Book review: Haynes Volkswagen Bay Transporter Restoration Manual

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for this review. I did not receive any payment and was not required to write a positive review. Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.

Haynes manuals are a UK institution, and there’s no doubt that they’ve saved many car owners a lot of money and time by explaining how to do routine — and more challenging — repair and maintenance jobs.

The only problem I have with these guides is that they sometimes make things seem a little too easy, and tempt you to bite off a little more than you can chew. Speaking from personal experience, it’s embarrassing to have to ask for professional help to complete something you confidently told your wife was “just a simple DIY job — it’s all in the manual”.

Take the Haynes Volkswagen Bay Transporter Restoration Manual, for example.

This new guide does exactly what it promises — it provides a step-by-step guide to buying and restoring a ‘Bay’ — the classic second generation VW campervan. It’s actually a terrific book, well written, well illustrated and with copious amounts of useful information — from a man who has done it all before, many times.

But there’s the crux — early in the book, author Fletcher Gillett describes how his first restoration project ended up taking two years, rather than the three months he naively planned for. He now runs a business restoring VW vans, so it’s clear that the learning curve is steep, but manageable — but you will need time, patience, a certain amount of practical skill, and a decent selection of tools.

If you’ve got all that, and are looking for the nitty-gritty detail that will help you do the job right, without having to work everything out from scratch, then this is a great manual. It takes you right through the restoration process, and even includes a guide to buying a van.

Just don’t tell your wife that it’s “simply a question of following the instructions”…

Buy this guide from the Haynes website or on Amazon (Amazon⇒)

Book information

Title: Volkswagen Bay Transporter Restoration Manual
Publisher: Haynes
ISBN: 9780857332455
RRP: £30.00