Studebaker-Manual

Need a manual for your 1941 ‘Stude Champion? Bishko’s got it. (Image/Bishko)

As much as we hate to admit it, working on a project is always easier when you have the instructions.

But, if you’ve got a vintage vehicle, it’s often difficult to find a decades-old original factory service manual that isn’t torn to shreds, covered in greasy thumbprints, or blotched with antique mayonnaise.

Thankfully, the bookworms over at Bishko have painstakingly copied and reprinted thousands of pages of original automotive factory literature—stuff like shop guides, rebuild sheets, owners manuals, sales brochures, and parts lists.

Bishko has manuals for several pre-WWI vehicles and its catalog stretches well into the 21st century. The library includes most major domestic manufacturers over the past century, including General Motors/Fisher Body, Mopar, Ford, AMC, Jeep, Hudson, Studebaker, Kaiser, and Nash.

How comprehensive is Bishko’s 7,000-volume bibliotheca? You can get a reprint of a Ford Model T owners manual for cryin’ out loud. 

These resources are chock-full of valuable information like chassis lubrication points, fluid capacities, engineering tolerances, diagnostic procedures—basically anything the dealership and factory techs used back-in-the-day to service, troubleshoot, and repair what rolled into their shop.

Bishko has manuals available on DVD-ROM that you can digitally peruse on your computer, and books in analog form: real ink printed on real paper.

Author: Paul Sakalas

Paul is the editor of OnAllCylinders. When he's not writing, you'll probably find him fixing oil leaks in a Jeep CJ-5 or roof leaks in an old Corvette ragtop. Thanks to a penchant for vintage Honda motorcycles, he spends the rest of his time fiddling with carburetors and cleaning chain lube off his left pant leg.