1969 assemble manual
 

For those of you that have rebuilt both how much good information can I get for my 68 from the 69. I'm well aware of the cosmetic changes vent window front emblem on bumper and many other minor changes. My concern is more the assemble of the highways ? Front fender inner and out mounting. Front end suspension .Are they the same any different hardware? What will be useless in this book ? I know some of the electronic and under dash are different but I can handle that. Last question why do you think the 68 was never made? Or was it and someone somewhere has one. Thanks Doug

There was a 68 manual made. A manual was put together for every model year. We still use them.

We used to throw them away when there were updates to individual pages or when the new model year manual arrived.

You don't find a 68 manual simply because either nobody thought to save one or it hasn't turned up yet (65 is the same way).

K

i have both..completely diff..so much diff..i wouldnt spend the money to buy a 69 if i had a 68...

so much diff...theres similarities..but not enough

Mark you have both cars or both manuals. I talked to restoration shop who does quite a few GTO and he told me headlight assemble almost identical and inner and outer fenders are the same mounting, is this bad in formation I'm getting thanks Doug

Mark, I've found the 69 to be pretty helpful on my 68 .... why? Because my other choice is NOTHING. Entire chassis and line routing is almost identical, electrical is close, Hideaways appear identical except for grills and valance (horns?), side window mechanics, very close, dash completely different, not much help on trim, AC close enough to help .... sure a lot of the PARTS are different, but the way they go together is almost exactly the same.

And .... remember, for us 68 guys ... our other choice is ...well ... nothing.

manuals..and cars...i own both years

i didnt realize the 68 literature was so hard to get....

i guess, if you put it that way, its prob worth using the 69 for 68..

Mark ... if you have an actual assembly manual for a 68 Tempest ... it's worth a fortune. To my knowledge none exists or are in print. You could get $100 a copy easy.

I'd love to just see the cover of it.

Would the 68 Fisher Body manual be any additional help to MD79? (assuming he doesn't already own one).

Yeah, Mark ... post a pic of that 68 Assembly Manual ...they are like Unicorns.

Dataway I had a long talk with Ames before I bought and got the same answer. It's better than nothing and I know there are difference but for the most part what I need it's good . Anyone think they did make a 68 ? Would it be out there somewhere? Guess we may never know but Us lonely 68 owner will have to make do. Got the 68 service manual also so hoping this get me through. Doug

Also want to thank ts3189 on letting me take some picture of his 68 ragtop. Thanks todd nice meeting you and a real nice car . Doug

Don't have that fisher manual think it would help up front on assemble of highways . It's all there I know just not sure how it all goes together. Ames said they have offered big money to anyone who can produce that 68 book. My gut tells me it was never made just don't know why. Doug

MD,
I don't have the Body Manual either, just looked. I probably need to get one. Thought I had one but evidently not.
Yep I have never seen so much as a picture of a 68 Tempest Assembly Manual. That exploded diagram in section 35-T of the 69 assembly manual is about the best explanation of a hideway system I have ever seen.

Just noticed I have a original print of a 68 dealer diagnostics manual, has some good stuff in it, pictures you don't see in some of the other literature.

Pisses me off, somewhere out there, in some guy's closet that used to work at Pontiac is a pristine 68 Assembly Manual.

i agree...some of the 69 stuff is so close to a 68 it would work..i didnt realize there was no "real" 68 assy manual

i have 4 68 GM manuals..i know i have a 68 body by fisher...a 68 chassis and a parts manual for 68..its a parts and illustrations manual...the illustration part is the rare part...not all parts manuals have illustration to details..mine is an early 69..so its current for 68 and 69...


it has every assembly in a 68 in an exploded view..and its 2 books 6 inches thick each...so i never really pursued the 68..and just assumed they where available... ive pulled so many 68s and 69s apart..to me..they are really different...and to be honest..if i have a prob.i usually grab the GTO resto guide...then the parts and illustrations catalog..its my 2 go to books

i didnt realize theres no "real" 68 assy manual.. the parts and illustration manual and the other manuals have it covered..i know i have a 69 assy manual...let me go thru what i have..i will post pics...

to be honest the best of them i have is the parts and illustrations manual..the illustrations manual...and all the assy manuals i own, have the same drawings...ive put them side by side...

i will dig thru them here in a day or two...

Guys thank you for your time . I'm down to that front clip bumper and hideaway and fenders assemble. I'm confident as I go I will pcs it together because I took it apart and have all the parts. But any pictures you have in any manual other than 68 service and 69 assemble would be great. I will put my email on here as it easier for me to expand and print from that format . Have a great holiday and thank you in advance. Just think if you are the one to have that 68 if it'd was made? I font think it was. You could name your price. [email protected] Doug

I already answered this line of questioning, with authority, in post #2. They made a ’68 manual. We make them for every model year. We still make them today. We just finished them for the project I am currently working on (2018 model year).

This is exactly the case with the ’65 manual. The local GTO club president has a copy stashed in his extra bedroom/storage room but has refused to let it get published. The word on the street is that he has now donated all his literature to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners MI but Gilmore reps will not confirm if that is the case.

K

One other comment about the assembly manuals: there wouldn't be just "one" book.

They were so large that they spanned across several three ring binders (with the UPC subgroups spread out in multiple books). Each assembly plant would get their own set, and each build area within the assembly plant would get their own set (ie, one in the body shop production office, one for the trim area, one for final). Plus one within the engineering group, and probably a couple working/updated copies at any given time. So there's a dozen or so complete sets right there.

Back then hourly assemblers themselves did not reference the books. If they had a question they would ask their supervisor and he (or the "quality man", his right hand man) would make the trek to the appropriate production/inspection office and research the question. Today we post the sheets right at the assembly station, on the job.

K

Keith I'm not saying your wrong but no one in the country has or seen a 68 assemble manual . If you said it was maid someone has to have one yet not one company or person has come forward. Ames told me they had spoke to everyone. I guess I won't believe to I see one . Doug

69 manual is three inch thick and fits nice in a single three ring binder would think the same would be for the 68 if it were made. I will say if it was made then they were told to destroy them? Not one escape how many assemble plants? Keith did not mean to offend you but people have been looking for one for thirty years? Doug

Attachment 432040I am certain a 68 assembly manual existed since it was a fairly major design change from the previous year. Like you, I expected to be able to find a copy from the various reproduction sources but no such luck. However, I am surprised to find many great illustrations in the 68 Service Manual (which I think is still available). The 68 Service Manual and Fisher Body Manual should give you most of the info you need. Might be helpful to have the 69 Assembly Manual around for a backup just in case you run into a situation that isn't covered in the Service or Fisher Body books.

Here is a photo of the page from the bumper section of the Service Manual.

Yes - we were supposed to destroy them at the end of the model year, or individual sheets as new sheets were provided for updates.

I have personally thrown out dozens of assembly manuals (full size trucks), in the late 70's and early 80's.

It never occurred to me to save any of them back then.

K

Well a 69 assembly manual is 550 pages, both sides .... and I'm sure it's missing a lot of the non essential stuff that was in the factory floor publications. So I can see how the factory issued examples might have filled three binders.

What's great about assembly manuals that is not seen in the illustrated parts manuals are the little assembly notes. That a bolt can go in this way, or that way depending on options, such and such as to be done first, small fixes for assembly problems and such, locations of clamps, cables, wires etc.

Unfortunately my 68 illustrated parts book (and number book) are the 1975 issue ...which is already at that point very weak on 68 pictures and numbers. I've seen the original 68 parts books on ebay (not reprints) but they run about $300.

Typically most years have these:

1. Illustrated parts book with matching part number reference book (big thick books)
2. Yearly service manual
3. Yearly Fisher Body Manual
4. Assembly Manual
5. Yearly Diagnostics Manual

Not sure if the "Trim" manuals or "Wiring" manuals were separate or included in other manuals.

Purely that is my plan I have just got the 69 assemble manual and have a nice 68 sevice manual I don't have a parts book or the fisher manual but will see if I can pick up at a fair price. Just seem crazy nothing on 68 assemble manual but I will keep my eyes open. Maybe carlile,flea market never know I guess. Doug

Sent you a couple of tid bits for your collection ... not going to be real helpful ... but who knows. Came from an original 68 diagnostics manual. Which by the way, should you ever need to fix an auto trans, wipers, AC etc. has HUGE amounts of info on stuff like that.

Hopefully a 68 Assembly manual will show up on that "GM Wiki" site .... all kinds of obscure stuff gets added to that collection.

To be honest if I had one, I'd make it available for free ... scan that sucker and put it out there for everyone. Maybe I'd want enough to pay me back for what I bought it for but that would be it.

Ours were one sided prints.

You are correct that the main usage was for little nuances about the build: which direction a bolt was supposed to go, or for torques or part numbers (neither of which remain on modern PAD sheets, btw. Made too much sense I guess).

They were also helpful in defining "in process" activities like wire routings or cable routings. If those weren't positioned correctly along the way then they might come up short or be blocked from the correct routing in the final steps, resulting in additional repair.

K

Seriously. No one cared back then, it was just another heavy manual that became obsolete and in the way at the end of the model year when the plant switched over. Occasionally you'd get a guy who probably thought it was neat and kept a book or a lazy guy who didn't throw anything away ever, but 9 out of 10 sets probably went in the dumpster.

I used to have a 6' tall by 5' wide filing cabinet full of engineering documentation, design notes, and assembly manual instructions for building the high voltage sections of the lasers I worked on, and I had the same thing at a scientific research institute for the high voltage systems I was responsible for there. The only reason things were saved is by fluke from a manager who didn't like to toss things and this one retired engineer who accidentally brought a few 5.25" floppies of stuff home with him when he retired in the mid 90's and was still alive. When I was let go at the laser company all of it went in the trash, gone forever because the lasers were no longer in production and it costs money to keep obsolete documentation around. Upper management's & legal's decision to "only retain things that are functionally relevant and destroy anything older than 12 months" probably didn't help the cause out.

This happens all over the world in all engineering companies. That cars have a rather rabid following from us is more an outlier and oddity than the norm.

Yes - and that's even though cars are my life...

Same thing with the styling sketches and drawings. Those were supposed to be destroyed, too. The only reason those still exist is because guys like Bill Porter and Paul Deeson smuggled them home.

Assembly line build sheets, too. Those were supposed to be destroyed but it was easier to leave them in place and build the car up around them.

K

I followed my own pickup truck down the line in 1986 and it never occurred to me to save any of that paperwork, either, until just recently.

K

What you think of this? http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBa...=1467662040688

if i had one..which as of an hour ago i know i DO NOT, i just went thru all my literature..i would make it available for free to someone like inline tube..they have done great things for assy manuals...ive never really been about making a killing..more about helping the hobby,,,and apparently, it needs to happen

so..since i live in KC and all the assy line workers are passing from the 60s...i will scour all the estate sales and see what i come up with..ive bought 100s of GM manuals at them...and i sell everyone i find..so i will see if i can find one..

I downloaded the Fisher Body manual for free somewhere....I don't remember where though. ?

The Fisher Body manual has some great info on the convertible top so you will definitely want to get that book either in print or PDF. It has been helpful for me.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

MD, I've got the 75 parts book ... illustrated and numbers on a thumb drive, then copied to my HD ... bought it somewhere for around $20. The parts illustrations are fairly helpful, but not too much. Part numbers seem about worthless ... about 1 out of five part numbers seemed to have any meaning, most seemed to have been changed before that manual was printed. Worth having yes, but not a huge help.

Just about every time someone has given me a correct 68 part number, I look it up in that parts book and it isn't there. What you want is the one that was printed in I think 1973, supposedly much better ... but also about $200-300. I think there is a 69 book even better than that .... but again ... just like the 68 Assembly Manual, don't think I've ever seen a reproduction 68 parts books, originals yes ... again, about $300 for a 68.

I'll send you the thumb drive if you want, you can copy, burn it to CD whatever and send it back.

I'm a record fantatic ... Every vehicle I buy new or used I buy the factory parts and service manual. I have paperwork and books for freakin mowers I've bought 20 years ago. You'll find tractor owners are often the that way ... they have all the manuals for their tractors cause they can last for 50 years and still work.

Sure miss working on vintage Honda motorcycles .... that have very complete illustrated parts book for each individual model, and lots of the manuals out there. The produced a huge amount of literature about their bikes, even comprehensive model identification guides that go back 50 years.

Dataway sent you pm

forthe parts and illustration guide to help you need a current year..so for 68 youd need a 69 in print..not on a thumb drive...and it needs to be a master parts and illustration...theres really 2 versions..

the part number dont workbecause GM likes to suerceede numbers and by 73 you no longer have assy line numbers..you have service and superceeded numbers..ive had 68 books and 73 books..and about half the numbers match.

you get a parts and illustrations catalog and 90% of the pages are yellow..thats a master..its completely diff than most..ive had 100s of parts manuals..and 3 where masters and had yellow pages...and insteaad of 4 in thick,,they are 8

Mark pm sent

Just got on, haven't gotten it yet. System must be slow.

There must have been a master parts list for sure ... cause some of the crap illustrations even in an original illustrated parts book would make things difficult to find for anyone but an experienced parts man.

I've got a few yellow pages in my collection dealing with various random areas of the GTO .... appear to be way more detailed. Also have some pages from a Mitchell auto body illustrated part number list for common collision repair parts... much better part numbers ... from a book published in 73, has some old and superseded numbers listed together.

i have sold a dozen of these...although good..very vague and lacking...and i bet these are the absolute most common..and easy to get..very few drawings..and numbers just dont match up in these...its a later book..and just an example..


I have pics somewhere of the good manuals..theres 2 and 6-8 in thick each and i believe they are 1973 prints..let me see...if not..ill take a few...

almost every illustration page is yellow...or blue/green...it has, i believe every tech drawing GM has is in them..i will work on it tomorrow night when i get time...

Just saw a 68 parts book on ebay ... $300 ... like a foot thick :)

Doug ... sent you a PM, I'll send you the thumb drive to keep, I made a copy .... might find the books helpful, might not. I've found it useful to find out things like ...did they use a gasket here, what size bolt did they use there etc.

Good info. Have the 69 assembly manuals gotten better in the last 10 years? My 69 assembly manual was only about 1/3rd useful as 2/3rds of the drawings were unreadable. Some of the pages you might be able break out 25-50%, while others you would be lucky if you could read the notes, as the pictures were washed out. If the new manuals are now legible where are they being purchased from? I believe I bought my 69 manual from Ames 10 years ago.
Thanks.

Ehhh... still not great, not as bad as you describe, but not as good as they should be. The manual needs to be rescanned, the same files have been floating around for a decade. Scanners, computers, and everything associated has gotten much better since then. No need for them to be scanned in low resolution black and white anymore. They could use a higher resolution and gray-scale and it would still be a very manageable size file, and would print out way better.

if you want a good manual thats been repopped look at inline.

he has fixed all the missing and nasty pages..his are blue..he spent a lot of money and time to get it right...in other words..he fixed the probs...* being blue..a person cant just make a copy..*

my recollection..the cheapies are like 30 and inline tubes are around 50...but so much better,,i have one of theirs for a 7o..and over the last year have picked up a few of the cheapies..and the inline manuals are clean..clear and complete..

but no 68..lol

Yes that's must be the one I just got last week from Ames. They sell two one is poor quality and they tell you that the other cost a lot more but is real clear and all pages are blue 1969 assemble manual I have the blue pages and it is top quality. Doug

I've got that book. It's a great resource... for 1971-1975 cars. Even the 1970-1972 A-bodies have decent drawings in them. But the 60's stuff is very lacking. Can't really blame them though, that book was likely printed in 1980-1985 to support the early 70's stuff and whatever 60's stuff was still available over the counter. By then the '68-69 cars had been out of production for 7 years at best and 15 at worst.

I'm the type of person who is willing to pay the extra for something I want. If I had access to a '68 dated parts book, I'd pay the $300-400 for it and be glad I had it. I'll pay the extra bucks for the InLineTube assembly manuals in high quality as well as factory original service manuals that haven't been reproduced. Money well spent!

I have look through the 69 assemble manual that I got from Ames. It is the more expensive copy they sell both but I guess it worth it and glad I listen to them all the pages are blue I deal with Ames a lot because I can order and have the product the next day.? I m not someone who rebuild these cars as business but I find this 69 assemble manual excellent full of good information for both the 69 and 68 model which no one has found. Not sure why anyone one would not think it would be a lot of help on a rebuild? I also have the service book for the 68 and between both it got a ton of info. I also plan on buying fisher body as im told it has some good info for the convertibles that I have. I just wish folk that don't have them would not comment on them without having you really have no way of telling it will help the backyard mechanic as these books have a ton of information and great ledgeable diagram ? Not sure there is much more out for the ragtop 1968 gto but from what I have Seen and what I will order this car will be rolling down the street real soon, Doug

Let me know how you like the Body Manual .... thinking about getting one.

A great example of the 69 assembly manual helping on a 68 is the brake and fuel line routing is exactly the same, same clips, locations etc.

Yep ... when you are looking at a pile of parts lying on the floor, anything even close helps a lot.

i have a 68 body by fisher...

its not really model specific..its universal really....you want to know how to service or install a power seat track its there..how to work on power windows its there....how to work on tail gates for station wagons or work on convertible top assys its there...stripes and moldings its there..dont expect it to really be 68 lemans heavy..it aint..the one i have is a 1973 print and has a bright yellow cover...i got it at an estate sale for 5 bux...after getting it and going thru it...i think its worth 5 bux to me...i sold a copy for 45 a few years ago...and i think thats exactly what its worth...just very generic..

not saying its not a good manual..its just not a huge resource....theres more in the master parts manual for 68 than in the body by fisher..if its sheet metal or goes inside the body..its there..

and the 68 body by fisher is rare..i mean really rare..

Mark thank for info. I have the convertible and power windows which I'm having some issue with both. So if it help me for 25 dollars from Ames it will be worth it . I ordered the fisher book today and have ups tracking on it and I will have in my hands tomorrow . Any other manual u think can help let me know . Doug

MD, .... when you get it ... scan a couple of pages and post them, would love to see what they look like before I buy.