MOTOR NOTES. "TINKERING"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 123, 27 May 1941, Page 12

MOTOR NOTES. "TINKERING"

TRAP FOR NOVICES SOME SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS Manufacturers arc in a position to know many of the frailties of human nature. Included in manuals of instructions which go with almost every new car sold are warnings to leave various parts of the ear severely alone. Sensible as these instructions are. they often go completely unheeded. To be able to adjust intricate parts of the engine holds a fatal fascination for the novice and that a little learning is a dangerous thing is proved over and over again.

Perhaps the distributor is *"adjusted" by unskilled hands. When the car chooses to come to a sudden stop on a rainy night and no amount of attention seems able to correct matters, the result is usually loss of temper and a repair bill—and the manufacturer is often blamed for putting a faulty part in the car. There are many useful outlets for a novice's enthusiasm for "tinkering." Tyres, oiling nipples, the battery and terminals, the radiator, the spark plugs, the tappets and so on are all the better for attention. The tyres offer ample scope for tinkering. Regular tests of air pressure should be made and the only satisfactory method is by using a proper gauge. It is impossible to tell bv merely kicking them. Tinkerer's time can also be profitably employed by changing the tyres to different wheels to obtain an even wear. A very useful afternoon can be spent with a nail file freeing the tyros of metal, flints and other damaging material.

, The battery can always be attended to with advantage. Top-ping-up with distilled water, testing the acid, smearing the terminals with vaseline are necessary adjustments that anyone can make. Spark plugs, too, can make a car run splendidly or "pink" and shy at steep hills. Badly-set points are sometimes the cause (9f trouble. This can easily be corrected with a little experimentation and it is useful to inspect the insulators occasionallv for cracks and faults. And these are only a very few of the minor adjustments which, however simple contribute efTectivelv to the smooth running of the car.