Smoke in the Wires April 2016

your cause.
The Image button on your internet browser is another great
source of information. I’ve struggled with the wiring diagram on
my E-Type over the years, tracing identical black lines labeled W,
G, RB, YN and the like. I found an image someone had done
producing the entire chart in color so that I could see Yellow-
Brown instead of tracing YN. Brilliant. Internet photos have saved
me countless times when I failed to take a picture of something
before I took it apart or when the manufacturer failed to produce
a much-needed diagram in the service manual. I learned how to
re-spoke and true a wire wheel on the internet from studying
several sources. Ultimately, I wrote and posted my own guide
which can now be found in a couple of places online.
Manuals are another great resource I have found on the internet.
There are quite a few digitized service manuals out there for the
cars, but tools are where I’ve had the biggest need. I inherited
several outstanding power tools from my grandfather. While I understood the basic workings of the tools, I still
didn’t know the finer points of setup, safety and all of the higher features. Despite the machines being over thirty
years old, I found scanned-in manuals for every router, drill press, band saw and planer that I had. Now I can source
spare parts as well as correctly use the features and adjustments available to me.
The internet can be dauntingly shallow at times, but there is truly a wealth of information and automotive
entertainment available. You just have to ask the right questions and look in the right places. While most people
think of the internet as a resource for buying parts, there is a lot of
assistance available to the hobbyist beyond sales support. You might also
contribute by joining and adding to a
marque-specific forum. Or you can
turn to the dark side and go on
Yahoo Answers and maybe help
the less mechanically inclined sort
out their motoring mysteries like
what the “710” cap does.
Smoke in the Wires April 2016 Page 25