MOTORING AND MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 18021, 15 July 1922, Page 11

MOTORING AND MOTORISTS

[By Radiaxoe.] Brie/ accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places oj interest art invited for this column. Look before you back. HINTS AND TIPS. —The Careless Driver.— One of the most dangerous practices that one can indulge in (sometimes unexpectedly) is tho shooting out from a side road into the centre of a main road. This is more liable to occur when it -la not dear which road is the more important; but, in any case, the driver should emerge dead and hug his correct side. Leaving a car unattended on a corner is a thoughtless procedure, as its very position obstructs the clear view of other road users at a point where it is most required. —Removing a Dent.— Tho usual method is, naturally, to hammer tho dent back from the other side, but where tho damage is to a small object like a horn this is not possible. In such cases one can drill a small hole in the centre of the dent, thread a piece of wire through it, then tie a knot in the end of the wire, and pull it tight. This will sometimes pull the deut back. If it is not permissible to drill a hole the usual course is to solder a piece of wire to tho bottom of tho dent, and then - pull the wire. —How to Make a Useful Knife.— Hacksaw blades ore made of very good quality steel, which will take and retain a very keen edge. A broken blade can be made into a very useful knife as follows: Two pieces of leather riveted on through the hole in the round end, and secured at the other end with a wrapping of wire or wax thread, make a comfortable handle; then grind tho edge and point. SILENCING MAY CAUSE OYERHEATING. Thera is one source of overheating and loss of power that is frequently overlooked, and it is assumed that tho cause is either weak mixture or incorrect ignition timing. In many cases it is not supsected that tho oilencer may bo severely throttled by partly burnt carbon which very gradually restricts the area of the holes in the bailie plates. Every oar owner who is anxious about keeping his [ car at the highest pitch of efficiency should I make a point when ho takes delivery of j the car of finding out the construction and | method of taking down the silencer. (Some manufacturers, unfortunately, do not pay any particular regard to the accessibility of the silencer, though it is a fitting that needs some attention at least once in 5,000 miles, if undue back pressure is to bo avoided; in fact, it may be said that 2,000 miles is as far as tin j average silencer should be run without i attention, if it bo made on the drilled j baffle plate principle. There are, howj ever, other principles by moans of which i choking up and throttling are greatly re'duced; hence tho advisability of finding j out how the silencer is made. That muen I abused device, the exhaust cut-out, is i ouite a useful attachment for testing a | silencer from time to time. Ordinarily, when a silencer is in good condition tho opening of the cut-out should make no difference to the speed, but in proportion as the silencer is throttled the speed will be increased. It has been suggested that a small pressure gauge permanently connected to the silencer would be useful, j as thereby any serious increase in presI sure would at once call attention to tho fact that the silencer required cleaning. SIGN POSTS. At tho last monthly meeting of the Otago Motor Club it was decided to thoroughly post the province with motor signs, direction boards, and danger marks, and so bring Otago into line with Canterbury, which is particularly well supplied with motoring signs. j The direction sign at the junction of the i Kartigi Beach and the Horse Range road, which has been missing for some time, will again bo in position soon, as tho Waitaki County Council has notified the I O.M.C. to that effect. HERE AND THERE. Motorists journeying to Christchurch are advised to miss the idelwyn Ford and go round by Brooksidc and across the Ellesmere Bridge. The South Island Motor Union has ad>vised* tho O.M.C. that tho Terminus Hotel, Picton, and tho Adeiphi Hotel, Kaikoura, have been added to the official list of hotels. Last week (Messrs A, E. Ansell and J. L. Passmore, of the 0.M.C., visited Camara, with a view to forming a motor club, and aa a result it is almost certain that a club with an active executive and a large membership will shortly bo constituted.