Board logo

RIP John Harold Haynes
Bluemoon - 12/2/19 at 08:03 AM

RIP

John Harold Haynes Obituary


nick205 - 12/2/19 at 12:27 PM

RIP indeed.

Haynes manuals have helped many (myself included) with their cars.


pewe - 12/2/19 at 12:35 PM

Met John a few times whilst working in Motor Accessories.
It was always a pleasure and, as others have said, he was a true gent.
He inspired a whole generation of us to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in.
Thanks for that John and RIP.
Cheers, Pewe10


Mr Whippy - 12/2/19 at 12:43 PM

hmm RIP indeed

The manuals are garbage now though, much better downloading the manufactures ones for less than £15 as I do


pewe - 12/2/19 at 01:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
hmm RIP indeed

The manuals are garbage now though, much better downloading the manufactures ones for less than £15 as I do


Agreed. When we had a Volvo 760 I almost slept with the Haynes manual under my pillow.
Current ones a shadow of what used to be.
However I think that's mainly the result of increased tech putting DIY out of most home mechanics reach.
As an aside to that when I looked at that BMW 1600ti in Italy last year there was the original Haynes manual for it sat on the back seat!


coyoteboy - 12/2/19 at 01:49 PM

The tech isn't out of reach. Most things on cars are still perfectly DIYable. Really the main thing that makes most jobs harder for me is the custom tools used for everything - the jobs are easy with the right tools.

Current manuals are useless, but thats because each car has 20 variations, with 5 engine options and 3 transmission options. It's not viable to do all of those in depth properly.

[Edited on 12/2/19 by coyoteboy]


Mr Whippy - 12/2/19 at 06:43 PM

Well VW's own manual for my Up is fantastic covering everything from gearbox rebuilds to full body repair procedures like how to fit a complete new side. The Haynes manual in comparison is a total joke telling you to take it to specialists for most of it. VW's one also uses the 3d cad drawings from designing the car so are much clearer than a dark photo. No comparison at all.

[Edited on 12/2/19 by Mr Whippy]


snapper - 12/2/19 at 06:56 PM

Let’s show some respect shall we
Regardless of your opinion a man has died who made a difference


ettore bugatti - 12/2/19 at 06:58 PM

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly


westf27 - 12/2/19 at 11:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
Let’s show some respect shall we
Regardless of your opinion a man has died who made a difference


Well said


nick205 - 13/2/19 at 09:41 AM

quote:
Originally posted by westf27
quote:
Originally posted by snapper
Let’s show some respect shall we
Regardless of your opinion a man has died who made a difference


Well said


Agreed!


James - 13/2/19 at 11:39 AM

Would Chairman Ron have been able to publish without the assistance of Haynes?

Therefore would the Locost and Locostbuilders.co.uk exist at all?

If nothing else, my Mk2 Golf would never have stayed on the road without a Haynes manual so all credit to him for what he created!


jps - 13/2/19 at 12:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ettore bugatti
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly


Now remove the engine...

They are fantastic resources in my opinion - I know i've read my Sierra one (and the Cortina and Capri ones to cover the 'variations' in Ford production!) a lot for all the jobs i've done. As someone who had only ever taken a bicycle apart before starting my Haynes build they are invaluable.

The story of how the first one came about - grabbing a camera as he helped a friend fix his Sprite - is great.


02GF74 - 13/2/19 at 06:31 PM

I don't think anyone here is disrespecting JH. He came up with a product that kept many cars on the road and nurtured interest in car and motorcycle mechanics not to mention the money saved by doing the maintenance yourself. So big respect..... but the later manuals, e.g. Volvo 850 circa 90s are much less detailed than the earlier ones.


nick205 - 14/2/19 at 05:04 PM

I'd agree that later manuals are less detailed than earlier ones. There's definitely a difference between the Peugeot 205 and Volkswagen Touran manuals I have.

I suspect in part this may be down to the thought that owners of newer cars are more likely to take them to a garage coupled with the fact that newer cars are more complex and the engines rattle on for longer than they used to.

I do know I used my Sierra Haynes manual extensively when building my MK Indy and stripping several Sierras along the way though.


SJ - 15/2/19 at 01:19 PM

RIP - I certainly couldn't have survived without Haynes Manuals - my biggest frustration was all the procedures and pictures were done on a nice clean version of the car, not the rust encased model I had!

Clearly no criticism of the manual, but when it said "pull out the retaining pin and remove the rear suspension unit" on your 1980 Citroen GSA, and all the once visible parts of pin had dissolved to rust shortly after leaving the factory, it was somewhat frustrating!

Eleven words of instruction turned into 2 days of penetrating fluid soaked heating, hammering, drilling and swearing.



[Edited on 15/2/19 by SJ]