Sean,I am sure that Mr. Viking knows what he is talking about,anyway,as I said,you can take from it what you want,do it your way or what ever,I am sure its not meant to be set in stone.Anyway,its only advice.

Fair point but who is going to be judge, what about you Sean Are you worried

It is an internet forum not a cult of personality. I've seen that emerge before on forums and it always ends in tears.

The majority of the information is on here anyway. Additionally many of the factory manuals are availble on Ebay and the like as well as free in PDF form from 2CV stuff and other sites. The manuals were checked by generations of mechanics. Feedback given to the factory, corrected, amended etc etc etc. Find them use them then ask questions. Haynes, Autobook et al are based on the factory manuals. Seriously, it is still the best resource out there; use it.

As far as I can see this is little more than a raw attempt to set yourself up as the "guru" with an end game of commercial gain. And that is worrying, especially as the work you turn out appears to struggle to reach beyond the quality level of the reasonably competent amateur.

I did see that one coming.
A few claims need answers. No I’m not here to gain financially, do you see any advertising anywhere. Please point me to it. Yes I do react if people are asking for parts and nobody else can help. Yes I run a 2cv business and I’m here not because of it but it’s my passion too + meeting likewise people. Other 2cv business owners (UK) are here too, should they be told to bugger off. I don’t think so.
Yes I’m a guru (in mine own mind) get over it. Yes I pump out work everyday, have for a very long time and it is all substandard. All I do is taking care of complaints every day for 8 hours.
If the Adm (owners) doesn't want this idea, no worries from my part.

Ouch, 250AZU.

I'm a relative newbie to this forum, so am not aware of any 'politics' that may have preceded my arrival - or is even continuing to this day (although, I am aware - from the 'General chat' forum - that some users have seemingly set out to antagonise others - I don't know the names involved & have no interest.). So I can only judge from what I actually see on a day to day basis. And what I see suggests that Viking's posts are genuinely helpful to many and are not self-serving.

(Anyways, there is a simple solution to any commercial interest rearing its commercial head - just don't buy.)

if you prefer manuals or think you can get them elsewhere then dont read it??

i think it will be an invaluable source for the forum, like i said, i think we should all sift through posts to find usefull information, probably mostly going to be from kens posts and put it all together

It's not often that I'm speechless.
I fail to see how a person that is willing to give away free information, including 'tricks of the trade', of sharing wisdom gained of experience that might one day save many people both time and heartache when attempting a similar job for themselves, could be described as self promotion?

I understood that it was universally accepted that the Haynes manual is at least in part a work of fiction, and that blokes like Ken, Sean, and Viking (apologies to the others that I've missed) have been telling us the right way to do things for ages, all for free, and in the spirit of friendship. There are always those less willing to put the time and effort into helping others, and they are usually the ones that want to profit from it in my experience.

And I've always understood that Haynes actively welcomes corrections from their readers...

It was me that emailed Viking and asked him to do a 'how to' on steering racks.

Without Viking's excellent step by step guide to king pins I would never have been able to change mine. Having done mine, I then went on to change James Wallace's. Nobody's made a profit from that. James and I saved almost £300 between us.

Viking enabled me to help myself and I then went on to help James. Good stuff all round.

Personally I really struggle with a Haynes manual. I wouldn't know what a Citroen special tool XXXETC35 was if it jumped out from behind a bush and raped me. There's also clasic 'haynes-isms' ie removing the vent flap. "remove the 9 xxmm bolts that hold the seal in place. A task that, having dismantled the entire forward interior of my car took me a whole morning.

Lets be honest, how much bias can you put into a 'step by step.' Viking reduced all the complications to explain what to hit, grind and grease and where. simples!

I've never felt pressured to but anything from Viking but if somebody reads a 'how to' and decides to puirchase tools or parts from Viking fair play - he put the time in to writing the 'how to' afterall.

I would love to see a 'how to' on steering racks as I'd love to rebuild mine and it would be a great learning curve for me and others.

I thank in advance the person that chooses to do it for enabling me to skillfully and econiomically keep my 2cv on the road. Isn't that the whole point?