Gallery: Vintage DIY: Wired Staffers' Favorite Classic Gear Manuals
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We love to fix things. And we figured we're not alone. It's a habit of the inquisitive mind — see how something works, learn its quirks, and figure out why it's busted and what to do about it. Sometimes you need a little help, though, and an instruction manual can go a long way. Yeah, yeah, manuals are all PDFs now. But there's nothing like an old, preferably grease-stained instruction book. You can break the spine, lay it flat on your workbench, and get to work. No scrolling, no greasy touch-screen. Yeah, we still like paper. So we collected 10 old, classic, and even rare instruction manuals from the good fixers in the Wired office. We got cars, electronics, games, and Legos — so many Legos — and picked our favorites. But we know you've got more. So one-up us and [send us](mailto:[email protected]) photos of your favorite old instruction books, whether they're from long-lost or long-discarded tools, toys, gadgets, gizmos, products, or appliances. Maybe it's a classic camera. Maybe it's a sweet car. Remember when computers came with manuals? We'll publish the best in a follow-up gallery. IC-M80 VHF Marine Radiotelephone -------------------------------- ICOM recommends you take its IC-M80 to a dealer or authorized service center if you have any problems. But what fun is that when they also include a full schematic diagram? There's not a lot of explanation, though, so you better have a good grasp on circuits. And if you want to use it after you fix it, an operator’s license. 
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Jaguar Series 3 V12 ‘E’ Type ---------------------------- Starting in 1971, Jaguar put a V12 motor in its E-Type roadster. It went pretty fast. Fast enough that the operating instructions suggest upping the tire pressure by more than 10 psi if you’re regularly going to be driving it more than 120 mph. The 70 pages of service instructions in the roadster’s manual suggest it requires a decent amount of upkeep. But it also harks back to an era of self-repair that’s no longer feasible for most car owners. From adjusting the rear wheel camber angle to tuning the carburetor, it’s detailed in this manual, with notated drawings. 
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*The Lost Vikings* ------------------ OK, the manual for the PC version of *The Lost Vikings* won't help you fix anything in real life. But it just might help you get Erik, Baleog, and Olaf out of a jam, and foil the intergalactic zookeeper Tomator. Plus, it includes a password notebook, analog predecessor to the now-ubiquitous checkpoint. 
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Canon FTb --------- Before prosumer was a camera category, Canon's FTb occupied the space between point-and-shoots and high-end professional SLRs. There was no user-friendly auto setting, so Canon devoted much of the FTb's instruction manual to shutter speed, aperture, and film speed, and not much to repair or maintenance. It also explains proper film loading, which I can only assume is some long-lost filtering technology. 
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Vespa Owners Workshop Manual, 1959-1978 --------------------------------------- Jeff Clew wanted to make sure the repairs he detailed in the Vespa owners workshop manual could be carried out by owners of real Vespas in their own homes. So he did all the repairs himself, on used Vespas, with off-the-shelf tools. The hands in the photos are his. 
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GMC 1976 Motorhome/TransMode ---------------------------- Having a motor home sounds great — you can drive it and live in it — until you realize it also means adding the maintenance of a car to that of a home. So GMC's manual will not only show you how to remove and install a steering column, it'll help you fix your fridge. Your tiny, useless fridge. Let's go find a drive-in diner. 
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Panasonic KP-2A Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener ------------------------------------------------- You probably won't find this one very useful for repairing this battery-operated pencil sharpener. You probably won't find it very useful for operation of the battery-operated pencil sharpener, either. In fact, if you need to read the instructions to figure out where the dull pencil goes, you might want to leave fixing the thing to the professionals. 
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Lego Galaxy Explorer -------------------- Chances are, one of your first experiences with an instruction manual was a Lego. The true appeal of the interchangeable bricks may be how they let kids be creative, but for the color-inside-the-lines crowd, the step-by-step instructions were nearly flawless. From the uniform viewing angle to the numbered pieces lists, Lego made sure aspiring engineers could nail every step. 
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How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive --------------------------------- Written in 1969 by a Volkswagen mechanic/fanatic, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive is full of references to Karma, admonitions to talk to your car (and listen to it), and trippy drawings. "Hold the wheel and close your eyes and FEEL!" writes John Muir. (Not that John Muir.) Fortunately, it's also full of line sketches and diagnostic, maintenance, and repair procedures that make it a useful partner for (old) Volkswagen projects. 
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Bang & Olufsen Beovox 2 ----------------------- Exploded diagrams, parts lists, and electrical schematics are all well and good — and present in the service manual for Bang & Olufsen's Beovox 2 speakers. But what sets this manual apart has to be the diagrams describing the perfect acoustic axis, which extends directly from the woofer to the ears and dictates the desired mounting angle for any height. 
