Review of Harold T. Glenn’s Chrysler ‘55-‘71 Tune-up & Repair Guide

[haywire 440]

I was looking for spark plug specs for a ‘65 413 engine and spotted this manual in my newly organized file cabinet.

It’s a book I used sparingly but found what I was looking for and much more.

There’s Troubleshooting, Tuning For Performance and the rest of the usual topics. It’s a well written guide, has really decent pictures and covers 1955- 1971.

Here’s a few photos and the 413 used J14Y in the standard engine but the HP version used J11Y.

I never seen the ignition points spring gauge. Anyone here use this spring strength meter?

 

[haywire 440]

A few more photos.

 

[haywire 440]

Ahhhh, the Secret Troubleshooting Roadmaps. What a treat.

 

[Ron_M]

Neat. Thanks for sharing!

 

[haywire 440]

I always wondered about the early V-8 cubic inches of Chrysler engines because there were “odd ball” sizes.

This book gave me the answer in one page. For that information alone I give it **** stars out of 4.

Also for the beginners and even knowledgeable mechanics there is a wealth of details here.

In yesteryears ago a friend had a sweet ‘71 medium blue, white strip, white interior 383 auto Superbee he tuned up. When done it was shooting flames out of the 4-barrel. After a look see, I asked him about the firing order and he said he found top dead center of #1 cylinder, then followed around the cap…….2,3,4,5,6,7,8.

Oh boy that was a quick fix. I like them when there easy.

‘55 241 cu. in. Cool

 

[Ron_M]

I ordered a copy off Amazon for ha-sies.

 

[Lefty71]

The motor specs pages look quite identical to a Peterson Motor Book... wonder if it's a coincidence?? Very cool old school info... certainly never, ever heard of mechanics sending out NEW pistons to be knurled???? But I'd bet you could probably do it with any TRW or SealedPower/SpeedPro slappers lol.

 

[haywire 440]

The motor specs pages look quite identical to a Peterson Motor Book... wonder if it's a coincidence?? Very cool old school info... certainly never, ever heard of mechanics sending out NEW pistons to be knurled???? But I'd bet you could probably do it with any TRW or SealedPower/SpeedPro slappers lol.

The Motor Books are great too.


I had to re-read the knurling part and it says it’s useful for a lubricant reservoir.

I had 383 pistons knurled for a stock rebuild and I know it would tighten up the cylinder clearance but understandably it wasn’t for longevity.

 

[Ron_M]

Received a hardcover copy from an Amazon seller today. Book in surprisingly good condition and has a 1970 Coronet on the cover. Overall, I am very impressed with it and I feel comfortable with it as it's pretty easy reading with good illustrations. Someone mentioned that all of material is from the factory manuals and I agree, but I like the compactness and non bulkiness that the SM usually have.

Thank you haywire440 for the original post.

 

[haywire 440]

It great to hear that you were able to find a copy. I didn’t see any copies on eBay as I was surfing around after my original post.

My thought was “Great, it may be a fine book but not any out there!”

I’ll be perusing my copy as I need to brush up on some items for up coming projects.

 

[Lefty71]

Just for giggles... I found an old street wedge piston from a 426 we are redoing.... the whole set was knurled, just like the pic in the book.... vintage for sure... Can anyone explain the markings of the knurl??? Proprietary I'm sure.

 

[haywire 440]

Neat!

 

[Mebsuta]

I might have that book tucked away somewhere. I think I will buy another one instead of tearing up the house trying to find it.