MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 231, 26 June 1931, Page 6

MOTORS AND MOTORING

(By

“SPARE WHEEL.”)

Diana leaped out of the car and sauntered back to where the man she had knocked down was getting up. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but it was all your own fault You must have been walking carelessly. I’m an experienced driver I’ve been driving a car for seven years.” “Well,” murmured the victim, “I’m not a novice myself. I have been walking for fifty-seven.” * » »

Driving with the foot continuously on the clutch is commonly described as “riding the clutch.” This practice will result in excessive wear of the clutch plate facings and a slipping clutch, as well as a noisy bearing.

When overhauling the car be sure to tighten cylinder head bolts, floor boards, fender bolts, running boards, splash apron, muffler, steering wheel, rear wheel axle nuts, spring shackles and clips, and clean and tighten battery terminals.

Carbon will collect more quickly if the surface of a spark plug porcelain or insulator is scratched with a knife or sandpaper. The best way to remove carbon from the porcelain is to soak the plugs in denatured alcohol, cleaning the insulator with a small, stiff brush 'and a piece of cloth.

A noisy speedometer may sometimes be traced to the flexible shaft or cable which has been kicked or pushed into a position where it has too sharp a bend. This can be corrected by simply reaching behind the instrument board and moving the shaft into a more favourable position.

A battery in good condition should register a hydrometer reading of not less than 1.250 in climates where freezing of water occurs, or 1.180 in climates where this does not occur. If the reading falls below 1.250 and 1.180 in such climates, it indicates complete discharge and the battery should be taken to a battery station for charge.

NARROW ROADS

Bar to Progress

Narrow doors admit little light Narrow Ideas’admit little progress. Narrow roads admit little prosperity. Wide roads, 100-foot roads, are essential to a broader basis of city improvement Proof of this value of 100-foot roads has been outlined by a noted writer on civic subjects, J. C. Nichols, quoted in a recent issue of the “American City Magazine.” Roads 100 feet in width are needed for all shopping streets, he holds. He urges that the paving width be seventy-two feet on the major streets and sixty feet on the minor streets, so as to give room for diagonal parking and other facilities, as well as at least four lanes of traffic. Real estate developers who wish to see their sections grow will do well to bear these figures in mind. The public wants to buy where travel and parking facilities are ample. The day of the narrow-street subdivision project has gone. The suburb of to-morrow will have 100-foot main roads, ample parking space, pedestrian streets, playgrounds and parks, and a two-car garage with each home.

THE LOCKING HABIT

A car is stolen. From the victim goes up a heart-rending, blood-curdling and rierve-rasping scream of agony. And with amazing frequency the yelp of pain tails off into: “I didn’t lock the car.” Well, why didn’t he lock it? The locking habit foils many a thief, and habit is easy to form. Let a man make up his mind to lock his car every time he parks it, let him retrace his steps and go back to lock it every time he has forgotten to do so, and in a few days his hand will automatically go to his poeket for his keys and attend to the locking while he is figuring out a way to make an extra million dollars before lunch. There is no excuse for inviting a thief to steal a car. There is no excuse for not forming a protective habit.

ROAD SENSE

Road sense is simply applied common sense. . It is not difficult to acquire. Observation and consideration are the chief ingredients. Cultivation of road sense will prevent the unexpected round a corner. Road sense will tell you, by many small signs, whether the road you are about to pass, or into which you propose to turn, is occupied by other traffic, although none is actually visible from your position at the moment. . i A few days’ tuition on the road with an experienced driver will teach you more about motoring—practical motoring—than dozens of books. Good driving is an art, but it is not really difficult to acquire. Simply driving a car is easy, safe driving requires experience. Don’t depend wholly upon warning signs. Where danger is obvious no warning should be necessary. Never be'tempted to pass another car going in your direction on a bend or road junction. . Always carry and use driving mirrors. • t . Even when fully covered by insurance, smashes never pay. Ignorance of motoring laws is no excuse.

Many people have wondered why, until now, the King’s cars have not been fitted with safety glass. The following is the explanation. When it was suggested that in the interests of safety the side windows should be of safety glass, it was ffeared that discolouration might prevent the people seeing him. His Majesty’s advisers are now satisfied that safety glass is as clear as the ordinary type, however, and the five new cars just delivered at Windsor Castle for himself and the Queen have it in the windscreens and all windows.

LOOKING AHEAD

British Motor Industry The period of general world-wide depression has shown that no longer can the British motor industry be considered indifferent to the necessity of concentrating all its resources in intensive efforts to find an outlet for its products in the motor markets of the world, and undoubtedly the one bright spot in an otherwise leaden outlook has been the fact that, almost alone among ths important exporting industries, the British motor industry has maintained its position. The industry is, however, sensible of the debt which it owes particularly to the support accorded to it by H.M. the King, and by other members of the Royal Family—to the King for the order recently received from him for a number of new cars, and, particularly; to the immense value of the recent visit of the Prince of Wales to South America in connection with the British Empire Trade Exhibition held at Buenos Aires. In the latter connection the motor industry is not alone in its obligation to H.R.H., and whatever the ultimata result of the exhibition, there can be room for little doubt that the ground has been well prepared by his visit for a determined effort, on the part of British manufacturers to capture an important share of the business to be obtained in what has hitherto been regarded as a difficult market It is encouraging at this time to find that British motor manufacturers are following the advice recently given by H.R.H. the Duke of York to an industrial gathering at Nottingham, and, despite the general trade depression, are preparing for the improved times and conditions which must ultimately follow. , ',

THOUGHTLESS DRIVERS

Unconscious Road-hogs

DANGER TO THEMSELVES An experience of drivers of all types, extending over many years, has forced a contributor to “The Motor,” to the conclusion that those who act foolishly through incapacity, impulsiveness or thoughtlessness are a greater danger to themselves and to' others than is the deliberate road-hog. ,This is a conclusion which will, of course, be challenged, but it will probably also find many supporters. ! . . The road-hog, he says, runs unwarrantable risks and his actions are often Intensely irritating. Other drivers can, however, more or less count upon tiie line which he is going to take, and can also feel fairly safe in assuming that he will have his wits about him, will know the width of his car to an inch and will have a good idea of its capacity for acceleration and retardation. In comparison the thoughtless driver who never improves, because he does not know that he is dangerous, constitutes a more serious menace. To some extent it may be a matter of definition—one person’s Idea of a road-hog may by no means correspond with the picture that this term brings to the mind of another. Nevertheless, every motorist can think of many acquaintances who could not be called road-hogs by any stretch of imagination, and yet who habitually drive in a manner which, put colloquially, “asks for trouble.” A typical example of this class is the one-speed driver who never goes fast and who never goes slowly; Because 30 m.p.h. is his limit he is apt to look askance at friends who average a higher speed than this and who talk glibly bf fifties and sixties. The onespeed driver, although quite unaware of the fact, is a far greater danger to others than are those who travel fast where possible and take proper precautions' where danger, exists. You may see him coming out of a side turning without warning and emerging into main-road traffic at his usual minimum speed of 30 m,p.h. in top gear. This rate of travel being too great for the poor fellow’s steering capabilities, he will usually swing fairly wide so as to endanger both lines of traffic on the highway. , ' . Once on the main road the one-speed driver maintains his peaceful _ 30 m.p.h. through thick and thin. If a lorry is in the way he passes it without accelerating and without regard 'to the presence of bends, obstructions or hump-backed bridges which may curtail forward vision. If he wants to turn off, his hand will shoot out impulsively as the brakes go on, and the next second his car swings across without regard to overtaking traffic; and yet—tell him his methods are dangerous and he will be a picture of outraged indignation! A lack of imagination is, of course, another very common fault, and leads people to act dangerously without the slightest idea that they are to blame. Examples of this class of driver are found in those who park cars on dangerous bends, leave vehicles stationaryon the wrong side with headlamps blazing at night, and carry but repairs without regard to the convenience of other users of the highway.! Taken to task, such people remark that the consequences “never occurred to them.” Last, but not least, there is the impulsive driver who means well but acts foolishly. Should a thought come into his mind action follows immediately and reflection some 15 seconds too late. For example, the impulsive man will approach a fork in the road and at the last moment it will occur to him to look at the signposts. ’He had thought that he should take; the lefthand road, but suddenly notices that he is mistaken. Without an Instant’s pause or a glance In the niirror he alters his course, to. the. imminent danger of following vehicles.

Periodical lubrication of the steering gear and its connection is,essential, for, in addition to minimising wear, such attention will make for easy steering.