Steve Heath?
Steve Heath?
Author
Discussion

rv02oao

Original Poster:

750 posts

292 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
Hi there

I keep seeing references in these pages to Steve Heath's site and Steve's book. Can anyone explain and perhaps point me in the direction of whats sounds like invaluable TVR help?

Cheers

sipow

14,706 posts

296 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
www.tvrbooks.co.uk/

Try here for invaluable help from the 'dark one'

Simon

beano1197

20,854 posts

304 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
"site"?? "book"??? Ney, Laddie - 'Tis a veritable "Bible" of which ye speke. Our guru sits at the right hand of God.............

...........well OK, next in line after Ned.........

bob the planner

4,695 posts

298 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
Steve's Bible (ISBN 0 9530335 1 1 and available from the TVRCC as well as direct from shpub and probably may other places) is a good starting point for all problems before going to this site for more help - including from Steve 'the bible' Heath himself.

Well worth the investment for any Chim/griff owner, certianly helped me out a few time - although not when I locked myself out of the car !

Steve is the GOAT regarding Tivs (Guru Of All Things for those not familiar with GOAT)

zippy500

1,883 posts

298 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
Call me Mr piccy but as useful as the book is, it could do with a few more bits of info. For example the instructions on removing door trim are very vague. Not one mention of the hidden screws buried in the carpet and behind the ash tray. A drawing of HT leads to their respective plugs would be nice. And a picture of the clutch master cylinder is very nice but it dosent help when you want to take the thing out. I am keen to try most jobs on my car, but this book often leaves me with no further ideas than when I started.

manek

2,978 posts

313 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CRITICISE THE BOOK.

BURN THE WITCH
BURN THE WITCH
BURN THE WITCH
BURN THE WITCH


Seriously, I agree. But it's the best there is and as for the rest of the info you need, you have to make do with us lot...

pbrettle

3,280 posts

312 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
Lets be honest - the book aint fantastic, but seeing as it was one chap for a limited market it is unbelievable that he managed to do it.

Loads of golden nuggets of information that you probably wouldnt gleen unless you had owned one for years. Worth the money on the saving of the knuckles when doing small jobs....

Brilliant book and well worth the money.

MikeyT

18,359 posts

300 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
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Have to second Paul's words. If you're coming to TVRs as a new owner and you've not yet bought one, then buy the 'bible' first. And then read it cover to cover - twice! Yeah, sure there are things a bit amiss with it now, but there's no better publication I know of about your intended TVR. I felt I had a lot more confidence in my own knowledge of the car after just one read - and not havng seen a car yet! Well done SH

Corin Denton

8,762 posts

297 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
quotequote all
Although the bible does not go into massive detail on certain areas it is definately a must have for any TVR owner , the other main benefit is that Steve is a keen contributor to Pistonheads so if you need more information on a certain area he is always generally on hand to chuck his extra penneth in.

Beast

368 posts

313 months

Tuesday 14th May 2002
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That's a lovely name.

Don't s'pose you look like Ally on Cutting Edge do you ?

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Call me Mr piccy but as useful as the book is, it could do with a few more bits of info. For example the instructions on removing door trim are very vague. Not one mention of the hidden screws buried in the carpet and behind the ash tray. A drawing of HT leads to their respective plugs would be nice. And a picture of the clutch master cylinder is very nice but it dosent help when you want to take the thing out. I am keen to try most jobs on my car, but this book often leaves me with no further ideas than when I started.



YOU ARE Mr PICCY...

Thanks for the inputs. Thanks to everyone for defending me but Zippy has a fair point. To give you some history. The book very nearly didn't come out at all because I needed TVR's help and blessing to put it together. They took umbrage (quite justifiably IMHO) about some comments that were published in Sprint and on various email lists and it took a lot of persuasion to get it out. Part of that was a fine line of what to include and not to include. I was also faced with a dilemma that these books are never finished and I had to make a decision. This doesn't mean that the process stops as it doesn't.

The S book has been revised and is in its second edition. It took about 2000 man hours to do. Let's put that into context: 2/3rds of a year working at 10 hours a day except that I have a fulltime job and spend a lot of time doing the research. I spent a whole weekend working out the indicators and hazard light diagram and that is part of the problem in that there is no material to use as background. So yes I am working on a bigger better edition and yes the points you have raised are included but so is a lot lot more information. I want to include driving techniques, handling, tuning and modification as well as these are now becoming of interest as well. The only problem is that the revised edition was close to 450 pages last night and that is going to cause a cost problem which I need to look at.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk






shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
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PS Could Zippy500 email me direct please. Nothing nasty I want to see if he has a wish list I can check with.

Steve

q405mb

410 posts

294 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
quote:

The only problem is that the revised edition was close to 450 pages last night and that is going to cause a cost problem which I need to look at.



Steve, I'll buy that book! Blank cheque ok?

zippy500

1,883 posts

298 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
Ill do that steve. As youve probably worked out I was adding a constructive comment. You book is very useful and I learnt a lot before I owned my car. It for one helped me to decide to get a 500 instead of a 4.3. I will e mail you ASAP.

what is you E-mail address

>> Edited by zippy500 on Wednesday 15th May 09:50

manek

2,978 posts

313 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
My wish list would be:
* More photos, preferably colour (I know this has serious cost implications, not least in type of paper used)
* Illustrations could be more useful in many cases eg how to get the dash off, how to replace the various sensors in the engine bay
* A table of the major things that have changed on the cars over the years eg tyre and brake component sizes

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
shpub@compuserve.com

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
quote:

My wish list would be:
* More photos, preferably colour (I know this has serious cost implications, not least in type of paper used)
* Illustrations could be more useful in many cases eg how to get the dash off, how to replace the various sensors in the engine bay
* A table of the major things that have changed on the cars over the years eg tyre and brake component sizes




More photos are in, especially of the how to do this and that, are a number one priority. I have about 8000 photos of these cars and components on a DVD ROM which I use. I have also been spending a lot of time at Tower View working on the 520 which has meant that I have been able to get pictures and info that would not normally be available.

The component changes are a big challenge because there have been so many. The major stuff should not be a problem though.

The colour issue is one I am looking at. The costs are still high and given a choice I would add more pages and information. All the source material is in colour anyway so that is not a problem...

Steve

>> Edited by shpub on Wednesday 15th May 11:32

zertec

499 posts

312 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
Why not release a CD or DVD version. cheaper to produce as well. Yes I understand the copying problem with this format but it is worth considering.

Alternatively a CD supplement with the book for colour images etc. This way the book is not as good without the CD and the CD is pointless without the book.

>> Edited by zertec on Wednesday 15th May 12:22

trefor

14,782 posts

312 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
Or PDF. You can password protect the files and even stop text/images being extracted if you want.

Of course unless you disable the print facility (possible) then you won't stop someone printing copies for their mates.

Or just charge us £10 more for the extra trees ... it's worth it.

Trefor/.

.mark

11,104 posts

305 months

Wednesday 15th May 2002
quotequote all
Or a .pdf version? Not sure of cost but these do offer search facilities etc.