MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 19551, 9 May 1927, Page 14

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[BY RADIATOR.]

TIME FOR LIGHTING UP. To-day 5.25 Tuesday ... , 5.24 "Wednesday 5.22 Thursday 5,21 Friday ... 5.19 Saturday ... ... 5.18 Sunday ... 5.17 FIXTURE. May 10.—0.M.C. monthly meeting. HINTS AND TIPS. —Where the Gauge Varies,— Don’t accept the reading at any one point of the petrol gauge as accurate in judging mileage, for it has been found that even some of the best gauges are inaccurate at certain points. This is a characteristic of speedometers and many other instruments of measurement, and in order not to err the owner, instead of taking a reading at one point, will take several and strike an average. In the case of the petrol gauge the shape of the tank has much to do with the variation in accuracy over the entire range of the pointer. —Gentle Clutches.— The clutch on a new car is likely to work a little more abruptly than one on a car that has been broken in. The plates on the new clutch take hold so gently during the first stages of clutching that the drive, imagines they are not taking hold at all. He may then let the pedal back through its final engagement much too suddenly. When the clutch is older its plates grab a little more. The driver notices the engagement of the clutch taking effect sooner, and thus is more careful during the final release of the pedal. —Transfer the Front Tyres.— It will prolong the life of the front tyros and enable them to wear out uniformly to switch them from one wheel to tho other after they have been run a season or so. The left front tyre is always “climbing out of tho ditch,’’ so to speak, with the result that it receives a little extra wear. In changing the tyres be sure to keep them rolling in the same direction. _ It_ injures tho tread to reverse the direction of rolling. FRENCH MOTORISTS IN 1901. Tho more opulent French motorists were not happy when December opened in 1901. By the 16th of the month they were ordered by the Government to choose between two equally unattractive alternatives. Either they had to alter their gear boxes so that their cars should he mechanically incapable of exceeding the new speed limit (18.7 m.p.h.) or they were required to register their cars and carry number plates. For some time the general feeling was in favor of gearing down tho cars, hut a thoughtful owner visited the Prefecture to inspect a model number plate, and,' finding it less hideous and obtrusive than he had expected, he decided to surrender. For a month or two tho number plates were popular, as slow cars did not carry them, and the exhibition of a plate conveyed the suggestion that one’s vehicle was ssporty and o {pensive. TYRE LORE. When buying a car most mon make a thorough inspection of the engine and the chassis, but few realise tho importance of studying the tyre equipment (writes Albert L. Clough, in the ‘Weekly Scotsman’). Tyre prices have fallen in recent months, but the cost of tho tyres still represents an appreciable portion of the cost of the car It is possible to economise in tyres without fitting products of an inferior make. Tyres that are slightly too small for tho car ray bo provided. A tyre that carries a load in excess of a certain amount is overloaded, and proves and uneconomical in several ways. It is frequently punctured and is subject to bruising, which results in fabric breaks, pinched tubes, and deflation. Vulcanising these injuries is expensive, but the annoyance of frequent delays on the road and changes to the spare is at least equally disadvantageous. Moreover, an overworked tyre will give but a relatively short service before it fails utterly, and its cost per mile may prove unreasonably high. The same tyre used upon a lighter car. and thus normally loaded or slightly underloaded, will probably prove highly reliable, require practically no repairs, and run up a very creditable mileage. —“ Skimped ” Equipment.—

It is of the greatest importance that every car should be equipped with tyres that are of large enough cross section to carry the load imposed upon them without being subjected to abnormally destructive stresses. Very intensive competition exists among motor car manufacturers to offer the public “ the most car for the least money,” and in this endeavor the utmost economy in equipment must be resorted to. Costs must be pared down to the lowest practicable point, and it sometimes happens that the tyre equipment is “ skimped,” to the later disadvantage of owners. In selecting a car the adequacy or the tyres with which it is fitted should he investigated. The weights of all cars and their standard tyre sizes are published in tabular form, and it is well for the prospective purchaser to ascertain whether the car no is contemplating buying has as large tyres as others of the same weight. If suspicion arises that the car under contemplation is under-tyred it usually is advantageous to have it delivered with tyres of a larger size, and to pay the difference in cost of the two equipments; but if this is not done the purchaser should at least assure himself that there is an oversize tyre applicable to the same rims, which can be resorted to in case the usual _ tyre equipment is found to be less liberal than reliability and low per-mila cost demand. —Testing a Leaking Valve.— The graduated escape of air from a tyre and its premature deflation is always a nuisance, as it entails inordinately frequent recourse to pumping. Running balloon tyres in an over-soft condition is rapidly destructive tp them. When one tyre “ goes down ” faster than the ethers the most likely presumption is that its valve leaks. Turn the wheel until its valve stem is at its uppermost position, remove the valve cap, and immerse the stem in a tumbler full of water. If bubbles escape from the valve stem the_ valve leaks. _ Possibly by screwing in the valve-in-side or plunger more tightly, with the slotted end of the cap, the leak may he stopped, but if not screw out the plunger, wet its packing, and replace it. If this does not prevent leakage replace the old valve inside with a new one, testing it for tightness. —Fabric Break.— Occasionally a valve stem has a defective seat, and no plunger will lit airtight in it. In this case have the seat taken out or have a new stem put into the tube. Should it happen that the valve tests “tight,” the tube itself leaks and should be removed and tested for air bubbles under water after it has been lightly inflated. Note hbw the tube lay in the casing, so that when the leak has been found its position therein can be identified and examined to see rif there is

Brie! accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places of interest are invited for this column.

an inside fabric break at- this point which has pinched the tube, or a nail or other sharp object, just protruding through the casing, that has made a minute puncture in the tube. Occasionally a tube is found to leak slowly where the valve stem is inserted in it. RETROD PUMPS. “Since petrol pumps were established in Auckland as a side-line service to the motor enterprises, and the bulk feeding of petrol became tho regular practice at the filling stations, there has not been a single explosion in the hundred or so of underground benzine tanks around the streets of the city and tho metropolitan suburbs. In fact” (says the ‘Star’), “the petrol tanks are declared to he as sale as it is possible to make them. There is a covering of 2ft of earth, and under this is a 4in slab of concrete, which prevent tho most intense heat from reaching the tank where the benzine, usually about 500 gal, is stored. At the Harp of Erin fire recently the glass and other part of a petrol pump were molted, but the benzine was not affected. That was regarded as the best test of safety yet made in Auckland.” SIDECAR ALIGNMENT. Few motor cyclists have any knowledgeable appreciation {f the harmful effects of the stresses and strains which are set up as tho result of malalignment of a sidecar. Still fewer, perhaps, take the trouble to carry out any necessary adjustments, so long as tho motor cycle travels reasonably and does not exhibit too great a tendency to loan toward tho sidecar. It is astonishing how many outfits there are to be seen on tho road obviously calling for attention. The driver is probably unaware of the fact, but an observer facing the oncoming vehicle can readily detect the fault. The following are tho main points to be watched:— (1) The frame and wheels of the machine must be exactly in line. (2) The sidecar wheel should be slightly forward of the rear wheel (this distance may vary between |in and 4in, dependent upon the _ length of tho wheelbase of the machine). (3) The machine should lean slightly outwards, so that it may tend to retain a vertical position when negotiating a steep camber. (4) The sidecar wheel should point slightly inward toward the front wheel, but should be absolutely vertical in relation to the ground. On no account should tho sidecar wheel point outwards. (5) Tho sidecar must bo close m to the machine, and the track of the outfit limited to about 40in. Neglect of these precautions w:u result in unsatisfactory steering and heavy stresses being thrown upon the chassis frame and forks. In order to ensure that the sidecar wheel is correctly aligned with the machine two long pieces of wood should be employed, one set along the off side of the machine and the other against the sidecar wheel. If it is known that the two pieces of wood are straight it is an easy matter to arrange_ tho sidecar wheel and the machine in accordance. WOMEN’S NATURAL CAUTIOUSNESS. Women as a rule must be regarded aa safe drivers because they are instinctively more cautious than men. Usually they proceed slowly, and they break very few rules. The woman speeder is the exception, hut the small, frail woman demands special consideration when she sits behind the wheel of a motor car. If the brakes are not in the very_ best of adjustment her strength is not equal to stopping the car with reasonable celerity, and this situation is often complicated by the fact that the pedal is so far away that she cannot manipulate it without becoming a contortionist. Special cushions and pedals that are longer than usual are quite necessary in addition to having tho brakes in the very best of shape. The steering gear, too, should work easily. This merely means that all parts should be carefully lubricated, and tho gear should bo kept in the best of adjustment, and the front tyres should be inflated to thoir normal rating, because soft tyres make hard steering.

TO STUDY LOCAL CONDITIONS. To investigate colonial motoring conditions is the object of the delegation from the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the members of which are expected in New Zealand early in July. The delegation comprises Sir A. Boyd-Carpenter, M.E. for Coventry; Mr A. R. Fenn, technical adviser; and LieutenantColonel A. Hacking, secretary of the society. In addition to New Zealand, the delegation will visit Australia and South Africa. It is possible that the society will open an office in Australia or New Zealand to keep designers in constant touch with overseas demands. The delegates will return to Great Britain in August, and their investigations will thus he available for the guidance of designers in time for the production of the 1928 models. COLOR ROUTE SCHEME. The Otago Motor Club’s color route scheme is now completed on the Main North and South roads, and also from Milton to Clyde and Palmerston to Clyde. In following a color route the motorist should first find out the colors for the roads he desires to use. The color bands will be seen on posts at or near the corners of roads, usually on the telegraph posts, and on the next post along the route there is another plate. Usually _ there is no other colored plate until the post before the next corner or intersection—one at the corner and another on the first post beyond, and so on. THE RISK OF COLLISION. A learned professor has just invented a new law about the risk of collision. Accidents, he says, increase much faster than the number of motor cars. Probably they increase with the number of times motor cars pass each other, which is approximately as the square of the number of the vehicles themselves. If there are 100 motor cars in a city, each has the risk of colliding with the ofther ninety-nine. That makes 9,900 possible collisions. But if there are 1,000 cars in the city, each of them may collide with the other 999, making a total of 999,000 potential collisions, which is far more than ten times the risk sustained with 100 cars. The professor has obviously worked out his little sum on the basis of a single straight street, up and down which his cars patrol ceaselessly all daj long. But when one has made the necessary practical allowances, there is something in what he says. OLDEST MOTOR CAR. Who ownes the oldest motor car in England that is still capable of travelling under its own power? In a letter to the ‘ Daily Mail,’ Mr F. H. Pearse, of Queen Anna’s terrace, Plymouth, states that he is anxious to obtain a few spare parts for his twenty-six-year-old Benz car, which he uses on occasions. The car originally cost £240, and. is

a “Victoria,” accommodating four people, and the engine is rated at 4 horse-power. The sparking plug originally fitted still functions. The solid tyres on the rear wheels were bought with the car.

WORLD’S LARGEST GARAGH Erected ns a. cost of £500,000, the largest garage in the world was recently completed in Boston, Mass. (U.S.A.). It is eight stories high, and covers an entire city block, with frontages on five streets. Space is provided for 2,000 cars. In the basement are located service departments for tyre and battery work and a greasing department. On the second floor is a modern car laundry. On the third floor a commodious chauffeurs’ club has been built, equipped with billiard tables, smoking room, barber shop, and other conveniences tor drivers who make their headquarters there HITTING THE HIGH SPOTS. A friend of mine in the trade is very pleased with himself just now because he has (quite regardless of expensed secured the sole British . rights of the famous Wheezalong Gas Buggy, as produced in Wheezalongville, Tenn. He has asked mo just to look through .the advertising matter provided, and see if I can suggest any improvement (writes “Contact,”- in the ‘Motor,’ Londoiri. I have told him I cannot. Hero is one of the circular letters, aptly described as “a real 100 per cent, business-getting dealer aid.” There are times when even a motoring journalist has to admit defeat: “ Say, Boys,—Have you turned out the hand waggon in your town—right down Main street P Let’s get together and put across the now Wheezalong Hot Spot Sedan as the greatest automotive proposition ever. Does she wheeze? Wo should say:'ls she hot? We’ll tell the world. Gee I there’s not a guv wearing down shoelcather on the sidewalk that isn’t half sold on the Wheezalong the instant his optics register the front of your store on his grey matter. Boys, she’s a peach! “Now, listen I Next week is National Wheezalong Week. Help us to put it across big. Are your salesmen right on their toes ready to administer the k.o to the half-sold ginks? It is names on the dotted lino that count Are von ready with your stocks or shall we slip along a car load right now? Aro you ready to cash in with us on this greatest sales proposition ever? -Your, still wheezing, Otto Obermeyer.”

HERE AND THERE. Every year the Otago Motor Club publishes a year book. This year a short history of motoring in Otago is to be written. Readers who can supply any information concerning the pioneers of the sport and their machines are invited to forward such information to “Radiator” or to the secretary of the Otago Motor Club (Mr P. H. Power), Bos 174, Dunedin. *'* * V Some seem to forget that the by-law re passing stationary tramcars applies to them. This was mentioned at a recent meeting of the Q.M.C. Nor does the electric torch comply with the by-laws, which require the lamp to be affixed to the machine

Visitors to New Zealand comment on the inefficient system of issuing summonses for trivial motoring offences (states the New Zealand Herald ) There is much to be said for the American tag system, with standardised fines for careless parking and kindred minor matters. , The labor of tracing a motor through the post office by its number, interviewing the driver, and then issuing a. summons should be eliminated. The issue of summonses is being restricted in Australia, and the police find it very satisfactory to send a formal letter to a'n_ offender against bylaws suggesting his attendance at court on a specific date If the motorist desires to plead not guilty he can ignore the message and let the summons follow in due course This is a modern and polite way of dealing with the little errors that the best of citizens commit * * * * The unit of horse-power had its beginning in the eighteenth century, when James Watt, inventor of the steam engine, found it necessary to evolve some calculation by which the power of engines could he compared. After careful experiments he concluded that an average draught horse in the course of a day’s work developed an aggregate power which would raise 33,0001 b through a distance of Ift in one minute. This standard still stands, but the French unit is slightly below the one recognised in Britain and America. It requires the lifting of .’12,549 foot pounds per minute. * * * * The regulation of traffic by the point duty policeman is, of course, difficult, especially in congested areas where only one man is on duty. To_ overcome this the Wolverhampton police authorities ha%-e provided a coat for their point duty men with “ Stop ” written in big letters across the back, so that upon the constable turning round the line of traffic behind him is automatically brought to a standstill, allowing him to be free to signal on each side of him and in front of him. * * * * Although for many years motor cycling has been considered purely a man’s affair, nowadays the fair sex is being well represented on the saddle, according to reports from England, the true home of tho motor cycle. Every English motor cycle trial has women entrants, and recently in a coast-tp-coast trial Miss Edith Foley, on her Triumph, won the Harvey Kelly trophy for the best solo performance of any entrant in the trial, and for her meritorious ride was awarded in addition the Alan Douglas trophy. * * * * The New_ Zealand Motor Trade Association achieves considerable success in the recovery of stolen or missing cars for its members. When a car subject to hire purchase vanishes the garage proprietor is faced with a problem in which tho police nan give him little assistance. Even _in cases of absolute theft the association has an advantage over tho police For a flat rate of £3 10s the organisation circularises garages throughout the islands, and dozens of cars have been identified in remote places when repairs or petrol necessitated recourse to a garage. * * * * During his stay in England Archbishop Julius travelled more than 8,000 miles by car. His opinion of English roads is therefore worth haying/ '• They’re a real terror,” he exclaimed to a friend the other _ day, “ The trouble is due to their size rather than to their condition. For the most part they are in good order, but all are very narrow, and when a char-a-banc comes along one has to get into the hedge.” * * # * It is a wise precaution to drain the gearbox of a new car after 5,000 miles. As a matter of lubrication this is not necessary, but it will often be found that small fragments of metal are chipped from the gears during the running in of the car. It is desirable that these should be removed with tho lubricant, and after this it is then only necessary to keep tho level up for tho next 10,000 miles or so.

At a speed of sixty miles an hour the pistons of the ordinary automobile engine are travelling at a rate of thirty miles every sixty minutes. Yet they reverse their direction about every Sin of the way. That this process can be continued without audible knocking of tho pistons against the cylinder walls or banging of the connecting rod bearings is one of tho greatest single achievements of modern engineering.

It has been figured that 7 per cent, of the fuel consumed by the average automobile engine is wasted in the transmission. Letting the gears go dry results in another 5 per cent. loss. It is estimated that the Joss when the transmission lubricant is too thick is greater than if the gears were dry.

+ * * * Telling some of his droll yarns over the wireless recently, Tex M Lcod gave a Ford story. He said: ‘They are turning out Fords so quickly non that you are likely to get one before it is finished. One was delivered to a customer the other day, and the buyer found a mechanic still working under it. There is," added Tex, “ now a great demand for Fords amongst spinsters.”