AFTER HOLIDAY TOURS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21903, 2 October 1936, Page 17

AFTER HOLIDAY TOURS

OVERHAULING THE CAR PREVENTION op serious FAULTS With the rapid approach of the touring season, advice on the way the car should be attended to when it returns after many hundreds of miles with, no other attention than the routine filling with petrol, oil, and water, is timely.

If the car is put into dock immediately it returns, and gone over thoroughly, it will be returned to firstclass condition possibly for the outlay of only a lew shillings, but if it is put back into ordinary service with no attention beyond a good wash and polish, the small faults which the long tour has started will rapidly develop into something much more serious, and within a few months the owner may be faced with a large repair bill which could have been avoided. On a run of 600 to 1000 miles, the brakes and shock absorbers will constantly be at work, and it is certain that both will display signs of wear on the car’s return. The brakes will require careful adjustment, and possibly relining, if the car had covered some thousands of miles before the trip, and the bushings in the shock absorber arms will probably require replacing. Incidentally, these arms are points at which most elusive rattles often develop due to wear. The steering connexions may show signs of wear which can be checked immediately, if necessary adjustments are carried out, the spring shackles will probably be ‘the better for some attention, while the.“U” bolts holding the springs to the axles may need tightening. Bumper bar brackets are other things likely to develop looseness, and should be checked and a loose exhaust pipe can cause a most annoying squeak often difficult to trace. In effect, the car needs going over completely, and almost every nut and bolt tested with a spanner.

Attend to the Finish Many motorists will be meticulous in having the car examined and tightened as far as its mechanical parts are concerned, but not every one will bother with defects which arise in the paintwork and upholstery. If the car is fitted with the modern form of wire wheel having a large hub, one thing is certain to happen. Gravel thrown back by Jdae front wheels wiil strike the hubs of the rear ones, and remove paint from the extremities of the hubs. This is unsigntly, and the bare metal will rust. This blemish can be removed in a few minutes with a brush and paint. Similarly, filling station attendants and garage hands may chip small pieces out of the paintwork on the panels by careless handling of the petrol hose, or in lifting the bonnet, and here this condition should not be left for any longer than it takes to get back to town, because the metal of the-body panels is thin, and once rust starts it does not take long to go right through, " " y Tears in c the". leather '. upholstery caused by the carSless Jpacking of luglength increase, wJtule% tightiMUng.,Qf, the' body generally: is\advisal^te;.^.^;v