FOR THE OWNER DRIVER.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18194, 3 October 1924, Page 5

FOR THE OWNER DRIVER.

EVERYDAY TOOLS. j i As regards tools, the owner-driver i v.-ill probably find that he will. in the I course of ;i year or so. have gathered j together quite a use; ul set. buying vow I one und no'.v the other, ms he needs j 1 hem. This is a most inexpensive way j of in-Cjuirsiig :i first-rate .set. One can, j of course, buy too! chests niagniiicently j equipped, .'iiid if money is no object. | certainlv it docs i-o harm to buy one. At the same time, if one gets different tools as ami when one requires them, one gets to know, fur bettor exactly what resources are available for executing thi 3or that repair, ami certaitilv little-used tools are not I fit and perhaps forgotten or uncared for for months on end because there has never been occasion to use theni. Xow, before we go 011 to considering what tools are actually required, it i? as Tvoll to appreciate fuliy that, in order to get the best out of them, tools must be looked after. It is simply hopeless to throw files, punches', hacksaw bljdcs and what not into a box, fishing one or another out when needed. For one thing, they may rust up from sheer disuse or may become battered, so that much of , their usefulness is lost through careless handling. This is particularly true of tiles, or cutting instruments of any kind. What tools need buying depends to a verv great extent on the range of the kit supplied with the car. On some lyrgc cars the tool kit is so complete that almost any job within the scope of the owner-driver is possible without further outlay, but many makers of the less expensive ears still imagine that an adjustment spanner of poor quality, one or two fixed spanners, and a screwdriver arc all that arc required. Incidentally, it » rather funny that numerous tool kits supplied as standard 011 a ear, while lacking some really useful implement such as a good pair of combination pliers or a jet key, con-, tain a cold chisel, which is never used except by the most Ilunnish of motorists on the road, when its use consists of chipping horrible round the periphery of obstinate nuts, getting them off in the end, it, is true, but at the price of never again being able to get a spanner of correct size to grip them. It is not easy to explain, although a clever mathematician, would no doubt be able to tell us, why a long screwdriver should be so much more powerful than a short, one having a blade just as wide. Nevertheless, it is so, and the wise motorist will include a really Jong robust screwdriver in his tool kit as well as those of medium vand small size. The best type are those in wliich the metal handle comes right up, surrounding, as it were, the wooden handle, as the blade does not in that case tend to twist out of its grip. A good pair of combination pliers, of course, is indispensable. ! As regards spanners, only too many drivers, alas! imagine that there is only one kind in existence, and this the adjustable type. This they use indiscriminanatelv, often assisting it with blows from a hammer, whether they are dismantling their carburetter or putting on a hub cap. There should really be in. every tool kit a complete set. of spanners to suit every nut; generally a com- ; plete range of B.S.A. spanners will be j found not only one of the best, but cer- ! tainly one of the most accurate and I useful sets. Of course, an adjustable ! spanner is a necessary evil, because one j sometimes conies across non-standard j nuts and bolta that cannot be touched | with, anything else, but it pays over and j over again to get a. really good spanner j of this type. There are many on the ] market which arc either sort,, so that ; they bond, or are very uncertain in their j adjustment, i I It also depends a great deal on the | type of adjustable spanner on how it | should be used, those in which the lower : jaw, i.e., that nearest the hand, moves j being applied in exactly the opposite j way to those in which the upper jaw, or j that farthest from the hand, is the movable portion. j It will be found in the fullness of time ! that quite a number of nnts and bolts : on the car cannot possibly be reached j by any other means than a box span- > ner, therefore a set or nest, as it is . termed, of box spanners of given mako ; (complete with a tonimybar) is practi- ; cally a necessity. j Although in many manuals on motoring one sees extraordinarily long and complete lists of tools that should be . carried on tour, those mentioned <<bove, together with a jet key, magneto spanner, jack, pump, wheelbrace, and tyre levers, arc generally quite sufficient for all ordinary purposes. Things like ham- ; mors, hacksaws, and so forth, are nowadavs needed on the road very seldom indeed, and can in most eases safely be • left at home. i WRITE FOB FREE WHITE TRUCK . BOOKLET. Bv return mail wc will send you an ■ instructive, interesting booklet which tells the full story of White Trucks. We will send, also, the White Truck Roll Gal!, which tells you who owns White vehicles, and why. We want you to discover that a "White" can in-? crease your profits on road transport, j that there is a "White" built specially • for vour business, and that we are willing "to enter into a practical discussion of your haulage problems. Will you rriyg an oppertuity to put up a plain, business-like proposition? Xewton King, Ltd., New Plymouth. 20