The Computer Outpost

Price Reductions for Brooklands Books Titles

2011-06-10T12:00:00+10:00

Brooklands Books have rescued vasts amounts of automotive information and, since 1981, the company has been the official publisher for the British Motor Heritage Trust.

Brooklands collate road tests and articles on individual makes or models from magazines from around the world and reprint them in book form.They also reprint many repair manuals, parts catalogues and owners handbooks, mostly for British marques.

Thanks to the strength of the Australian dollar, most titles have been reduced in price and we have also applied an additional 15% discount to the new prices.

Browse Brooklands Books now:

Cars By Marque

Cars - All Categories

Motorbikes By Marque

Aircraft By Marque

Great News For Railroad Book Lovers

2010-12-12T12:00:00+10:00

We have recently undertaken a complete re-categorisation of our railroad book section.

After much deliberation we decided that books would best be categorised based on country and where possibly, also by motivation - steam, diesel, electric, etc.

We also tied into our existing category for model railroading and added a link to this category within the railroads section.

We would love to know what you think about the new system. Please leave your comments here.

Our Store Now Has a New Checkout System

2010-12-05T12:00:00+10:00

This weekend we have introduced a new single page checkout system to our website.

Single page checkouts are becoming more popular due to their simplicity and speed of checkout.

Our previous checkout had a page for billing details, another for shipping details, then a payment details page, and finally an order confirmation page.

Now there is just one page, with shipping, billing and payment details all on one form. There is also a summary of the order, with links to return to the site to change items or quantities, a pop-up currency converter, and details on how to contact us or get help or information.

We have long resisted a change to the more common checkout style that requires you to register and log in to order. We usually find these a bit of a pain to use and expect many other people do to. Our new system still does not require any form of registration.

We hope you find our new checkout system a pleasure to use and we welcome your feedback.

About Brooklands Books

2010-11-28T12:00:00+10:00

Brooklands Books is a UK based company that publishes a large range of automotive literature.

The company was founded by John Dowdeswell who, back in 1954, was unable to find any kind of manual or handbook for his Morgan three-wheeler. However, he did locate an out-of-print work, The Book Of The Morgan Three Wheeler, and obtained the publisher's permission to reprint it. When other owners found out they were quick to order it from him.

John Dowdeswell, Founder of Brooklands Books

From this one book, Dowdeswell saw the demand for automotive literature which was disappearing overnight.

Brooklands Books now reprint many repair manuals, parts catalogues and owners handbooks, mostly for British marques.

Vast amounts of information from motoring magazines is also being rescued by the company. Brooklands collate road tests and articles on individual makes or models from magazines from around the world and reprint them in book form.

Since 1981 the company has been the official publisher for the British Motor Heritage Trust, and can offer a range of factory literature from the British automotive industry.

If you are looking at buying a particular model, or are an enthusiastic owner, a Brooklands Books road test book is a great way of getting all the facts and opinions about the model.

Most owners of British brands such as Land Rover, Range Rover, MG, Jaguar, Daimler, Austin, Austin-Healey, Rover, and Triumph are familiar with Brookland's range of manuals and handbooks. If not, it won't take long to find that the company is the first choice of publications for these brands.

The full range of Brooklands Books titles are available through our on-line store.

Outlaw Racing Book Reviews

2010-11-27T12:00:00+10:00

For this review I have chosen two books on outlaw road races from different eras (okay, one is about a rally not a race).

The first title, Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race, is about the original Cannonball Run. That's right, there was a race before the famous movie.

The race was run several times in the USA during the 1970s and started as a form of protest against the introduction of the national 55mph speed limit. It was intended to prove that skilled drivers could drive cross-country at high speeds in safety.

The book is written by the organiser of the race, Brock Yates, but also features recounts of the race from the original competitors. This makes it a real interesting read in that you get to learn about the organisation of the event as well as how the race went for the various entrants.

One of the most interesting and surprising facts I discovered when reading this book was that a lot of the things in the movie (which is a favourite of mine) were based on real events. I think if the movie started with "Based on a true story" noone would believe it. But at least a few of the teams in the movie were based on actual entrants, such as the ambulance, priests and the "just married" motorcyclists. There was even an all woman team although they weren't in bright jumpsuits or a Lamborghini.

There are plenty of stories about run-ins with the police, mechanical problems and great stories about what it is like to drive flat out for kilometre after kilometre (well, mile after mile).

The other title in this review covers the 2004 running of the Gumball Rally, which is an annual event in the spirit of the Cannonball Run, but is not actually a race. The Gumball Rally is meant to be a navigation challenge within the road rules with a huge party each night after the days driving. Although the organisers discourage any illegal driving each year many drivers cop fines or jail time for various driving offences.

Our Gumball Rally: 3000 Miles, 3 Countries, 65 Ferraris, Only 1 Volvo is written by journalist Clement Wilson and his driving partner Richard Dunwoody, a retired jockey. It tells the story of how the two got together and came up with the idea of running in the rally, securing a car, and their adventures in the rally.

The car they chose was a Volvo V70R (not that they had much choice), which was an unusual choice given that most of their competitors were in exotic supercars. But if you read the book you will find that the more discreet Volvo did have it's advantages at times.

They drove hard, they partied hard, then they crashed the Volvo. My favourite part (and probably most of the entrant's favourite part) was when they were driving through part of Africa where they were given free reign by the King to drive however they wanted. This of course meant that most drove absolutely flat out and resulted in some major accidents.

I really enjoyed the book and it is a great insight into the event. It's not just about cars and driving but the author frequently sidetracks to other interesting things just about life. And I say author because I suspect that Richard Dunwoody didn't do much writing - the book is exclusively from Clement Wilson's perspective.

Unfortunately both of these titles are presently discontinued by local suppliers but it shouldn't take too much effort to locate a copy of either.

Now I just wish there was a real* Cannonball Run Australia!

Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race
By Brock Yates
Published by Motorbooks
ISBN: 0760316333
ISBN-13: 9780760316337

Our Gumball Rally: 3000 Miles, 3 Countries, 65 Ferraris, Only 1 Volvo
By Clement Wilson and Richard Dunwoody
Published by Virgin Books
ISBN: 075350992X
ISBN-13: 9780753509920

*There was a Cannonball Run in Australia in 1994 which was organised by Allan Moffat. It certainly wasn't an outlaw race but did have high speed events on closed off roads in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately the event was marred when several people were killed after a Ferrari F40 left the road and hit a group of the event staff. See www.cannonballrun.info.

How to Choose a Car Repair Manual

2010-11-26T12:00:00+10:00

With the recent financial crisis more people than ever are servicing and repairing their own cars. Plus there are many people who just want to know how to this themselves so they don't get ripped off and have a better chance of getting going again if they ever break down.

We stock repair manuals for most makes and models and have publications from all the popular after-market repair manual publishers. With such a choice it is important to understand the difference between the different types of publications.

Here is our review of the major publishers' products that are available in Australia.

Gregory's

Gregory's publish specifically for the Australian and New Zealand markets so you can be confident that your Australian model will be fully covered.

Gregory's repair manuals are generally the most simple to follow manuals. They cover all the topics that a home mechanic would want but can fall short when it comes to more advanced topics.

Although that statement may make you a little wary they are an excellent choice for people with limited mechanical knowledge.

They also offer excellent troubleshooting information to help you solve many common problems.

Haynes

Haynes publish repair manuals for many markets, including Australia. They also publish for the US and UK markets and many of the manuals we carry are sourced from overseas.

The US manuals cover left hand drive vehicles, of course, but the UK manuals cover right hand drive.

Haynes are one of the best known publishers world-wide and with good reason. Their manuals cover both basic and advanced topics. They also include troubleshooting information.

Chilton's

Chilton's are a US publisher so their manuals are specifically for the US and Canadian markets. Subsequently they cover left hand drive vehicles. Most models are very similar world-wide so with the exception of the LHD/RHD difference the majority of the manual is just as suitable for other markets.

Often a Chilton's manual will cover a much larger variety of models than manuals from other publishers. Although this is sometimes a disadvantage in that there may be a lot of surplus information not relevant to your model and it can take a little longer to locate the relevant information, it may be an advantage in that if you change models or later buy a different model you may be able to use the same manual.

Max Ellery

Another Australian publisher and their manuals usually have very similar content to Haynes.

These manuals are usually very comprehensive and will take you through most tasks right down to an engine rebuild.

Some criticise Ellery manuals for their lower quality images and printing but repair manuals are for working on your car not coffee table books so for most people this isn't an issue.

Robert Bentley

These manuals are published for the US and Canadian choice and are the publisher of choice for many European brands in the USA. You may hear them referred to as factory publications as for some makes they are supplied to dealers by the vehicle manufacturer distributors in the USA.

They are some of the largest manuals by number of pages available and subsequently are very comprehensive.

Although they are often more expensive than other publishers they are very well respected in the industry and for European makes like BMW, Audi and Volkswagen you cannot get a better manual.

Factory Manuals

We deal with the Australian publisher who prints repair manuals for most of the Australian automotive industry. This gives us access to factory manuals for Ford, Holden, Nissan, Mazda. These are the same manuals as used by the dealers.

Generally these manuals aren't available to the general public until a few years after a model is introduced.

Factory manuals are the most comprehensive manual for any model, although they are aimed at professional mechanics rather than home mechanics so can miss some of the features of the after-market manuals such as simple troubleshooting sections.

One warning with factory manuals: You sometimes need more than one manual to cover your model The reason for this is that the car manufacturers provide their dealers with a manual when a particular model is first introduced. Then as the model evolves, perhaps with a mid-life update or the availability of a new engine, they release supplementary manuals that cover just the changes or the new engine, and these supplements must be used with the first manual for full coverage. Some manufacturers even separate content into different manuals – such as bodyshop repair or wiring diagrams – as the manuals might be used by different departments within a dealership.

We usually show all the manuals that form part of the set in the "Related Products" section on our product details pages.

General Buying Tips

If looking at a manual from an overseas publisher check that your model and engine is covered. Often a model will be known by a different name in other countries and we try and list all known model names. We also try and list all of the different engines covered by each model but if you are unsure contact us first with your year, make, model, engine and transmission types and we will do our best to find a manual for you.

Major repairs to automatic transmissions are almost exclusively not covered by any aftermarket manual. The publishers claim that transmission repairs are beyond the experience and tools that most home mechanics have so these tasks are best left to specialists. Minor work like fluid level checking and topping up, and fluid and filter replacement are often covered. Factory manuals, where available, will usually cover transmission repairs and rebuilding.

Please feel free to contact us for any advice on purchasing a repair manual for your car, motorcycle or boat engine.

Welcome to our Blog

2010-11-25T12:00:00+10:00

Welcome and thanks for visiting.

Here are some of our plans for our blog:

* Information on new release books

* Reviews on books

* Buying advice

* Information on specific publishers

* News on changes to our website

The blog also gives you the opportunity to comment on these topics and provide us with your valuable feedback.