The Manic Mechanic

Here at the Garage Of Mayhem (and it's subdivisions, annexes and ad-hoc entities) lots of things get worked on, tinkered with, repaired, or just plain torn down and reassembled for fun. These might be cars, appliances, computers, machinery, gadgets, what have you. And in more times than not, with no help from any sort of shop manual, parts list, guides or web info. Manuals are always welcome, especially for more involved stuff, and the manuals themselves are often entertaining (at least for me) reading material. Just ask Jeff about all the manuals often left in the bathrooms. Most gearheads who read my ramblings here are probably familiar with the Haynes series of shop manuals available for most cars, trucks, vans, most any vehicle. While not nearly as in-depth as an actual factory manual and sometimes derided for lacking in some pertinent information, these cheap manuals usually do the job and provide enough in the way of specifications such as torque values and tightening sequences to get a job done properly. Today I discovered a Haynes manual for a vehicle I never will work on (most likely), yet I still feel the need for:



Yes, it's real. And for some reason, it's only available on the Haynes UK site for the time being. This manual is being published to coincide with the upcoming 4th anniversary date of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which remains one of mankind's greatest achievements in exploration, science and good old-fashioned awesome. While not exactly a typical shop repair manual like one would expect from Haynes, it's more of an in-depth view of the various sections and modules of the entire Apollo 11 space vehicle, the space suits and other tidbits presented in a way familiar to those who have used shop manuals before.

I love it when history can come down to nuts and bolts. And I will most likely pick up a copy once it's available in the U.S. (Amazon.com has it available for pre-order for 11-1-09 availability.)

/geekgasm