Books to buy

[bcjammerx]

I'm trying to find some good books on building and tuning. These are the ones I've looked at so far.

I am looking for something that isn't just
"put this on your engine"

But something that will delve into some more advanced stuff. I'm wondering if some of these are just basic bolt-on mod info, that's kind of what I'm worried about on the "how to build horsepower vol 1-2", that they don't go into info deep enough.

What do y'all think of these?



Four-Stroke Performance Tuning 3rd ed: A practical guide - A. Bell; Hardcover

Forced Induction Performance Tuning A Practical Guide to Supercharging and Turbocharging - A. Bell; Hardcover

Turbocharging Performance Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop) - Jeff Hartman; Paperback

How to Rebuild and Modify Your Manual Transmission (Motorbooks Workshop) - Robert Bowen; Paperback

How to Build Horsepower - David Vizard; Paperback

How to Build Horsepower, Volume 2 - David Vizard; Paperback

Mechanic's Guide to Precision Measurement Tools (Motorbooks Workshop) - Forbes Aird; Paperback

Racing Engine Builder's Handbook: How to Build Winning Drag, Circle Track, Marine and Road RacingEngines - Tom Monroe; Paperback

Engine Builder's Handbook - Tom Monroe; Paperback

Engine Blueprinting: Practical Methods for Racing and Rebuilding (S-A Design) - Rick Voegelin; Paperback

High-Performance Handling Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop) - Don Alexander; Paperback

There was another book, auto math handbook, but I think it won't give me anything I could find for free on the internet...or cicso's excel file.

[wed3k]

ive read those and specifically for hondas, none of them really get that indepth.

id byt he auto math book though, good formulas.

[bcjammerx]

hmmm...might not matter TOO much...but I WOULD much rather have rebuilding info on Honda's specifically.

Have any you've read any that you've particularly liked?


I don't think turbo stuff would really matter too much, well for what I'm looking at learning anyway...mostly theory and tips when building.

example...I didn't know that some turbos have water lines to help cool them...which ones is something I'de prolly have to look around to find but the idea of it was what I didn't know.

[wed3k]

i only bought one honda handbook and that itself was just mainly bolt-ons. i really like the Honda service manual. engine build and theory are more opinions of engine builders.

lots of people liek to run different clearances so to have them printed in a book is kinda hypocritical.

[bcjammerx]

True...even bisi has his own top secret clearance's.

I guess what I'm really looking for is something to give me some good general info, which is why I was looking to buy a few engine building books and a few turbo books.

I wouldn't want someone telling me xx.xx clearance is the best, but rather telling what xx.xx can do and what aa.aa can do...leaving me to determine what I would need. I've torn an engine apart from head to crank and put it back together using plastic pack for the bearings but I didn't have to actually measure anything, just made sure it was in spec...but never determining the spec myself.

I need something to give me the not just the basics, but proper techniques, and then something more advanced info that I can use to figure out the rest. I know the more advanced I go the more theory there will be I'm cool with that...I just want to make sure I won't be wasting my time and money reading these.

I've got a little hands on exp. but I need more information before I build my f22...I need more info before I can even plan how to build it

Thanks for the replies so far

[d112crzy]

There's really no "advanced" books. Your best bet would be to pick up a book, read it and save it for when you're on the toilet.

Get off your computer and go outside and get some grease under your nails. There's NO better way to learn than to do it yourself when it comes to engine building. Experience owns all. Engine building books are OPINIONS and opinions ONLY. You'll have to build at least 5 engines before you really get the hang of it, IMO. I'd start with stock, OEM rebuilds(OEM parts, not necessarily performance wise).

I would, however, get the tuning book. For tuning, you NEED to know about theories and such. Without it, you'd be lost unless you had unlimited access to dyno time and track runs.

I forget which books I have, but I do have the Jeff Hartman one and some other ones about Honda building. They suck, honestly(except the tuning one). I always go back to the tuning one when I have some questions I need answered. I've yet to read all of it too and I've had it for 2 years now.

[dbsharp]

what tuning book? I never knew there was a decent tuning book. shit would have helped me before and probably will now.

[d112crzy]

I forgot the name, but it's by Jeff Hartman. It's not so much about tuning, but just about tuning theories and engine management systems and how all sensors work and what not. Great book.

[owequitit]

I believe Jose is talking about "How to Tune and Modify Engine Management Systems" by Jeff Hartman. Excellent book.

However, in order to REALLY get into the technicalities of engine building, you would be best served by some actual scientific background (i.e. engineering level stuff) and just plain old greasy experience.

The one downside to Hondas is that they are already relatively optimized and high tech, so they require a lot of skill to be able to get ridiculous power. It obviously can be done, but you can't usually just walk up to one and throw on 100 extra HP like you can a low flowing, restricted, stock, small block, so you have to know how to attack it a little better.

[bcjammerx]

Thanks for the replies...I think I know what I'll get. I just want to get a little more book knowledge so when I tear into something I don't end up tearing it up

[d112crzy]

It's really difficult to fuck a motor up when you're building it. The easiest way is to by not measuring your clearances. Everything else just kinda goes together pretty easily.

I find doing motor swaps are a tad more difficult honestly.