RUBBER IN CARS

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20955, 8 September 1933, Page 15

RUBBER IN CARS

Increasing Use for Parts OUTPUT OF MORE THAN 30 TREES REQUIRED With the increasing use o£ rubber parts in car manufacturing the yearly output of from 30 to 40 rubber trees is required to supply tyres, tubes, and parts for each modern car. In 1925 the average car used about three pounds of rubber parts in addition to the rubber in tyres and tubes, while 1933 models carry from 30 to 601b of rubber parts, according to research engineers of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. More than 90 per cent, of modern cars use at least 30 to 401b of rubber made up into 11 or 12 classes of parts, ranging from spark plug caps and door bumpers to torque spring insulators and engine mountings. The improvement in engines and fuels, together with the introduction of new silent running tyres making for extremely quiet operation, have necessitated the use of rubber insulation to reduce body noises formerly drowned out by the engine and tyres. Rubber insulation is also important in breaking up the synchronisation of vibrations and noises between tiie engine and body, caused by high speed performance and the use of all steel bodies. Common Uses. Prominent among the uses for rubber in automobiles other than in tyres and tubes are floor mats, fan belts, spring bumpers, window ehan-

nels, bushings, body shims, and hydraulic brake hose. Unlimited possibilities for additional rubber parts in the automotive field are seen by the engineers. In a few years, they believe, more and more rubber will bo used in body and fender construction. It is quite possible that there will be more replacing of solid steel parts with rubber, perhaps replacing the car's entire spring mechanism with rubber. FAMOUS GANGSTER'S CAR A FAST ARMOURED SEDAN Writing to a friend in Christchurch, an officer on the Makura gives an interesting description of the cur used by A 1 Capono, formerly famous as the leader of Chicago's underworld, who iti at present serving a term in gaol for income tax evasions. "I spent a very interesting halfhour at an exhibition stand in San Francisco," says the letter. "I saw the 10-cylinder Cadillac armoured car formerly owned by that Tsar of the underworld, A 1 Capone. It was a large black sedan, with a chromium-plated engine bonnet, the entire body cf the car being lined inside with half-inch high grade sheet steel between the upholstery and the body. Fitted with a smoke-screen device and sirens for a quick getaway, the sedan is capable of 125 miles an hour. The petrol tank has a capacity of 57 gallons, and the car used this at the rate of one gallon to every four and a half miles. The machine itself weighed 6000 pounds, each window weighing 75 pounds. The windows are made up of three-ply non-shatterable glass, which, when tested with revolver, machine-gun. and service rifle fire at a distance of 25 yards, was not pierced, nor broken very much. A high grade radio and address system were built in, and provision was made for bombs, machineguns, and ammunition—a veritable battleship on wheels." TWO-LIFE TAIL LAMP A tail light that is claimed never to let the driver down has just been patented in London. The scheme incorporates a neat cut-out which is fitted to the dashboard and put in service with the tail-lamp wires; on thin cut-out is fitted a spare tail-lamp bulb, which acts as a tell-tale and is similar to the bulb fitted Jn the taillamp, both bulbs having two filaments of equal wattage. When the tail lamp is switched on, the cut-out magnetically switches on one of the two filaments in the taillamp bulb, but instantly one filament fails the second filament is brought into action autqmatically, thus lighting the tell-tale lamp on the dashboard. The lighted tell-tale notifies the driver that his tail-lamp filament has failed and that the second has teen brought into use, but there Is, of course, no need to pull up and no occasion for concern, as the second light which has come into operation will last just as long as the driver desires to carry on. Of course, the sensible motorist, on arrival at his destination, will make arrangements for the original lamp to be replaced. Iluis again having a second filament in reserve.

The function of the oil filter is to remove ffotn the crankcase oil all particles of dirt and carbon not already eliminated from circulation by the oil pump screen. When the filter is entirely free of dirt its capacity is such that the quantity of Oil in the crankcase will p&SH through the filter approximately every five minutes at a car speed of 25 miles an hour. This rate of flow will gradually decrease until such time as the filter ceases to function, due to clogging, and while there is no definite limit ;o the life of the filtering unit, it is advisable to replace this unit after approximately iJgjIQOQ scales