Thanks to a little luck and the information on the FTE forum I just saved $56.00 on the Y-block book. I bid $82.00 (awwright quit laughin) on a used copy on E-bay. Some other idiot over bid me. He won the bid but withdrew for some odd reason(???). I was offered a second chance at it for just $82.00(what a deal). Happened to be reading through the posts here and saw that the book was available from Carpenter for $18.00 plus $8.00 postage ($26.00 total delivered to my front door). Raced right over ordered my copy as fast as my little fingers could type. Ignored offers from E-Bay seller to purchase used copy while waiting for delivery. It arrived by US postage yesterday (brand new ...no greasy fingerprints..sealed in plastic). That's $56.00 that can be used to buy parts for my 55 F100.

Thanks to the information on this forum I know the value of this book, it's limitations and where to get it at a reasonable price.

Moral:
Get good information from experienced people (available from FTE for free)
Thanks to everyone for sharing and takin" care of us rookies.

P.S To forum administrator...you can put this thread where ever you think it fits best but I wanted to thank the people on the 1948 - 1960 thread for all the good information I have gotten in the short time I have been here.

 

Good deal, nice to save some money. It always comes in handy for our money pit trucks.

 

Burt280,

Congrats on finding the material prior to the purchase on eBay. I have found that you have to be real careful with auction bidding.

I had a similar situation when I was buying a motor assembly for a 1950's DeWalt radial arm saw. Bidding got fairly hot and I lost at that last moment. Within an hour I had an email from the seller that the high bidder had withdrawn. Since I was assumed there was no other immediate source of this motor I went ahead and purchased it. I have always wondered if the seller was pumping the price and then inadvertently outbid me so they contacted me like the "high" bidder had withdrawn their winning bid. If I was smart I would have asked to have the price reduced to the highest price I had bid above a bidder than the "high" bidder. Further research has proven that I could have found the motor assembly elsewhere, and at a more reasonable price. At this point, I have to look at it as a lesson learned and the extra expense over what I could have purchased it elsewhere is a strong reminder to be cautious when making transactions at auction sites.

 

Another caution on eBay...many folks sell "reprints" of manuals that are actually xerox copies. I've been bit on that one personally and got a "manual" that looked like it was made at a FedEx-Kinkos. It was complete and usuable, but not what I was expecting. Because the guy said "reprint" in the item description, I was stuck with it.

If in doubt, ask the seller directly before you bid.