[mechanickeith]

Reference books EVERY 61-63 owner should have in their library.

1, Everyone should have the factory shop manual. Some years had a couple different versions. Make sure you get the "Final edition" for your year. Preferrably you should have one from all 3 years.

2, Factory parts manual is a must also.

3, Next should be the factory Pontiac & Tempest heating, ventilating & A/C manual.

4, Followed by the Pontiac & Tempest body shop manual.

5, Then start aquiring the smaller books for your year/model. Owner protection plan, Owners guide, Accessories booklet, Specifications manual & also a flat rate manual. Not a lot of important info in them but nice to have.

6, Then, look for the old "Pontiac Craftsman" service news letters that came out every month or so. Lots of updated info in them that are not in the factory shop manual.

7, If you can find them, get the SAE books "Pontiac's new 4 cylinder Tempest engine" by Mac McKeller, Book number 307E. & also "The Pontiac Tempest, A car Without A Counterpart" by John Z. DeLorean. book number S-263. Lots of great info about our rope shaft cars & what all went into them from an engineering stand point

8, Next I am listing several books that may be pretty hard to find. These are early publications that have a lot of production info, pictures, stats, etc, etc.

8a, Special Interest Autos, edition SIA #48, Dec 1978, very long in depth story with lots of early pics & info.

8b, Consumer Guide Magazines "Super Performance Pontiac" dated Ayg 1983. 61-63 Tempest LeMans story with some interesting pics. There is a pic of the elusive 1961 LeMans in this book. It was put together just for an auto show & went into production for the 62 model year.

8c, Pontiac Tempest & GTO by Brookland books. Cant find a date of printing. this book has 67 pages dedicated to just the 61-63 cars. It is a compilation of all of the car magazines story's in one book. Covers reports from Motor Trend, Autocar, Road & Track, Motor Life, Sports Cars Illustrated, Etc, Etc....

8d, Pontiac, The complete History. By Thomas C. Bonsall. dated 1979. Some Tempest info, interesting reading.

8e, 75 Years of Pontiac/Oakland. By John Gunnell, Dated 1982. Great reading. Also has another picture of the 61 LeMans with a side note about its inception.

9, Performance info/upgrades for the Tempest. Get a copy of Hot Rod Magazines Pontiac perfomance handbook. Dated 1963!!! This book shows lots of stuff that was done back in the day to make our little 4 cylinders really run. Pics of earl try Y header, stroker kits, cams & pistons, supercharging, etc, etc,,, Also has a pretty good section on Mickey Thompson & his works with the Tempest 4 cylinder.

This is just a partial listing of books I have but they have the most important info about our rope shaft cars!! Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!