Instruction Manual
 

What characteristics identify an original from a reproduction?

Curious in Oregon,
Mike

Re: Instruction Manual
 

Have you checked out www.donturley.com ? I recently purchased an original manual from him, and am well satisfied. I have talked with Don at a National Meet, and found him to be very personable and knowledgeable.
I'm sure he would be happy to answer any questions you would have. He also has original manuals, tools, etc., to sell

Stew

Re: Instruction Manual
 

Hey Stew: Thanx for the tip!

Re: Instruction Manual
 

By the way, the Judging Standards (1997, p 17-4) discusses the Owner's Manual and provides a chart with information about each edition, but does not specifically address distinguishing characteristics that would separate an original from a reproduction.

Re: Instruction Manual
 

MAFCA website has some good info on Model A Instruction Books.

There were at least 13 different versions of the Ford Model A Instruction Book published for US-built cars and trucks: 5 in 1928, 2 in 1929, 4 in 1930, and 2 in 1931. The following paragraphs outline the differences in the manuals so that owners of Model A Fords looking for a manual that matches the production date of their vehicles can identify which version might have been supplied with the vehicle when new.
The first and easiest way to identify the manuals is to look for the copyright date, which was always printed on the first or second page of the manual (although the first 4-5 pages were unnumbered.) Once you have identified the correct year, the version can be ascertained by noting the pictures in the manuals.
Consult the MAFCA/MARC Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards, Area 17 - Tools, for additional information.

http://mafca.com/tqa_instructionbooks.html

Re: Instruction Manual
 

Thanks 160. Great information there. Thank you for taking time to post.

But it still doesn't speak to identifying a reproduction from an original. There are lots of 'em for sale on Ebay. Many state they are reproductions and a few say "original". But, how does one know? I have a few that I know to be reproductions (because I bought them myself long ago) and have greasy thumbprints, torn pages and rusty staples. They LOOK like they should be original, but are not. There must have been many reprints over the years. The one thing that seems to be constant among the few reproductions I have is that they lack the 1928-31 copyright date. Whether this is true for ALL reproductions I can't say.

Re: Instruction Manual
 

29er, look at the MAFCA website, http://mafca.com/tqa_instructionbooks.html
about half way down there is a section "US Reprints".

Re: Instruction Manual
 

AHA! Gottcha! Thanks! That's what I'm looking for.

Mike

Re: Instruction Manual
 

1) All original Instruction Books have the "Ford" oval on the front cover the same size as the "Ford" oval on the inside first page. Some of the reprints, especially the 1931 versions, have a small oval on the cover but no other indication that it is a reprint. But note, that just because the two ovals are the same size does not mean that it is original. There are some reprints with both ovals the same size, but usually there is some indication or statement that it is a reprint. Some of the more recent reprints have the year in big bold print on the inside first page.
2) All original books have a double line border near the edges on the front cover. If it has a single line, it is a reprint.
3) Original books have slick semi-gloss pages and the illustrations are distinct. Reprints with dull pages usually look blurred.
4) Some of the versions were never reprinted. Usually only one or two versions of each year. When you've become familiar with them all, you can spot the versions that have never been reproduced and know that it has to be an original.

The "Restoration Guidelines & Judging Standards" mentions 13 versions. There were variations of many of these versions. I have been collecting these books for over 20 years and have 25 different USA books, and several foreign versions.

Re: Instruction Manual
 

If given the chance to examine the manual, the dead give-away for me is the quality of the graphs/charts/drawings. Republications do not have the true original to print from but must rely upon a scan which has limited resolution. They are essentially a photograph of the graph/chart/drawing often leaving small details difficult to read.

I would implore anyone who must scan an original as it occasionally must be done, ... to scan with a high resolution professional/office scanner on the very highest setting possible which will produce a 8-10 mb file and use .tiff format if possible which can up the file size to 20-50 mb. You can always reduce file size for cause but at least you haven't limited the original which is now in your charge.

Re: Instruction Manual
 

Originals are printed on clay finish paper.
Few if any reprints are.
Don covered the main visuals

Also see the link for more:

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/19281931ib.htm

.

Re: Instruction Manual
 

Thanks for the lesson guys! My world's a little bigger now and I may be on my way to identifying repros from originals.

You all are truly Road Scholars.

It's a great day for sitting by the fire reading today...blowing snow, 6' drifts.
Waiting for the wooly mammoths to arrive! :eek:

Mike