Recently I have seen what I think is a little confusion regarding the Bentley
and Haynes manuals. This is provided for clarification.
Bentley - the Bentley manuals are reprints of the original Triumph Factory
workshop manuals. These were the workshop manuals which could be bought at a
Triumph dealer when there still were dealers. Bentley obtained (bought?)
permission to reprint those manuals. I have an original TR4 factory manual
from the '60's and the Bentley's. They are identical. BTW -included in the
Bentley's TR4 manual is a copy of the factory competition manual and the
"owner's manual" (the one that came in the glovebox of new Triumphs) - this
"owner's manual" is pretty comprehensive when compared with new car "owner's
manuals" of today.
Haynes - Haynes is another story. Their manuals are supposed to be based on
the fact that they buy a car, tear it apart, and them reassemble it. This
experience is documented and then written up for publication.
As you can see, the Bentley and the Haynes manuals complement each other.
The original factory workshop manual (now reprinted by Bentley) was designed
for Triumph dealers' mechanics to use when working on the cars. The
assumption was that the mechanics were trained on or knew how to do the
necessary work. All they needed was an engineering reference for the specs,
torques, dimensions etc. An owner could buy a workshop manual from a dealer
if the owner wanted a reference to use when working on his own car. (I bought
mine to use for those times I could make the repairs etc. myself. (That way I
could save the labor costs at the dealer's shop).
The Haynes manual, on the other hand, goes more (relatively) into HOW the work
is done. The torques, specs etc. are there but not in as much detail. But
the Haynes is useful when, for example, you don't know how "something" is put
together and the factory manual (Bentley) shows you a diagram without much of
an explanation. The Haynes will show you a picture and then explain how that
"something" comes apart and is put back together. As a result - the Bentley
and Haynes manuals together are extremely helpful - even if you are not an
accomplished mechanic.
There are other manuals (Climers, Chilton etc.) from the period when our cars
were new. They are all useful to some degree. No matter which ones I use for
a reference I can always find some new slant. But I carry both the Haynes
and the Bentley manuals in the trunk (boot). Those two have saved my butt on
several occasions.
Soapbox mode off. Taa -daa.
Cheers.
Art Kelly '64 TR4 CT33118L (original owner/factory pickup)
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