MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 18884, 7 March 1925, Page 14

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[By RADIATOR.]

. liguting-up times. To-day 6.42 (Sunday ... Monday 6.38 Tuesday 6.36 Wednesday ... 6.34 Thursday ... ... 6.52 Friday 6.30 FIXTURES. March 10.—0.M.C. monthly meeting. March 21.—Hill climb contest. HINTS AND TIPS. —Securing Loose Windows. — It will often bo noticed that after about a twelve mouths’ running the glass panels on the doors of landaufcts or the windscreen glass become loose in their frames, caused by slamming doors, a collision, or vibration. This can be remedied by first removing a little of the felt packing evenly down the inside of the glass with the aid of a sharp knife or old razor, then filling in fully with a pulp of wet paper, which, when dried, is afterwards varnished to keep stiff and weatherproof. After continuous damp and wet weather, if the catch cm the door shuts tightly — that is if, when the door is shut or slammed, it shakes the car, although the spring of the lock is in working order and' well dried internally—a Ittle grease should be rubbed over the face of the •catch; this enables the door to shut quietly and smoothly. —When Springs " Settle.” —

If it is found that the rear mudguards touch and rub the tyres when the car is normally loaded, it is obvious that the springs have “settled.” While the correct way to overcome the defect is to have the springs tempered and reset, a ready alternative is to fit wood blocks or wedges under tho springs to increase the mudguard clearance, or to alter the mudguard brackets so that they clear the tyres. —Soldering Aluminium. —

Ordinary solders will not answer w'th aluminium, but there are several solders available specially prepared for use cn aluminium, and they are not difficult to operate. It is most important that the aluminium be perfectly clean and free from tho least suspicion of grease. —Signal Your Movements.—

When driving do not slow down, stop, turn, or cross to the wrong side cf the road without endeavoring to show your intention to following traffic. There are recognised 1 signals to bo given, and wnon seen they should be respected. Even when a signal has been given one must be sure that the desired movement can bo made in safety. -—Spring Clips.—

To remove one cause of springy trouble is to see that the spring clips aro tight. When on an extended tour these clips should be examined and lightened if found loose at the end of a day’s run. Few motorists take this precaution, but if a spring breaks hours of delay will be occasioned, besides tho expense of repairing or replacing broken springs or axles. THE CAR OF THE FUTURE. Tho car of the future will certainly have not. merely a windscreen wiper dealing with a small part of the screen, but some means —electrical, pneumatic, or mechanical —by which every piece of the screen will be kept clean, clear, and non-irritating to the occupants, Tho screen itself may be of flexible and unbreakable glass (writes Professor A. M. Low in the ‘Motor’).

Tho totally enclosed body has achieved such success that it is a matter of doubt whether very easily erected hoods will be essential, but for those who desire such fittings for use on sporting cars the weather protection will be not only complete, but capable of erection by mechanical means at a touch of the finger. A closed car is becoming more and more the temporary habitation of the driver, and the man of the future will not bo content to bo surmounted by dirt: he will understand too much about his own health. In the first place, when he smokes, he will not fumble for a cigarette or pipe while his passenger holds the wheel, but will lean comfortably forward and take an electrically automatically lighted cigarette from a case. By the side of this box will be a small tray, ami as he places tho cigarette half-smoked upon it, automatically tho ash will bo withdrawn, and no dust will fly upwards, because all dirt will be sucked into a receptacle and discharged with the exhaust, of the car. Even to-day some instruction books advise the use of a vacuum cleaner for cushions and awkward corners.

Tlie body work in a few years’ time will probably contain no corners, but cushions will still be necessary, but, let us hope, more hygienic. How easy it_ would bo for every car to be fitted with not only a pump for tyro work, but also for extractor operations upon the cushions. Even an exhaust ejector to allow a, small tube and nozzle to be run over the cushions and to collect the Tesult of last month’s driving would boa, blessing. As the car of the future becomes more and more comfortable and as the details of to-day become forgotten from advancement of reliability, so will the need for more accessories increase. An accessory only seems a luxury when there arc other distracting elements. A flower vaso fitted to a oar with an open exhaust would bo peculiar; add a large silencer and tho vase will delight tilie eyo. It is for this reason that many accessories which would be valuable are not yet wanted. How nice it would Ire to be able to know exactly our layshaft speed, thus facilitating gear changeshow nice to know exactly the pressure in the cylinders at any portion of the stroke of the piston, in’order that we might regulate our spark position and other factors.

It has been proved that reliability is not always obtained by simplicity, but such additions as these to our car would be redundant in an age where cars need attention after every loilg drive. When ' to-day’s difficulties have been solved small paints will arise that would have remained totally unnoticed. Accessories will bo introduced to meet them; we may want to bo able to see round comers; we may want to be warned by wireless of oncoming cars. For our cars, to be cleaned automatically as they travel would not bo aibsurd. Magnetic routefinders and _ gyroscopic compasses will become essential on the aerocar of tire future.

Apart from accessories, progress in car design generally is going on, if slowly. That tho chassis of the future will bear small resemblance to that of to-day cannot be questioned for a moment. The engineer of the future will never allow the engine to occupy a prominent position, for it will have become so ordinary and standardised an affair that it will be relegated to the status of the gear-box and back axle. The power unit will not need to occupy a position where attention can bo molly given it, for tho owner-driver of the future will never consent to go round his chassis frequently'with an oilcan.

Tho automobile engineer in some years to oome would not gladly admit that his engine wastes over 80 per cent, of its efficiency; he would not dare to market a car that needs to bo climbed over once a week, nor would lie bo content with an engine the valve springs of which nullified the result of his accurate cam design after a few thousand miles of normal operation.

PILLOW-CASES FOR THE WINGS. How often does one see mudguards of a car that has been into a garage for repair scratched and soiled Iby contact with the hands or .overhauls of the mechanics working on the vehicle, or Lorn chisels, pliers, spanners, etc., having been dropped on them. Recently, when going over the Hotchkiss works in France, and passing through tfye repair shop, it was observed

Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and planes of interest ara invited for this column.

that all the cars being worked upon were equipped with what they term “ pillowcases ” for the wings. These consist of leather bags lined with felt, which are slipped over the wings when any work is being done on a car, so as to protect the enamel from damage. It may be that this idea is adopted in this country, but it is obviously a practice which can bo strongly recommended. A concern that will take so much trouble with its customers’ cars is obviously very conscientious.

TYRE-CHANGING FACILITATED. While detachable wheels are more popular in Great Britain, the demountable rim is appreciated equally in America, for it has its advantages, though special tools are, as a rule, necessary for, easy and rapid manipulation. A very ingenious demountable rim of new design is being introduced into Great Britain. The complete rim consists of three portions, the two parts of the rim proper and a locking rim. On the two parts of the divided rim are formed projections, which engage in slots formed in the locking ring. Furthermore, the locking rim is wedge-shaped in cross section, and when the rim is placed on the wheel and secured by the three damps there is a wedging action between the rim and the felloe around the entire circumference of the wheel, which seats the rim very firmly and gives a perfect drive, so eliminating any, possibility of rim distortion or creeping. To remove the rim from the wheel it is only necessary to slacken the nuts on the two loose clamps, and then, on unscrewing the double-flanged nut on. the fixed clamp, the rim is loosened from the felloe and may be lifted off. To change a tyre it is then only necessary to remove the locking ring, and this may be done with the fingers, as has been ascertained by actual test. The two portions_ of the divided rim are then free to be lifted off the tyre, so that' the tube or _ coyer, or both, may be replaced. The rim is just as easily assembled by hand, and the entire operation may be carried out very quickly. - The rim is to be made in England in bended edge and straight side patterns.

BRITISH EXPORTS INCREASING. British export trade in motor cycles shows more attractive figures for the present year than over before. It is beyond the shadow of a doubt that the industry has planted both its feet very firmly in the outposts of Empire and in all motor cycle consuming countries. This was inevitable, but it was rather a long time in coming. It has been said that the British industry neglected its overseas customers, but this is not quite the fact. True, the manufacturers did not devote that attention to the foreign markets which was desirable, but it was because their wings were clipped, and they should have received sympathy rather than reproach. Tho. industry has passed through the lean years of transition. Now the movement lias settled down. Prices are stabilised and production methods have improved. Makers have made- a careful study of foreign trade, have sent out commissioners to South Africa, to Canada, and to other colonies, and have, to use a colloquialism, spread the carpet. This year it is to be expected that export trade will be entirely rehabilitated; certainly it will not ho neglected. Having earned the somewhat tardy recognition of foreign buyers, as to the supremacy of British motor cycles, the manufacturers will facilitate their employment by better service arrangements. MOTORS IN JERUSALEM. The growth of motor traffic in Palestine since the war has increased so greatly that the municipal government of Jerusalem has taken steps to curb the mad career-

ing of automobiles through tho crowded streets and the harsh honking of tho horns, which arc distasteful to a population accustomed to living in the medieval quaintnoss and quietness which were characteristic of the Holy City before its modernisation began. A report from Jerusalem states that the Government of Jerusalem has issued decrees handing out drastic punishments for speeding and reckless driving, and stipulating that after January 1 all automobile horns must be replaced by bells. The latter, the Government declares, are more in character with the spirit of Jerusalem. Taxicabs, which formerly reaped a harvest by getting any faro they could, are now required by Government decrees to post the regulation tariffs on their cars m the three official languages of tho country—Hebrew, Arabic, and English —and severe punishment will be meted out to all drivers who attempt to charge more than tho legal rate. NAME OF ROLLS-ROYCE. Judge Runyon, of the Federal District Court_ in New Jersey. United States of America, lately rendered a decision in favor of Rolls-Royce in America, after action had been started by the automobile manufacturing concern to prohibit a radio manufacturer from using its name. The judge ruled that hereafter the radio equipment must refrain from using the name Rolls-Royce, and, in answer to the defendant's attorney, said: “Tho defendant has taken unto himself, and for his own use, a glittering name. Ho has dipped right into tilings, hast taken tho name without any * rhyme or reason ’ — the name that stands before all the world as the synonym for ultra quality.” SAVING PETROL. Petrol economy begins inside tho cylinder, and before making alterations to the carburettor it is best to make sure that the engine is not wasting a proportion of every charge through faulty compression. The fitting of a smaller jot does not necessarily improve petrol consumption, as it frequently moans that considerably more throttle has to he given for a required speed. Some riders drive in a wasteful manner—i.e., by habitually accelerating in a violent fashion, and by racing the engine in second speed on a hill. An experienced driver can sometimes improve petrol consumption by ns much as 10 m.p.g. without making any alteration to the machine whatsoever, hut merely hy using the throttle, air, and ignition controls to their best advantage, and by avoiding wasteful effort on tho part of the engine. HERE AND THERE. Section 5 (1) of the London Traffic Act provides that, if any officer of police is of opinion that an obstruction in a street has been caused by any undertaker by tho deposit of excavated matter or other material, ho shall report tho matter, etc. Naturally, on reading tin's, pictures flash to the mind of lugubrious gentlemen in black clothes and ditto gloves, a size too largo; and oven of funerals charged with “ exceeding the slow limit.” But happily the Ministry explains, lower down, that an 11 undertaker ” is an authority or person having powers to break up the .street. It wo hear that “ the undertakers are going to open up the road in front of the house to-morrow,” wc shall now know that it is not a mysterious exhumation, but simply someone else who bus read the London Traffic Act, using tho correct legal term. Two French explorers are to malm an attempt to cross the Sudan by car and open up a motor route to Djibouti. An interesting feature of the journey is that an endeavor will lie made to run the car exclusively on synthetic petrol produced as .required from vegetable oils with the aid of cataiyscrs, which will be taken. There are more motor cycles in use in Groat Britain than anywhere else throughout the world, and there can he no doubt that the general (rend of motor cycle opinion in that country lias its effect upon motor cycle markets 1 hroughout the world. Thus, when one finds that the big twin motor is gelling right out of fashion iu England, and that American manufacturers even are finding it necessary to introduce smallereugined machines : f they wish to retain what small proportion of the British trade they now possess, it seems fairly certain that the type of machine which has such a great hold on the motor cycling fraternity of England —the single cylinder of 350 c.c. —will gradually extend its popularity to countries overseas.

The development of cracks in the walls of motor tyres is almost always due to the tyres being run at a pressure insufficient for the. load. This causes them to deflect in service to a greater degree than that which they were designed to withstand. However, if the ear has been stored recently it is possible that (he defect L, due to the tyres having gradually deflated with the car resting on them. NOW SMILE. Tin Lizzies are quite numerous, In country and in town; And some shake east and some shake west. And some shako up and down.