Answer all your car questions with the Gale: Chilton database
Motorcycles, rat rods and Corvettes were a staple of my childhood it seems. Being a daughter of a hobby-car builder and garage mechanic, I was always surrounded by car and bike parts.
Chilton manuals for various cars would be scattered about on the workbenches and shelves in the garage. The constant aroma of gasoline and oil in my home was nothing out of the ordinary.
My uncle also built cars for a living, and his knowledge of car engines is astounding. I’m convinced he could build a car out of chewing gum and bailing wire.
I can still vividly remember the collaboration of my father and several uncles working together to build my sister a car for her 16th birthday. It was a black 1969 Chevy Nova complete with racing tires, a raised rear-end and chrome Cragar wheels. In my opinion, I think they built if for themselves.
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My sister complained later that she hated that car, but only because teenage boys always tried to race her at stoplights. My dad and the uncles just smiled in satisfaction. To them, there was no better compliment on their workmanship.
Fast forward into my adulthood and foray into car ownership, and it became a habit for me to purchase a Chilton manual for every vehicle I owned. To trek to the nearest auto parts store and order a manual from a catalog, then wait a few weeks and return to the store to retrieve it.
These manuals were invaluable to me for learning the ins and outs of my vehicles and ordering parts and minor repairs. Mind you, this was prior to the internet and even Google.
Imagine being an actual mechanic by trade and needing every manual for every vehicle for every model year. That’s a lot of books!
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A few weeks ago, a patron came in and wanted to know if we had Chilton manuals. He told me he was a mechanic and needed to look up some information on a car he was working on.
My ears perked up and I smiled really big. I said, “No sir, we do not have Chilton manuals on the shelves anymore, but I think I can do you one better. Do you have a library card?”
He informed me that he did not, so I slid him a form. A few minutes later, with his library access secured, I asked him if he had a smartphone. He replied that he did.
I proceeded to show him how to access the Gale: Chilton Library in our database collection. After a brief tutorial on how to search for makes and models, he looked at me in wonderment.
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“This has all the makes and models of every car?” he asked.
I replied in the affirmative. I told him it also has recall bulletins, part lists, schematics, test quizzes as well as labor and repair estimators.
He just shook his head in amazement. “And I can access this from home?”
“You bet! On your phone, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet − right from your garage,” I said.
I’m not 100 percent positive, but I think he skipped out the door.
If you would like to access the Gale: Chilton Library, visit abilenetx.gov/apl and navigate to our E-resources in our Digital Services tab. From there you can access the Chilton Library and many other useful databases.
For more information about obtaining a library card and locating the materials, please visit us or call one of our three locations.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Find digital version of Chilton automotive manuals via Abilene library
