Motors and Motoring

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 150, 21 March 1930, Page 16

Motors and Motoring

It is important to apply an early treatment to scratches to preserve the body of a car.

When starting a car with a fourspeed transmission, it is advised not to run too fast with a cold engine.

A blown fuse, discharged battery, or faulty switch are the causes of the lights failing to burn.

Hard steering is due to Jack of oil, misalignment of front wheels, or -low pressure in front tyres. ■

The interior parts of the engine, particularly where carbon deposit occur, should be swabbed out with a kero-sene-soaked cloth.

The drip pan under the engine should be kept clean. The absence of old oil and gasoline may prevent a destructive lire should there be a back lire, due to lean mixture of the carburettor.

When you haven’t enough air in your tyres, your car rolls more on the road. This puts an increased, burden on your engine, which means more gas and less efficiency for every mile you. cover.

If the pressures are unequal iu the tyres of your car, the braking effect will be unequal and that is the basis of many a dangerous skid. Realisation of this should impel the motorcar owner to keep the pressure equal and at the specified amount.

When you suddenly find yourself rushing to a bad hole in the road, don’t jam on your brakes—unless you have time to reduce your speed and release the brakes before you hit the bole. If you take it at high speed with the brakes oh, the result may be a broken spring.

It is inadvisable to race the engine immediately after starting from cold, neither should it be given any hard work to do, as it were, such as labouring on top, Rather, give it a chance to warm up for a minute or two, so that the oil is distributed freely to all working parts, and lubricates as well the cylinder walls and pistons; this is where considerable wear invariably takes place when the engine is revved up straight away from cold.

WILL KAYE DON SUCCEED? SEGRAVE’S AND DON’S CARS Although Kaye Don is doing his level best to establish a new world’s record, his efforts so far on Daytona Beach have not come up to the standard set last year by Sir Henry Seagrave, whose speed of 231.36 miles an hour has not yet been beaten. Kaye Don’s machine is reported to be a beautiful job, both in conception 'and execution, features include supercharged engines, ice-cooling, a hydraulic clutch, stabilising fins, airbrake, hydraulic four-wheel brakes, and . other exceptionally ingenious ideas. A brief specification of the Silver Bullet and also specifications of Sir Henry Segrave’s Golden Arrow, with which he established the present world’s record of 231.36 miles per hour iu March last year,' afford an interesting comparison. ■ Segrave’s Golden Arrow. —Napier engine, 000 li.p., 12 cylinders in -blocks of 4 set in fan • formation. Engine speed, 3400 r.p.m. Weight of engine, 10001 b. Three forward speeds. Height, 3ft. Oin. wheelbase, 13ft. 4in. track, Oft. overall length, 26ft., ground clearance Tin. s - Silver Bullet. —Two Sunbeam-Coata-len 12-cylinder, supercharged engines, 2000 h.p. each, with banks of six cylinders ou each side of each crankcase. Engine speed, 4006 r.p.m. Weight of each engine, 10001 b. . Engines are coupled in line, but not directly through the crankshafts.' Actually a secondary shaft runs along the bottom of the engines and is coupled to each crankshaft by gears in such, a manner that the secondary shaft runs at rather more than twice the engine speed, thereby reducing the stress in the shaft, and avoiding the necessity for the second crank-shaft to transmit the torque of the first engine plus its own. torque. Wheelbase, 15ft. Length overall. 30ft. Three forward speeds. Track, Oft. Total height, 3Jft. Width of chassis and body, 2Jft. Disc wheels, not forged, but machined from the solid. B'eight of ear empty, 21 tons, equal to 1.41 b. per horse-power. Ignition by generator and coil. . Ground clearance, TJin. The measured flying mile over which the record is timed is the centre mile of a fine nine miles stretch of hard beach saud, allowing four miles to work up to maximum speed and four miles for pulling up, aud here lies the problem of bringing the ear to rest, which is a very difficult one. At 231 m.p.h. (Segrave’s speed), if no brakes were used the car would have coasted the four miles under its own momentum, In 2min. 4sec. It has evidently been realised that with the Silver Bullet which has a theoretical speed of between 250 and 300 miles an hour, Don would have no easy task in bringing the ear to rest within this distance; therefore, the speed monster has been equipped with an auxiliary air brake. This consists of a special contrivance fitted at the rear to slow the speed of the car before the brakes are actually applied, while if a skid occurs if will have the effect of straightening the car. Duel is carried in the tail, while an ice tank in the “nose” forms the cooling l medium’ for the engines. Everything that human ingenuity can think of has been incorporated in the design, so as to make the attempt as safe as possible. SUDDEN STOPPING The sudden application of brakes While travelling at auy rate of speed imposes a severe strain on all parts of the car. Dew motorists realise the amount of energy utilised in bringing a car to a stop. The same drivers who know that it requires tremendous horse-power to accelerate a car are unmindful of the fact that braking may be explained in similar terms. No sensible driver would expect his car to withstand the severe strain of running at top speed for any distance, and no good driver should impose upon the mechanism of his car by demanding Uiat it withstand the distortions of sudden stops.

The small stone cuts in tire easing .should be kept tilled with some good tire tiller. This will keep out water aud oil, two of the worst enemies to tire fabric, and put hundreds of extra miles on every casing. Oil will ruin an inner tube in a week. Never throw the extra inner tubes in promiscuously with the spare tools and oil can. Wrap them carefully in cloth, or better still, get a couple of good strong cloth bags for them. Some of the tire companies supply these bags, or they can be made at home with very little trouble.

(By “SPARE WHEEL.”) NEW SCENIC ROAD ROTORUA TO WAIKAREMOANA FIRST CAR THROUGH The Auckland Automobile Association added further laurels to its record of pioneering in the interests of the motorists recently, when Mr. R. E. Champtaloup, the touring manager, drove the first motor over the new road from Rotorua to Lake Waikareinoana. The main route through the Urewera Country branches off from the RotoruaTaupo main highway, 18 miles south of Rotorua, and after rising to an altitude of over 1800 ft., crosses the Kaingaroa Plains aud runs between the Government forest plantations. There is then a long decline on easy grades, to the valley through which the Rangitikei River passes on its way to. the sea. The settlement of Murupara'is passed, and the river crossed, and the road (lieu

runs straight out across the valley for the hills. The scenery is very beautiful, although an amount of bush has been cleared during the past few years, which to some extent has sjioiled the beauties of the preliminary stages of the journey. In each little valley there is a native settlement, and after a time a long five-inile ascent brings the car to the road above Mount Tarapounamu. . A long descent is made on the other side, and the road then winds through dense native bush, which in places ovexJiangs the road, and finally comes out into the open at Ruatahuna. Between Ruatahuna and Te Whaiti the scenery is exceptionally fine. ' The reading conditions through to Ruatahuna are on the whole quite fair, and except for the narrowness of the road, present quite reasonable travelling. There are many sharp corners, where there is just room for the car, with a drop of several hundred feet into the valley below, but with reasonable care there is no danger. Beyond Ruatahuna the country has been cleared, and there are a number of native settlements through to Te Wai-iti, a distance of seven miles. This section of the road is very narrow, and inclined to be rather rough, and no doubt will need to receive attention before the road is opened for general traffic. From Te Wai-iti there commehces'a long winding ascent on easy grades on to the Papatotara Saddle. From this saddle a track branches off to the settlement of Maungapohatu, which, until recently, was the headquarters of the prophet Rua. Running over the saddle, the road in places is cut out of almost solid rock, and runs for many miles amongst a jumbled mass of mountains and valleys clothed with various shades of native foliage, and hundreds of feet be-

low waters of the stream glisten in the bright sunlight. Three Thousand Feet Above Sea. Naturally,' with the .formation so new, there are minor slips where further work will be necessary to provide the specified width. Iu these iilaces there is often only a few inches to spare, and the ear winds round the mountains on a narrow ledge. The.lluiurau Range is crossed at an altitude of 3000 ft., and there is then a long, widening descent to the Orangitutaetutu Valley. Metal conditions are now encountered, and a small ford is crossed. The road is still in the heart of the native bush, and the only signs of civilisation are odd small encampments of road workmen. The Hoporuahine Stream is now followed, and after crossing a bridge the road enters the lloporualilne Gorge. Out of a solid mass of rock the motor road (has been hewn. For the next few miles there is a most remarkable piece of road-making. The cliffs rise sheer from the deep waters of the lake for between 600 ft. and 700 ft„ and about two-thirds of the way up this cliff a roadway is being con- . structed. Foot by foot the solid rock

is being blasted to provide access (or motor traffic. From, this bluff the “Outlet,” which is the point where the road from Wairoai and Hawke’s Bay joins the lake, can be seen quite plainly. The road then continues round . the' shores of the lake through most delightful bush, with many pretty glimpses of the lake. At the Jlokau inlet, a bridge is being constructed over the river just above the falls, and an access road has been formed to the camping ground, which has been set aside at the instigation of the Auckland Automobile Association. The Lake House is only a few miles way, where the metal road from Hawke’s Bal at present ends. A Warning. To allow througfi traffic the completion of a culvert between Hopuruahine and Mokau, and the bridge' over the Mokau River, will be necessary. It is anticipated that this work should be near enough towards completion by Eas-. ter to permit cars to make the through ' journey, The Automobile Association,, however, advises that the rainfall is particularly heavy in this part of the country, and as there are many pew fillings and miich soft formation, the route should not be undertaken this season by any but the most experienced motorists, carrying full equipment to combat these severe conditions. . Mr. : Champtaloup describes the scenery as some of the most delightful and varied that he lias seen in the North Island, and predicts that when minor improvements have been carried out, and the road surface consolidated, the route will prove a most popular one, witii overseas visitors as well as residents of tlie Dominion.

COIN IN SLOT NOVEL AMERICAN GARAGE The slot machine garage has arrived.’ It operates on the endless belt principle, and to the motorist parking his car in it would seem much like boarding a ferris wheel. In the wheel, one seat at a time is stopped at the boarding platform on the ground. When filled it moves upward automatically, bringing the next seat in rotation to the ground level. However, the slot machine garage, instead of occupying a wide, wheel-shaped space overhead, is like two elevator shafts side by side. One shaft carries incoming cars upward and the other side brings them down again to street level. Two endless chains move up one shaft, over wheels at the top and down the other shaft, passing under wheels there to turn upward again. Between the chains are slung platforms, like rigid, flat hammocks, each one large enough to hold ope car. The machinery moves automatically when the right lever is pulled, and there is one lever for each platform. The apparatus can be run by attendants, or run without them, by a slot mechanism in which the motorist’s quarter gives him the key to a lever. He pulls it, and the belt moves unfit the platform which is his “space” comes to. street level. CONSISTENTLY IMPROVING THE MODERN MOTOR-CAR.

No mechanism is so consistently being, improved as the automobile. It is not simply because there are fashions in gears and pistons as there are in dress, but because the circumstances in which an automobile is driven, change, and- because there is demand for greater speed, safety, ease of operation and comfort. More than any other invention, the automobile reflects the state of mechanical engineering and its relation to society. First we see the influence of good roads. ‘ Once they are built, the desire’ for speed becomes insatiable. Even the least expensive of the new cars can touch close on 60 miles an hour. To attain speed the automobile maker has borrowed freely from the aeroplane (swiftest of all vehicles) and the influence of aviation is seen in the efforts of body-builders to streamline their productions more ftnd more, and also in spark-plugs, shock absorbers, and the increasing use Of aluminium to lighten the mass of moving engine parts. But to racing we owe most of the present-day improvements in cars which have added so greatly to speed, safety and comfort. The automobile being a vehicle that is driven by millions of men and women who are no respecters of machinery, the engineer has found it necessary to devise cars that will all but take care of themselves. So we find in tlie modern car of to-day thermostatically controlled radiator shutters, more ways to lubricate twenty to forty chassis points at once by the turn of a handle or the pressing of a pedal, and more automatic means to lubricate pistons than by splashing oil in a crankcase. In mechanism the automobile owner is willing to leave all to the engineer, but not so in the body design and colour. In these respects mass production has not yet throttled self-expres-sion and never before has such a variety of beautiful bodies and colour schemes been offered. When paint was flushed on with a hose (the brush was to slow), there was no room for rainbow hues, but with modern quick-dry-ing nitrocellulose lacquers, sprayed on by air pressure, even the maker of a million ears a year can afford to consider individual tastes. Artists are now engaged in several plants to harmonise colour and body design. Perhaps this consideration for the iudivual—the entry of artists into the automobile plant—is of even more significance than the purely mechanical advances; for it shows that science can aid the manufacturer to satisfy the individual motorist. J

EXHAUST FUMES DANGER TO THE PUBLIC A drive is being started in America against blinding clouds of smoke and fumes from automobile exhausts, police officials terming them a menace to safety and health. As a preventive, all motorists are advised to have their engines adjusted and carburettors set at the proper position so that au excels of fumes will not be emitted from the exhaust pipe. The City of Detroit, the heart of the automobile business, already has taken action against all motor vehicles which throw off excessive exhaust clouds. The traffic there is so congested that police report the fumes blind drivers and cause accidents, while the noxious odours menace health. The police have started a drive to eliminate this condition by forcing offenders to have their cars put in proper working condition or quit driving. Other large cities are studying the same problem, which is more apparent during the cold weather, and likely Will take similar steps to eliminate it. London for a long time has Waged a campaign against this exhaust menace. “The ejecting of volumes of. exhaust clouds by an automobile is not only unnecessary but denotes a careless driver,” explains a prominent American motor dealer. “This is a condition found most frequently in older cars, but in any case it can be eliminated by keeping the engine properly adjusted and in good running condition —something which every automobile owner should do for his own protection. “Every time au automobile emits a cloud of exhaust some of the owner’s nidndy is going up in smoke, and in addition his engine is liable to injury. Dense clouds of exhaust are chiefly composed of cylinder oil and gasoline which has passed through the engine without giving its efficiency to move the car. this condition is caused by poor mechanical condition of the engine, improper carburetion or careless and excessive use of the choke. All result in poor car performance and are liable to cause undue wear on the engine.” TIGHTENING NUTS Most motorists know that one cylin-der-head nut should never be tightened down to its limit straight away, blit that each should be tightened little by little so that pressure is applied more or less evenly over the whole casting, avoiding any distortion. Many do not realise, however, that this principle should be applied to practically any casting or job where there are several nuts to be tightened; for instance, wheel nuts should not all be tightened down, completely straight -away, but each should be screwed down by a small amount in turn.

’’OIL-PUMPING” TROUBLE AFTER LONG SERVICE One of the principal troubles which may be experienced with an engine that has undergone lengthy service is what is known as “oil pumping.” The indication of this trouble is continual fouling of the sparking plugs, a great amount of blue smoke coming from the exhaust and rapid formation of carbon of a wet and sticky nature. Although some of the causes of this trouble are relative to piston condition, care should be taken to check over the lubrication adjustment to ensure that an excessive amount is not being given to the engine. If the adjustment is all right, then perhaps the piston is cocked in the cylinder—caused by a twist or bend in the connecting rod. In such a case the edge of the piston pushes the oil up into the combustion chamber. If a piston which is cocked is allowed to function indefinitely, undue pressure will be exerted upon the cylinder and piston walls, with quick and uneven wear, which can only be cured by regrinding or reboring. It will also cause piston slap and loss of compression and power. Rings which do not fit the ring grooves or cylinder walls' correctly are conducive to the trouble of “oil pumping,” as are also wOtn pistons. There are two methods of overcoming excessive lubrication by working on the pistons, i.e., by drilling holes round the piston skirt, and by cutting a groove. The drilling of holes in the piston provides an outlet for excess oil. By the second method, a deep groove may be turned in the bottom of the piston skirt, something similar to a piston ring groove, but with the lower edge bevelled off. When this is done a series of about eight small holes are drilled at. the angle into the inside of the piston from the bottom of the groove. The groove acts as a scraper, and removes the excess oil from the cylinder walls into the groove, whence it passes through the holes to the interior of the piston and so drops back into the crank case.

DISPELLING FOG CAR’S EXHAUST USED. A cure for London’s pea soup fogs has been discovered. It is hot air. The hot air is produced by the exhaust of an automobile and sprayed out in front vf the machine instead of behind it, in order to create a rising current of warm air just ahead of the front wheels. , „ , According to the inventor of the device, this rising current literally lifts the fog for about 10 feet ahead, and does it quickly enough to permit a forward speed of about 15 miles an hour. The fog lifter can be attached to any ear’s exhaust in a few minutes, and is much simpler than the average windshield wiper. Whether it will be as effective has not. been proved. • /