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Haynes Manuals Creator Has Died


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#1 mab01uk

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Posted 11 February 2019 - 08:18 PM

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"The remarkable man behind Haynes Publications is John Haynes who at sixteen years of age wrote his first book about the Austin 7 in 1956. He bought the car when he was 15 years old for £15. Deciding to sell it a year later, he advertised it for £100 and got hundreds of replies. That gave him the idea of writing and illustrating a 48-page booklet about rebuilding Austin Sevens into racing and modified versions. He sold 250 of them in 10 days for 25p each - a tidy sum in those days.

The first Haynes manual as we now know it was produced in 1965 for the Austin Healey Sprite. A friend of his in the army had one and the manufacturer’s workshop manual was so bad that he decided to do a better job, which he did. He sold 3,000 manuals in three months and an international publishing business was born."

https://www.motoreas...ynes-Publishing

 

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Edited by mab01uk, 11 February 2019 - 08:19 PM.


#2 KTS

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Posted 11 February 2019 - 08:59 PM

truly a life to be celebrated - where would we be without him i wonder...



#3 Chris M

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Posted 11 February 2019 - 09:30 PM

A true legend. This man has helped many of us over the years.

#4 johnR

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Posted 11 February 2019 - 09:57 PM

The written texts were always good, the photos less so! Bless him.



#5 DeadSquare

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 09:00 AM

The written texts were always good, the photos less so! Bless him.

 

On many occasions, I thought it a shame that he didn't take his photos in daylight, or at least used a torch  (I nearly wrote 'candle')



#6 Spider

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 10:16 AM

He started an institution !



#7 Swift_General

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 11:35 AM

I live local to Sparkford where I often take my son, and was fortunate to meet him several times as he always seemed to sit in the cafe for lunch with the rest of us in his 'reserved seat'! True gent and legend lost.

#8 Wiggy

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 11:59 AM

I thought he deserved more than an OBE.

Before the rise of the Internet, the Haynes manual was the only resource most people had.

Must have helped millions save billions of £ over the years.

#9 mab01uk

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 12:40 PM

 

The written texts were always good, the photos less so! Bless him.

 

On many occasions, I thought it a shame that he didn't take his photos in daylight, or at least used a torch  (I nearly wrote 'candle')

 

 

The photos in the older Haynes manuals seemed mucher clearer to me, in later years the quality of paper used and photo reproduction seemed to get downgraded or cost reduced with a loss of definition and unfortunately the classic Mini manuals lost whole previously useful chapters which were now considered to be beyond the average DIY mechanic!



#10 Bobbins

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Posted 12 February 2019 - 09:34 PM

Around 35 years ago back in my A-Level days, one of the questions on the A-Level General Studies exam paper was to write an essay about a book you'd recently read ... I chose the Haynes Mini workshop manuals, maybe a little wide of the intended result but someone must have appreciated my efforts because I achieved a pass grade! John Haynes was a true legend.

#11 surfblue

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Posted 13 February 2019 - 07:56 AM

I have a virtual library of oil and grease stained Haynes Manuals in my garage, lots for cars I dont own anymore, some for cars Ive never owned, just bought them for a few pence at auto jumbles.

I truly have saved many many thousands of pounds over the years being able to DIY with the assistance of these great books.

I hope the legacy keeps going but perhaps modern cars are less likely to be worked at by owners and the demographic of owners having the skills and ability to do so are shrinking.



#12 Homersimpson

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Posted 13 February 2019 - 07:23 PM

Somewhere I have an original sprite manual which was invaluable when I restored my frogeye and MK2 sprite many years ago,



#13 MiniJosh92

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Posted 10 March 2019 - 09:58 AM

Good little bit from radio 4 - https://www.bbc.co.u...s/play/p072bqy3



#14 Homersimpson

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Posted 10 March 2019 - 03:32 PM

I always found that the manuals missed parts out, for example "undo the 4 bolts into the rear heelboard and remove the subframe assembly" should have been "snap off the four bolts into the rear heelboard, skin your knuckles, cuss and swear and then kick the cat".

 

Seriously though I was brought up with a Haynes manual from the time I was a child and they were always a godsend doing anything.  In fact I just used one to rebuild my MK2 jag and its amazingly well detailed and helpful.

 

Back in the 60's, 70's and 80's when people used to work on their own cars a lot how much money did people save using these manuals over paying for repairs, how many people managed to get to work to earn a crust and how many people saved the money to pay other bills or provide things for their families? I bet its millions.

 

Rest in piece Mr Haynes, you are a legend.






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