impracticle for my situation.

Nice suggestion though. I'd be spending the difference from the volumes on trips to the library with my mechanic. Unless i could find a viewer(?).

I did manage to find a BRAND NEW 8 volume set (9 binders) on clearance for 391.00. Is this a good deal?

2V4V

FWIW,

I have both the fiche and the books. The books are the way to go if you can spend the $. (and will definately payback very quickly).

I paid ~$30 for the fiches (eBay). I already had a fiche reader, but they usually go for ~$20-40 on the used market. I also recently bought a rechargeable battery powered briefcase-style fiche reader for ~$70 on eBay.

HTH,

Greg

Jerry 87 928S4

Rep, 928intl sells the books for $375 when they have them.

V-Fib

928 International had them in stock 3wks ago. I bought them ASAP, as they had been on backorder nationwide for some time. I also bought the microfiche and a briefcase ac/dc microfiche reader for about $80.00 total. I found the PET cd on yahoo, and received it today. It was worth the $25.00. It's the best way to find all part ###'s.
The Chilton manual, I believe is out of print, I have one and it's virtually worthless. If you do any work or maintenence at all, you need them.
Anthony Tate
79/928
PCA
928oc

reptileis

Is it the Parts microfiche im looking for? or is that the same as the pet 5 (i have the pet)?

I found a parts microfiche online and a suitcase reader for 40 bucks, but if it's not the manuals on Microfiche it's useless to me.

Dave H.

you might buy it just to get the reader, but you don't need the parts fiche if you have the PET cd...

jim morehouse

The parts microfiche's, PET5, and the shop manual microfiche are all available on CD. The shop manual microfiche was converted by a group of us 'listers' and is usable but nowhere near the quality of the hard copy...I'd consider it a stop gap measure. Images are negatives and wiring diagrams for &gt;'87 model years are very difficult to read. Better than nothing and it cost us $35 each when we did the conversion. The PET5 contains pretty much the same data/drawings as the parts microfiches, has better image quality, and covers all Porsche models/years. I think Porsche has cracked down on the ebay auctions for this since you don't see them there any more. Send me an email re sources.

Jim
jim928@ptd.net

Greg86andahalf

jim morehouse

Neat idea there Greg...never thought of that. I'll have to try it on any of those pics that hard to make out. Thanks,
Jim

Erik Juhl

So how did you guys get your microfiche transferred to CD? Was it a home office job or is there a service you would recommend?

Greg86andahalf

jim morehouse

Greg and Erik
actually the process was to print to hard copy from the microfiche and then scan to a tif..don't remember the resolution but it was the best the group's leader (not me) could get at the time w/o breaking the bank. The images on the CD are .tif files viewable w most viewers and one of the guys in the original group did a great job of putting together an MSWord table of contents. The conversion was done by a company in San Diego called Fichenet (www.fichenet.com ). After we did the manuals, I put together groups and did the partsmicrofiches for all US and 78-86 ROW. There's not much demand for these now with the PET5 CD copies floating around. You see the PET very rarely on ebay now, I think Porsche must have cracked down or been notified.

The sad thing about the shop manual CDs on ebay is that the few guys selling them are getting WAY more than it cost us as part of the group ($35). I've tried to counter this by listing a dutch auction for them at $39 but someone must have notified Porsche because ebay pulled the ad..didn't pull the others, though and they continue to sell well above what we paid.

I'm hoping to have a first look at a pdf version of the hard copy in a month. It's much higher quality than the microfiche version and even has legible wiring diagrams for S4's/GT/GTS (from the sample run I did). These conversions are NOT cheap though. I think the microfiche one was around $700 and the pdf will likely be in that range. I'm planning to put together a group (that would use this as 'backup' to their hard copy) to share the cost of conversion/time. I'll need to add the proper 'bookmarks/TOC' to the files and I'd really like to generate a searchable index but that may be a seperate project. The pdf's are text searchable though from Acrobat Reader. I'm actually thinking of trying to copy protect it somehow just to keep people from ripping off other owners on ebay. If I don't, I know it'll show up there in 3-6 months at some ridiculous price (and may despite what I do). It's almost as if the owners/buyers end up paying a 'penalty' for not being on the list/board.

I'm also in the process of converting some of the other technical information books to pdf but they're not close yet. I want to wait to have the pdf of the shop manuals done before converting those. I have a source for a lot of these but would be happy to hear from others who have technical books (like Fuel Injection, Climate Control, Model year technical manuals, etc) who might be willing to loan them to me in exchange for a copy of the pdf back-up. So far, I've got 928 Tech Bulletins for '84-89(thanks,Jerry), Model Year Service Information for 78-84 except '80, -Heating,Ventilating, And Air-Condition WKD 455 020
-Porsche 928 Climate Control System (M 563)
-928 Air Flow Controlled Fuel Injection Service Information
WKD 459 521.

From what I've seen, the model year wiring diagrams books don't add much if anything to what's in the shop manual so I don't plan on converting those.

Sorry for the long winded post, but that's the process and the current status.

Jim

Greg86andahalf