Haynes Manuals

[GazCaff]

Like myself, I'm sure most of you yearn for the days when a Haynes manual was a useful companion for your car as opposed to the misleading, vague and incomplete/incorrect crocks of poo they have now become.

This is a modern list of Haynes definitions for te current manuals. I'm sure some of you have seen it, but reading the list never fails to make me smile:

http://www.messybeast.com/dragonqueen/real-haynes.htm

 

[Shude]

I knew I'd read those before somewhere

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16069

 

[Benzowner]

It may be a repeat, but many good TV shows are repeats and are sometimes better the second time round

 

[prprandall51]

Nice link - spot on.

I agree that Haynes manuals aren't what they used to be, but then neither is beer, manners, respect, and just about everything else.

I feel sorry for Haynes. Now cars are so complex, there is very little for them to write up about that the home owner can realistically achieve. I read somewhere that they are struggling financially and certainly in recent years I have noticed that they have started to buy in their content from other manual publishers to save costs (I assume). The last manual I looked at (E39 BMW - previous 5 Series) was pretty rubbish.

It is a sad situation for a company that was certainly an iconic part of my youth. Those manuals guided me (superbly) through complete engine rebuilds of at least four different cars.

Philip

 

[BonzoDog]

Nice link - spot on.

an iconic part of my youth. Those manuals guided me (superbly) through complete engine rebuilds of at least four different cars.

Philip

Spot on and you could tell what you had done by looking at the pages covered in oily fingerprints.

 

[big x]

Nice link - spot on.

I agree that Haynes manuals aren't what they used to be, but then neither is beer, manners, respect, and just about everything else.

I feel sorry for Haynes. Now cars are so complex, there is very little for them to write up about that the home owner can realistically achieve. I read somewhere that they are struggling financially and certainly in recent years I have noticed that they have started to buy in their content from other manual publishers to save costs (I assume). The last manual I looked at (E39 BMW - previous 5 Series) was pretty rubbish.

It is a sad situation for a company that was certainly an iconic part of my youth. Those manuals guided me (superbly) through complete engine rebuilds of at least four different cars.


Philip

I've got both the Haynes and the 2 volume monster size Bentley for the E39 and I think it's fair to say the car is so complex that the Haynes format can't really cover it.
The other change is all the specialist tools required for the BMW compared to say my E320 which requires virtually none.
Recently I downloaded for free a 80 MB scan (from a russian site) of the complete Bentley E32 manual which along with the forums and the EPC at http://www.realoem.com provided pretty much all the info required.

adam

 

[Bedouin]

Those manuals guided me (superbly) through complete engine rebuilds of at least four different cars.

Philip

Absolutely - I still have the Haynes Manuals for my first 4 or 5 cars, covered in oily fingerprints that bear witness to how useful they were.

These days about all I use them for is to work out how to take the interior trim apart to replace the speakers

 

[prprandall51]

When I see kids in their stupid Saxos with bean-can exhausts and blue lights, a little bit of me feels sorry for them. When I were a nipper my weekends were spent with my mates stripping and rebuilding our various bangers. Nowadays, there is nothing on a modern car that allows a kid to get that kind of interaction and involvement with what is undoubtedly their most valued possession - hence, I guess, that, whilst I used to strip and rebuild my carbs almost for the sheer pleasure of it, today the best that kids can do is fit neon lights under the sills.

Philip

 

[GazCaff]

When I see kids in their stupid Saxos with bean-can exhausts and blue lights, a little bit of me feels sorry for them. When I were a nipper my weekends were spent with my mates stripping and rebuilding our various bangers. Nowadays, there is nothing on a modern car that allows a kid to get that kind of interaction and involvement with what is undoubtedly their most valued possession - hence, I guess, that, whilst I used to strip and rebuild my carbs almost for the sheer pleasure of it, today the best that kids can do is fit neon lights under the sills.

Philip

Amen!

I remember working with a young Aircraft technician in the Army who didn't know how to change his spark plugs!

 

[prprandall51]

Amen!

I remember working with a young Aircraft technician in the Army who didn't know how to change his spark plugs!

Ah, but perhaps he could have fitted a Rolls Royce Olympus under the bonnet in under four hours! That way, he wouldn't need a spark plug spanner ever again.

 

[jeremytaylor]

You just need to look at the tnickness of the mauals to see how time has changed.

The one for my old Morris Minor is wafer thin, whereas the one for the PSA XUD engine only rivals War & Peace for size.