I've got a dirty grimy one I keep in the car and the slightly newer one I keep in the garage.

Once they get too dirty, I buy a newer one, get rid of the greasiest one and start the cycle all over again.

(sometimes if I expect a particularly gooey job, I'll take pity on my Haynes and just print out a few pages from a .pdf then toss the pages when the job is done)

 

My Haynes is here beside me to answer notice board questions I don't know the answer to. (hahahahaha!)

I don't need it very often in the garage. (hahahahahahaha!)

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(This isn't the Friday Funnies thread? Next you're gonna tell me it isn't Friday?)

My light blue Haynes resides in the garage and it's stuffed with computer print-outs and other such informative information.  I use it mainly for torque specs and to refresh my fading memory.

A general rule with the Haynes manuals is to buy the earliest version that still covers your car.

With the light blue ones, pay attention to the dates covered, not just the color. I have five different ones covering different year spans.

The late dark blue book is generally regarded with derision.

The earlier books are actually better written and have more accurate information in them.
The light blue one is probably the best all-rounder and covers more stuff, but the purple and brown ones have earlier model specific stuff in them.

I don't own a dark blue one any more - I gave it away in disgust when I realised that all the critical dimensions had been translated into metric.

Yep this is a good book too

I think I have 3 Haynes books, all with loose pages, some taped together.

A new book, yeah, I should treat myself to a new copy.

Other Internet forums have a sticky FAQ at the beginning - "Read this before posting", would work here for Minimania so nobody gets chased off and they sell more parts...

"in general: lefty loosey, righty tighty...." Sometimes it seems to get that basic around here, maybe a minimum # of posts before being released into the general population.... Or take a quiz about general automotive principles b4 rereleased then again, sometimes it's good to go grab some popcorn and watch where it goes....

lol.....IYO

That's part 646. The best Minis need part 527.

PS i used that book to help with wiring etc,came in the car...or else id be asking even MORE useless questions.

Lol good thing some of us people dont listen..especially on vtec swaps.

Ive never been in another mini other then my own,bought one having no clue on how to fix it,asked basic pointers on the vtec swap and got ideas going and to be honest anybody could do that swap if i can.

I like it because it tells you the level of difficult for each job....it gives you little hints that help .....and has clear pictures....but most of all the reason for getting a book is so that when someone new wants to buy a mini and they are all excited about fixing it an have lots of questions on how to fix something a lot of people on here come off rude at first with smarta$$ remarks.WHICH IN TURN TURNS PEOPLE OFF TO THE MINI WORLD....I can say that because I felt the same way when I had questions and I've also read pleanty of threads where the conversation started out I'm new here and I just bought a mini please help....an people came off as rude and un welcoming....major or minor I love reading posts about people having trouble with their mini then everyone chiming in to help that person....I like this site and all the help everyone has to offer....now lets have fun an keep building

I am far, far from being a mechanic.
But I managed to tear my car down to bits, refurbish*, and put the whole mess back together with the aid of this and other message boreds and the following manuals:
Haynes book of lies
Factory service manual
Factory parts manuals
I had to stay focused but wound up taking less than a year to get it done.

*-I farmed out a few things that I didn't have the knowledge, tools or space.

A soft cover one off ebay or the like, with grease stains and personal notes is much better imo

yah i have one,,courtesy of my very good friend, i dont want to mention his name,but he knows who he is...that booklet got tons of infos..

Everyone on here that is a new mini owner should buy one of these from our host $38.95 well worth it save all small questions for the book an post your harder questions on here.....have fun