My Haynes manual is falling apart. The spine is ripping (my fault), but the book seems to be made cheaply. The pages are thin and the pictures are not clear. I bought in new on Amazon. How do I tell if I'm getting an original or some 4th generation photocopied one? No FLAPS has them in stock.

I'll probably have to tape it (not my first choice) or take it to a bindery (like FedEx/Kinkos) and have them punch holes and spiral bind it. Anyone done this?

I was seriously considering sheet protectors in a 3-ring binder, but the pages are an odd size. Mine is a Clymer, which I usually hate, but it is old and only covers 70-73. Lots of information the later aftermarket books leave out.


I suppose a trip to Staples or Kinko's is in my near future.

That's a good thing. My analogy is that a tattered manual is akin to a battlefield scar; it's a Badge of Honor. I know from reading your posts that you aren't afraid to work on your 914. A stranger can look at your tattered, oil stained manual and know the same about you! My manual has loose pages. loose sections, grease fingerprints, scribbled notes, highlighted paragraphs, underlined sentences and several Subaru pages stuffed in between it all.

I bought one new - tore it apart and out each page in sheet protectors.

https://www.amazon.com/Porsche-Four-cylinde...s/dp/B00EKYPP1Q

My original Haynes paperback copy fell apart from use years ago. I separated all of the pages and the cover pages and placed them in a three ring binder. It now lives in the garage full time. I keep a Haynes hardback copy on my book shelf for reference. Even though this copy is not abused, the binding is starting to crack.

The original Haynes manuals had green covers. The most recent Haynes have a different cover and the cover material and pages are noticeably lighter weight.

look for a kinkos type shop that offers tape binding.

minimally destructive to the old book, one just need remove the spine.

spiral binding is another option but, you might loose some of the text / images near the spine to punched holes. an advantage is the book will easily lay flat afterwards.

I cut the pages and place them in protectors and place in binder. A good thing about that is you an turn pages with greasy hands and wipe pages after without damaging them.

but my bride says my manuals look more like a Rorschach test