THE MOTOR

Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 86, 9 October 1915, Page 12

THE MOTOR

A NEW CONVENIENCE. , SWIVELLING HEADLIGHTS. People who have used them say that headlights which look the way the front wheels are turned at a corner, instead of being rigidly fixed to the car body, are a great advantage. They entirely get over the difficulty that a car may, in rounding a corner, run into something which is not illuminated till the car is headed for it and practically upon it. Besides that, they give other traffic, especially at cross-roads, earlier warning of the proposed route of the car. It is rather curious,- therefore, that such lights are not in general use, for the mechanical problem involved is only of a trifling nature. There is now however, a growing use of swivelling' headlights. At least one British company is making them ; but, more important from the New Zealand point of view, a Dominion inventor has produced and secured the Australasian rights for an outfit which is claimed to be the best in existence. It is the invention of Mr. Connell, of Christchurch, and a representative of the proprietors was in Wellington a few days_ ago for the purpose of demonstrating it, not only to the trade, but to members of Parliament, j who were most favourably impressed by the operation of the working model he displayed. The two headlights are set upon swivel-brackets which are linked together and connected to the steering gear exactly in the same way as the steering wheels. The swivel lamps have been tested in hard, practical service for two years upon a taxi-cab in Christchurch, with complete success. Manufacture on a commercial scale has not yet begun, largely owing to the effects of the war, bat it is intended to start soon. The proprietors are sanguine that the advantages of swivelling lights are so great and so obvious that they will have no difficulty in securing a big market. THE MOTOR 'BUS. The first annual balance-sheet issued by the Melbourne General Motor 'Bus Co., Ltd., discloses some very interesting figures. First of all the total distance run by the fleet of 31 'buses, during the company's financial year, was 1,258,813 miles, making an average for the fleet of 3448 miles per day. The daily mileage per 'bus worked out at 111$ miles and 40,606 miles per 'bus per year. These figures must bring home to the general pubEc a fair idea of what a tremendous amount of work the up-to-date motor vehicle is capable of. The passengers carried during the year prove conclusively the need and popularity of this type of conveyance. All told, 6,796,404 people were carried, or nearly five times the total population of Victoria — over ten times the population of Melbourne and suburbs — and this during a. year when traffic l}^s beexi considerably affected by the war. The takings amounted to £65,319, whilst the garage wages totalled £29,472. Petrol, oil, and grease cost £14,997; tyres, £7735; and repairs and renewals, £4722. COLONIALS AS MILITARY MOTOR • CYCLISTS. The patriotism of motor-cyclists in the dominions and colonies, says the English journal The Motor Cycle, has been one of the most striking features of the war. Accustomed to an open-air life, the colonial • is essentially a type of man suited to a campaign in foreign lands, and consequently the majority have- been willingly accepted to serve their King and country in the hour of need. This wave of patriotism is not confined to any particular country. From east to west of the Empire help has been proffered by all true Britisher*, and their gallant deeds are now a matter of public knowledge. Among them there are many motor-cyclists, and the country is heartily proud of them. We ourselves have been happy to receive applications from motor-cyclista in. India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sumatra, Siam, South America, and Canada, and it has been our duty as well as our pleasure to offer such men services in the different motor sections for which we hold recruiting appointments. We are in a position to knowthat the colonial is greatly favoured by officers commanding different foreign service battalions by reason of his being accustomed to the open-air life and "roughing it.." ' STREET CLEANING BY SIDE-CAR. Even such prosaic work as street cleaning has been brought within the various rounds that the modern motorcycle undertakes of duty in the United States. In front of the side-car is a steel brush, which may be depressed so as to bring it into contact with the pavement. The brush then scrapes and loosens up the dirt, so that the rotary broom which is immediately behind it can sweep it up. A handle is attached tothe side of the driver's seat. When this is raised the) broom is lowered into contact with the pavement and caused to rotate. When the handle is lowered, the broom rrot-ating mechanism is thrown out of operation. These machines, which are specially suitable for wood or asphalt paving, have been tried in Washington, and have proved very efficient. CONSIDERATE HORN-BLOWING. -There is no doubt that the matter of horn-blowing by motorists is one that needs some consideration on the paTt of many drivers. . The best plan is to sound the horn early and quietly, in order to give ample notice of one's approach. If the horn is blown suddenly at the last moment, it is apt to have a demoralising effect on the pedestrian, and cause him to perform involuntary and unexpected movements. It should be realised that many people are nervous and uncertain in traffic, and to avoid accident no driver should take it for granted that other road users wiD adopt the right and proper course, but should so have his car in hand as to be ready for any emergency. INTERIOR BLOW-OUTS. Unless a flat tire is noticed very promptly the tube will creep into folds, and an interior blow-out occur in the pocketed portion of the tube. These blow-outs have a fringed edge, and they should be repaired by placing a patch on both sides of the tube opening. CARE OF THE MAGNETO. Once a magneto is fitted to a car or motor-cycle and accurately timed, the ignition will practically look after itself, and very little treatment is necessary. The only part of the magneto that may require adjustment is the make-and-break. It is no exaggeration to state that this will not be necessary oftener than once in every 1000 miles ; many motorists only attend to it once during 4000 to 5000 miles. The adjustment is quite simple It consists of loosening a tiny nut with a special spanner supplied by the makers of the magneto and giving tlie platinum-tipped screw a half-turn, so that the actual break or gap between the two errcitacts is not jreater than half a millimetre; and as an aid to getting this correct the mag_neto makers supply a gauge that will just fit in the gap when it is correctly act. The surface of

ming ; if any oil gets on the points there may be some slight " pitting," but this can be removed by drawing a slip of fine emery paper between the platinums whilst they are pressed together. If this is not sufficient the trimming can be done with a special file, very thin and of fine cut, known as a contact file. ALUMINIUM PISTONS. Whilst the application of aluminium is already fairly extensive in motoring practice,, it has not in British practice been much used for piston construction. It has been tried experimentally, as on paper an aluminium piston offers distinctive advantages, but cast-iron pistons still hold 'the field, with steel a long way behind. If, however, the facts related in the course of a paper read at a recent meeting of the American Society of Automobile Engineers are fully considered, the pi-oba.bility of the aluminium piston replacing cast-iron and steel is by no means a question of the far-off future, if, indeed, it has mot already taken place in the United States. The new pistons described in the paper referred to contain 97 per cent, pure aluminium, the remainder being magnesium, copper, silicon, and iron. The weight for a given size is one-third that of cast-iron. As regards strength, it is only necessary to make the piston-head slightly thicker than for cast-iron and have ribs .underneath. The main difficulty hitherto has been to allow for expansion, as aluminium expands more -than cast-iron. The cylinder clearance has to be 3000ths to 4000ths greater than for a cast-iron piston. This meeans that in aluminium piston is an easy fit in a cold engine, but the fit becomes perfect when the engine warms up, and any initial "knock" disappears. The fixing of thf. gudgeon pm has to be specially secure. It is found that there is less carbonisation on the piston head, as thq temperature reached is less than cast-iron. The reduction in piston weight is stated to have a very beneficial effect on bearings, which show much less wear. The life of these new pistons seems particularly good ; engines fitted with them have done 70,000 miles without any practical defect developing. One set of pistons under special test were measured after 14,000 miles running, and the amount of wear found was one-quarter of a thousandth of an inch, and there was practically no wear on the cylinder walls.