MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3041, 30 March 1917, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

• . IBv.Clcioh.] Rusty Rims, Now tßat the wet weather is at hand it will repay every owner to give soma attention to his rims. Tho most destructive enemy of tires is rust, and if the*-machine has been run throughout the summer without attention to the wheels it will be found, on removing the tires, tbat the beads are discoloured. .. The correct treatment to adopt is as follows. The covers should be removed, and then the rim should bo carefully cleaned with, fine emery papor, or sandpaper, until not a speck of rust remains. Tho channel of tho rim ; should then be wiped over .with a rag soaked in methylated spirits to remove any.greaso, and when the rim is. dry and clean it should be treated with one of the quick-drying enamels. Tho outside of the clinch should also bo cleaned and enamelled; in fact, any portion, of the metal-work which' can possibly come in contact with the tire should be'treated. A little care bestowed oh such details as these in the garage, will be amply repaid by increased reliability, and decreased running costs. Is the Four-cylinder Engine Doomed? The most striking feature of the New York Motor Show, according to ail English correspondent, is that for the first time in the. history. of the movement, as represented by these annual, exhibitions, more, sis-cylinder cars were exhibited than cars withfour cylinders, the proportion 'being forty-seven to thirty-seven, while the number of cars with twelve oylinders was nearly: equal to that of those with eight.: cylinders. "It is difficult to say," ho added, "whether this ousting of tho popular four-cylinder machine by the. "aires" will be permanent or not. If permanent it is bound to have some effect on the designs on this side; and add something, too, to the difficulties of competition," since we find it. hard enough now- to meet American-made machine with an equal number of cylinders. • With two more cylinders tacked on, and offered at a presumably lower price than our ,"fours," this new development is not one to welcome with open arms, for 'the-very, logical reason that there is no real necessity for it." -, Steering Extraordinary. .Perhaps the most remarkable example of resourcefulness on record, says an English motoring writer,, was an incident in .the Thousand Miles Trial of 1900. One of .-tho-'drivers in that -historic-' event was Mr. Montague Grahame-White, elder brother of Mr. Glaudie Grahame-White, since .world famous'as an aeroplane pilot. Tho former was driving between Edinburgh and Leeds when he was asked by a passenger to be allowed to take tho helm,for a time. v Unfortunately, tho passenger turned the car into a ditch, and. the .shock broke off the, steering column at the base. < The'position- appeared hopeless, as it was quite impossible to steer the car,in the ordinary way. But cars in those days were much shorter in the wheel-base than now-;.-also' Mr. ■' Montague ■ GrahamoWhito was particularly long limbed. He stood, therefore, with his left foot on the stop and his right on'the ; extension to the hub-cap, and thus for over fifty miles he. steered tho car, up hill.and down dale, merely-:-by foot pressure on the front wheel. It was a- wonderful performance—so wonderful,: indeed, that motorists- of tho time refused to believe ill its accomplishment, until assured by actual oye-witi nesses of the performance. At a later period, it may be added, Mr. GrahameWhito repeated the exploit in' France. Something happened to a car in which he.was being driven by a distingpislied. Frenchman, who was in. despair until he remembered who ' his passenger was and recalled the feat which had been reported by hini in the papers. Accordingly,'the owner asked Mr; Gra-hame-White if. ho felt inclined to .do the same thing over again,' and, nothing loth, ho stood,on the step and brought the car Bafoly : into Paris.

Hero and There. :Whon.a:pistonring is so badly stuck or seized in its. groove that it docs not show itself amenablo to the .usual methods of removal, a correspondent of ono of the -trade papers states, it may,.as., well be broken. Such a rinowill generally ,be found to bo faulty) ■anil, it is better for it to bo replaced.' It may-happen, however, that'a spare ring cannot easily be obtained,- and it then behoves one to exercise every caroi ;in' removing it. Probably the .best plan l under these circumstances is to soak the. piston all-night in paraffin, then in .the morning Itake, a wooden mallet, and. vitlr the. edge tap the piston ring sharply all round its circumference. The ring is, of course, larger than' the groove, and the light blows will bo almost certain. to break tho carbon deposit which is acting' as-a' kind of backing. (The ring then can he .removed in tho ordinary way. '" A common practice, ' the dangers of which, are never thoroughly realised until a. ring has been' broken, is to employ a scrowdrivor for' levering out the ring. -Slackness of tho steering connections: is sometimes tho' cause of, abnormal wear in tho covers on tho front wheels..' In one case the-joint between the tierod and ono of tho steering arms developed a large amount of "play," which enabled the wheels to get out of. parallel.. Naturally the front covers,' especially one, ■ wore out at an alarming' rate.• Mi only does slackness" in the .steering joints cause this : trouble, but' it 'makes steering more difficult and the machine unsteady on tho road. Once there is an appreciable amount of "play" in these joints, the wear itself (increases- alarmingly; in fact, in. quite a,short time the steering may become unsafe. As the steering is.one of the .most important parts of a car, a'periodic examination of all the connections is advisable.-

The French automobile trade, it appears, aro divided as to their policy after the war. One of the suggestions is the formation of a big syndicate to construct a cheap car.in large numbers,' so as to compete with the American productions, on which a heavy import duty will have to he paid. The car Would be designed to appeal to French taste.' Another section of the trade, however, disapprove' of any imitation of American methods, and consider that the quantity car should be left to the American iwhilo Franoo concentrates on quality. The same question has been discussed in Great Britain; but meanwhile the American; cheap cars are, improving in quality, and iinlesß something is. done to compete with thorn the demand will bo greatly increased after .the'war, to the detriment of the British automobile trade throughout the Empire. - No practical motorist can, says the "Autocar," regard the modern habit of fitting coacliwork costing £200 or more to light car chassis without considerable disgust. It is bad busiross, for one thing. . Coachwork and accessories should preservo ascertain ratio in value to ..the chassis which they adorn or disfigure, for tho simple reason that they depreciate • appallingly. Where light cars are concerned, the practice is also technically a blunder. _ If the body is heavy (and the expensive typos usually aro far heavier than the standard bodies, as extravagance usually runs to the coupe or to the it will smother tho willing little engine.' On the other hand, if it is light, it will very soon rattle, because the chassis is so.flexible. Lighting-up time: To-day, 5.51 p.m. Next Friday, 5.40 p.m.