MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 34, 3 November 1922, Page 4

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By

“Clutch.")

N.Z. Automobile Association. The annual meeting of the Now Zealand Automobile Association was held last evening, the president (Mr. C. M. Banks) pftrsiding. The report and bal-ance-sheet were adopted. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follow: —President, Mr. C. M. Banks (reelected) ; vice-presidents, Messrs. S. G. Nathan and 11. W. Lloyd (re-elected); committee, Messrs. B. L. Donne, T. Munt, H. G. Bennett, A. N. Field, J. J. Williamson, F. Dyer, F. Goldberg; secretary and treasurer, Mr. 11. J. Stott (re-elected); auditors, Messrs. Watkins, Hull, Hunt, and “Wheeler. It was decided to raise the surgcription to 255., which amount will be reducible to £l, provided it is paid before the end of the/year. The meeting discussed at length the Highways and Motor Vehicles Bills. Clutch Troubles.

' A. heavy grinding noise when tho clutch is releasee is one evidence of clutch trouble. This is usually caused by worn or broken balls in the clutch thrust bearing. Actual failure of the pedal to back into position when pushed out is another evidence. This indicates that the clutch sprint? retaining the plug has become unsoldered, and has unscrewed from the clutch hub. Then there is excessive slipping of the clutch that cannot bo cured either by application of neatsfoot oil, if dry, or Fuller’s earth, if slippery. The first necessitates a complete removal of the clutch, together with the fly -wheel and anchor stud; the second a removal of tho hub and clutch. Though a dry clutch will occasionally cause slipping, it more usually causes “grabbing.” unless the leather is burned or worn out, it may be restored by roughing tho surface with sandpaper, and then dressing it with neatsfoot oil. Another cause of a sticking clutch is protruding rivets, and these should be again set beneath the surface of the leather A small shoulder also will cause trouble, and this should be scraped or filed down. A new leather should never be fitted unless it is absolutely certain that the old leather cannot be reclaimed. If relining the clutch is imperative it is best to obtain lining from the agents. If this is not expedient the old lining should be carefully removed and used as a pattern for cutting the new lining. The new leather should be much thicker than the old lining and of uniform thickness. The most essential point in fitting the now leather is to have it fit’tight and true to the cone. If the clutch has been relined it will not work perfectly until it has been worked in. This -usually takes some time, and during that period should receive frequent applications of neatsfoot oil. Taxes and Roads. The amount of tax collected from motorists from January 1 to June 30 in Great Britain was £9,736,000. Of this amount of £601,000 was retained by the Exchequer for payments to the Local Taxation Accounts. The balance of £9,135,000 less tho costs of collection, etc., together with tho net revenue of the year 1921 and other moneys -of tho road fund, was being expended on works of road imnrovecent, maintenance, find construction. The Spare Cover. , 'lf a car has been standing for a long period it is quite possible that tho fabric c f the tiro covers has suffered, and if there is any suspicion of weakness tho covers should be detached and carefully examined for defects. Immunity from puncture over long periods sometimes results in the spare tire deteriorating from disuse. Tf /fltted on n spare wheel it might occasionally be changed with one of , the other wheels on the car.

Benefit of Bigger Tires. Ono of the unmistakable tendencies of the present moment in motordom is the drift, toward larger tires. Private motorists have already discovered the efficacy of this practice in the use of oversize tires and the fitting of larger tires a.s standard equipment by makers of two of the most popular cars, indicates official sanction of the idea. The truth is that ideas on tire service have undergone radical revision in the past few years. The coming of the cord tire has worked a. revolution ii) opinions regarding the teal meaning of tire mileage. ' In the older davs tires were a prime source of trouble while they lasted, and the maximum mileage that one had a right to. expect was three or four thousand miles. As the skill of the tire builders grew, the mileage that they managed to build into their products increased, until it was not uncommon to find fabric tires giving seven or eight thousand miles. Individual car owners long since discovered that bv fitting their cars with oversize cords they could not only get remarkable long service, ” but at the same time comfort in maximum degree. And now the manufacturers aro acknowledging the justice of this stand bv equipping their cars with larger tires to ensure their patrons of tire comfort Vibration Troubles. -One of the most important problems with which the automobile engineer has to deal in his eternal struggle to make the motor-car better is vibration. Vibration, if allowed to work its own way, would shake any car to pieces in a day’s running. It is because of this that' engineers are constantly working out ways and means of lessening vibration and thus increasing rhe life of the car. Taking the automobile engine as peculiarly liable to various vibrational influences, wo find. the following conditions causing vibration: 1. Crankshaft distortion due to inherent unbalance. 2. Centrifugal forces acting on the 3. Explosion pressures. 4. Forces of the reciprocating masses. 5. Torque variation. It seems almost impossible that a piece of steel such as the crankshaft should bend, but it does. Furthermore, the crankpins or parts to which the connecting rod bearings are attached, because of their i.wn centri- . fugal force, tend to bend 'also. Some engineers have employed balance weights to reduce vibration. 'These weights are located along the shaft and are designed to balance the crankpin,. the adjacent check and the p:rt of the connecting rod that has a ro+ary motion. It is claimed that a crankshaft properly balanced in this way has its bearing pressures lessened to such an extent that bearing wear is materially lowered. Other engineers have aimed nt reducing vibration by making the shaft of largo diameter, with large bearings firmly fr’pported, -so that the stiffness of the shaft itself makes it able to keep its shape. Still another school of. engineers urge the adoption of vibration damners, mounted on .the crankshaft. Tin’s clamper ip practically a disc clutch, so designed that it nulls down, the vibration of the shaft as it begins. Concrete and Rubber. An Auckland taxi-driver gave it as his experience the other day that the concrete road now in vogue has a sandpaper effect on tires, and quickly wears down the rubber. He had also noticed that patches cn pneumatic tires were subject to ti suction tendency that speedily pulled them off unlgss vulcanised.

Lighting-up time: To-day, C. 33 p.m Next’ Friday, ft 42 p.m.