This book doesn't explain everything ther is to know about fasteners. And it isn't dripping with technical detail; ...

But this book does provide something more valuable: explanations. It looks at a couple dozen of the most popular fasteners in each category and explains why a fabricator or mechanic would or would not want to use them. Carroll uses his incredible experience and approachable, conversational writing type to discusses their strengths and weaknesses, applications, and design.

I think the book isn't limited to racing applications; it's useful for anyone who works metal, and will offer something of value to anyone who's ever tried to replace a fastener in an emergency. Were you overwhelmed when you went through the fastener aisles in your local hardware store or home supply center? This book can help.

The book is a little weak in two areas. First, there's few pages devoted to plumbing. Of course, this is about real plumbing: laying lines and connecting them with pressure-tight fasteners. It explains Army-Navy fasteners and their applications, and discusses all the subtleties of pipe flange fitting. The book isn't about stopping a leak behind your toilet.

Next, the book is showinng its age. It doesn't treat some of the materials that were not exactly commonplace ten or more years ago, but are quite common now. For instance, I can buy titanium lug bolts for my car. (Well, I could, if I had a spare $500 lying around.) Carroll doesn't make much mention of the more interesting alloys being used more commonly in fasteners these days. He also doesn't spend much time discussing the material to be fastened: holding down a carbon fiber body panel is different than getting the same bit fabricated from fiberglass to hold. Some of the illustrations look like they were drawn by a plotter 20 years ago: terrible resolution, confusing lines, poor perspective. Freshening some of the illustrations would be a real shot in the arm for the book.

Those shortcomings withstanding, I can't give this book less than five stars. Mr. Smith's incredible reputation and outstanding experience hold up a dry subject, and give the reader more background than a broader (or deeper) technical reference ever could.

12 of 14 found the following review helpful:


If you build/repair machines - read this book  Jan 14, 2000 By Richard
Fabulous book on fasteners. Up front it sounds really dull, but C.Smith makes it painless. You will find out things here that simply are not available elsewhere. Must reading for people into cars, airplanes or machinery in general

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


This book is very very good  Oct 26, 2007 By GoClick
This book is VERY good, it's informative, comprehensive, fun to read and goes a long way to improving your understanding of the "whys" rather than just the "hows". It's an excelent resource for someone looking to build their own race car. Anyone looking to attach something to something else or move a fluid from one place to another will get something out of this book. As an added bonus in the years since it was first written most of the fasteners that the author found hard to find have become available easily online.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:


Very useful resource  Jan 05, 2009 By You must provide a name
This a must have resource for people who are not professionals yet would like to figure out how and why race cars are kept together the way the are (or why they are not). While similar books are often written in an - to be kind - ill defined language, this one is in plain English. In fact the author even endeavors to render the subject somewhat entertaining while literally dealing with nuts and bolts.

5 of 7 found the following review helpful:


Learn from someone else's experience, it's faster.  Dec 30, 2001 By Paul E. Boehm
Admittedly this is a dry subject, but this book should be considered required reading for anyone who is serious about building a safe race car. There's more to fastener technology than most of us realize and a right and wrong way to do things. Mr. Smith gets the information out in an easy to understand format with splashes of well-timed humor. While we have all blamed a poor performance at an event on a broken fastener, Mr. Smith explains how to eliminate these problems, plus your vehicle will be safer. You won't even think about using grade 8 bolts from the discount hardware store on that flywheel after reading this book. The section on plumbing was particularly helpful to me.

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