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Comment by finaliteration | Hacker News Reader

An API for finding car parts and service instructions, something like a Chilton manual service where you could provide vehicle information and it would return a list of parts based on filter criteria along with text or a link about how to perform certain services or repairs for those parts.

It could include things like torque specs, volumes for fluids, etc.

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This is really interesting to me -- I'm super into working on/learning about old motorcycles (and cars), and it's always pretty difficult to find parts/procedures/torque specs/etc for a vehicle, unless you can find the factory service manual online. I'm not sure to what extent (if any) that data is covered by copyright, but if it's not, this seems like an excellent idea that I'd be interested in working on.

I'm glad someone else finds this problem interesting! I'm not totally sure in terms of copyright about repairs and parts, but it's something that could be looked into.

I've mainly thought about this while trying to find some sort of information online for a specific year/model only to find some loosely related YouTube videos and articles that leave out certain steps or are similar but not quite the same parts. And most of the time there isn't any mention of what the torque specs are for certain bolts, etc., because most of the time the presnters are "feeling it out", but I'm a stickler for doing things as close to the factory spec as possible...

I feel like this would also be useful for mechanics/repair shops. You could serve the data via an app/online service that mechanics could reference.

Obviously I have many ideas about this. =)

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