MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 21507, 4 September 1933, Page 13

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[BY RADIATOR.]

Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places of Interest are invited for this column.

LIGHTING-UP TIMES

Today 6.11 Tuesday 6.13 Wednesday 6.14 Thursday ... 6.15 Friday 6.16 Saturday 6.17 Sunday 6,18

"MONEY FIRST"

LONELY PETROL STATIONS Motorists on long tours this summer have to show their money before attendants at isolated petrol stations will fill their tanks, according to Mr Harry Clay Foster an American, who recently completed his third motor trip between New. York and Los Angeles this year. The motor beggar and. trickster has become common on the cross-country highways, he said. There were to-day thousands of cars on the roads running on fuel obtained without payment—either by begging or trickery—from isolated country petrol stations. This was especially true in the long stretches of road in the middle and far west States. He had the same?.story from thirty-three different fuel Station attendants, in; fourteen States through which he drove.

A variety of ..trickery is "used. Some motorists draw n*p to an-isolated station and fumble for their purses until the petrol is in the tank. Then they suddenly drive away at top speed. Others start begging for petrol, telling hard-luck stories of every conceivable kind, depending on the well-known kindness of country folk. Petrol stations operated in connection with cabins for overnight lodging report the most frequent and insistent visitors of this kind.

HEAVY STEERING CAUSES DISCUSSED When a car has been in use for some time there is a tendency for the steer- ' ing mechanism to become unduly heavy. A number of factors may contribute to this. Probably the most common is inadequate lubrication of the steering mechanism and the king pins of the : front- wheels. Begular supervision of the lubrication of these unitsis of the utmost importance. If lubrication is neglected excessive wear occurs. Thismay make the steering permanently heavy and erratic, increase the “ backwash” in the wheel, - promote frontwheel wobble, and permanently weaken a part of the mechanism, the proper maintenance of which is vital to the safety of the car. Other factors which , make for sluggishness in the steering mechanism include faulty wheel alignment and the bending of the front axle, which may cause the front wheels to slope outwards slightly instead of inwards. Both these faults require precise measurements for their detection unless they are extremely pronounced, and if they are believed to exist, the car should he taken to en expert, Under-inflation of the front tyres, causing the tyres to flatten on the road and drag, makes the steering extremely heavy, and, because .of the fatigue which it causes to the driver as well as the excessive rate of wear on the tyres, it should he carefully guarded against.

OPTIMIST A contractor borrowed a small and badly-wom car from a friend for_ an emergency trip. The owner apologised for the machine’s condition. _ “ Oh, that’s all right,” said the contractor. “ I can drive anything that has four wheels.” And calling to an employee to accompany him he was off. A little way down the road the contractor noticed the absence of a key to the ignition switch. Later he discovered that the emergency brake did not work. After another mile he found himself ■ rolling down a smooth, level road towards a bridge, and a second glance showed a 6ft gap between the bridge and the bank. Viciously he jammed on the foot brake, only to find that it would not work. Fifty yards from the. bridge he , stepped hard on the reverse, but the pedal was stuck and would not budge. Turning to his companion, he remarked cheerfully: “ Well, here’s hoping the petrol gives out.”

DIFFICULTIES AFTER ENGINE HAS BEEN REBORED

'After an engine lias been rebored and bas had new pistons fitted many owners are disappointed at the way their cars puli. They expect them to show an instantaneous increase in power and smooth running, whereas if the work has been properly carried out the engine will probably be sluggish and rough. The reason is that to all intents and purposes the cylinders and pistons are m the same condition as those of a new car engine. They are a tight fit, and the car should be driven carefully for

the first 500 to 1,000 miles in order to run them in properly; otherwise trouble is bound to ensue.' The repairers who carry out a reboring operation usually have a ttlo time available, and in many cases have not the facilities either, for running in the engine to carry out the initial bed-ding-in which is so necessary if the job is to be a permanent success. I have known engines turned out after a reboring and new pistons so stiff that a crowbar had to be used to turn it over first thing in the morning (states a writer in an English paper). Do not be ajarmed, therefore, if you find your engine in this state after it has been rebored. You may not be able to budge it by either the starting handle or the starting motor or both combined, but if so don’t keep on trying and ruin tho battery and starter motor. Rather try first to free the engine by engaging top gear with the engine switched off and endeavour to push the car forward. By “ swinging ” it the impetus may be sufficient to free the pistons. If this won’t work try to get a short crowbar underneath one of the teeth of the flywheel, and prise this round in an effort to free the pistons. In most cases the effort will be successful. UPPER. CYLINDER LUBRICATION. The application of the requisite quantity of upper cylinder lubricant is definitely beneficial at all times, in my opinion, but especially when the engine has been rebored. 1 When a cylinder has been rebored, no matter how good the workmanship may be. it: is rough compared to what it will be after it has been rubbed for 200 miles by its piston. There may be high spots from, which the lubricant will be squeezed away and metal to metal contact will take place. This may easily lead to a seized end. Upper lubricant will to a great extent mitigate this risk. In this connection it is interesting to know that graphite prepared by a special process is now being used in conjunction with ordinary lubricating oil. This graphite is prepared in such a way that it does ont clog and is not likely to clog the oil pipe in the same way that ordinary graphite may. There is nothing new, of course, in using graphite as a lubricant, but there is a risk in using ordinary graphite for the lubrication of par engines with force feed, for the simple reason that the graphite may in time choke the oil leads.

The . owner of a car, the engine of which has been rebored, should'drive it just as carefully as if it were a new car, and if an upper cylinder lubricant or specially-prepared graphite is used there will be less risk of seizure than otherwise. It is claimed for a new lubricant which has recently been placed on the market in England that it has.qualities not possessed by other lubricating oils. I have not yet had an opportunity of proving or disproving this in my own car engine, but if the claims made can be fully substantiated there should bo advantages in oil produced by the new process. Unquestionably the problem of lubrication is one which has'received every consideration in the hands of chemists and metallurgists during the past few years, and improved methods, together with improved lubricants, have made car engines last longer than hitherto. But there is still scope for further development in this connection, for after nil quality of the lubricant very determines the life of an engine or* other wearing parts. It is the lubricant which keeps the wearing parts from rubbing against each other, and only when it fails to do this does wear take place.

TOO LOW FOR COMFORT

SAFETY ALSO QUESTIONED Mr Herbert Chase, engineering editor of the ‘ Automotive Daily News,’ recently had some pointed things to say as to the advantages, real or supposed, of building cars low to the ground. A low centre of gravity, as compared to onb a few inches higher than in prpsent cars, ho says, reduces the chance of the car overturning under certain conditions rarely encountered in service, but at the same time it introduces a worse skidding hazard, because, on a curve, there is a greater horizontal component and loss pressure of outside tyres on road surfaces.

On the score of discomfort, he goes on, most people find it difficult to enter and to get out of cars with low roofs, and short persons as well as those who are ,tall hare difficulty in seeing out of cars with low seats, high cowls, and narrow windshields. The chief pretext for low cars is better appearance, but it has yet to bo proved that equally fine appearance cannot be attained with bodies enough higher to assure comfort and good vision.

MOTOR CLUB YEAR BOOK The Otago Motor Club’s 1933-34 Year Book, to hand last week, is worth the year’s membership subscription alone. It is a splendid publication, and nothing like it is produced by any other club or association in the dominion. Every department of motoring is catered for, even down to a weights and measures table. There are numerous illustrations, maps, and diagrams, hints on camping, descriptions of special tours to scenic and seaside resorts, and articles on subjects of interest to motorists. The club’s activities for the year are fully set out, and Mr W. Wright, M.A., contributes ‘ Twenty-one Years’ History of the O;M.C.,’ which is specially interesting. Strip route maps have been reintroduced and extended to embrace Dunedin to Pembroke via Palmerston and Kyeburn, Dunedin to Cromwell via Roxburgh, and Dunedin to Ranfurly via Middlemarch. The Year Book has been compiled and edited by Mr J. L. Passmore, and is certainly a credit to him and to the club.

FOR THE ROOF The roof of a saloon, which is usually composed of a water-proofed fabric stretched over a wooden frame, is out of sight, so it receives scant attention, and is often forgotten, A useful job for an odd quarter of an hour is to give

it a thorough dressing and polishing with a good boot polish, rubbing it well into the seams. This will preserve it and keep it waterproof.

SAFETY WITHOUT NOISE

NO HORNS SUGGESTED It was again suggested in Parliament other day that. “ in view of the loss of sleep and injury to health caused by loud motor noises,” booting should be prohibited at night in residential areas, writes the motoring correspondent of the ‘ Daily Telegraph,’ London. The reply on behalf of the Minister again was that, apart from the difficulty of deciding what was a residential area, it would not be in the interests of public safety to prohibit hooting. Does this mean that noise is essential to safety? As an experiment, I believe it would be well worth the while of some place like Oxford (in or Bournemouth to ban the use of hooters for a week, not merely at night, but throughout the twenty-four hours They tried it not so long ago at Wiesbaden, in Germany, and the result was not only to reduce noise, but to reduce accidents, so much so that the organisation of_ a hooter-free week al l over Germany is said to bo planned. AN ALARMING MOMENT. Anyone who has experienced the sudden refusal of hia car horn or hooter to respond to pressure knows what an alarming feeling of helplessness supervenes, and how cautious is the approach to the next corner. To be unable to make a noise is to realise, even for the considerate driver who habitually ,uses his -hooter as little as possible, how much he relies on il against the ever-lurking emergency. A “ hooter-free week ’’ would prob ably slow down movement in urban areas rather seriously, but it would teach nearly all of us that we normalh make more_ noise and make it monoften than is necessary, though I doubi whether it would cure many of those who ‘ drive on the horn,” for thn form of bad driving is almost alwayselfishness rather than ignorance. LIGHTS AND PEDESTRIANS. Many controversial points were raise in drawing up tho traffic signs report The problem "which possibly gave moe trouble than any was that of the pedestrian and his relations with tho ligb signals system. Horn's were devoted to discussion. Tb< practice in other countries was considered. All sorts of special devices or arrangements of the signals were reviewed At the end of it the committee recorded that “ they have come reluctantly to the conclusion that at a great many intersections it will be found impossible to combine any system of.light signals with complete im munity from danger for the pedestrian even for a short period of the cycle without causing undue delay to vehicu lar traffic.’’

The suggestion that the signals should ho made to govern the move ments of the pedestrian equally with those of the other traffic was turned down, largely because of vehicles turning left /or right on the .green; and pedestrians are to he warned in the highway code (which none of them ever see) that it is not safe for them to rely solely on the signals, but must also watch the traffic.

MOTOR CYCLING

FIXTURES September 9.—Treasure hunt. September 19.—Monthly meeting. October 22, 23.—Labour Day trial. CLUB NOTES Owing to the unfavourable weather conditions and several riders not being available, the sporting trial which was to be held on Saturday,. August 26, was postponed until last Saturday. Next Saturday afternoon the club will hold a treasure hunt at Brighton. Hitlers will leave the club rooms at 2 p.m. This will be a rather novel event, differing in every respect from any treasure hunt held previously, and n large attendance of competitors is desired.

TOLD AT THE WHEEL COLLAPSE A grinning crowd stood round the two unconscious men lying on the path. “ \yhat’s the matter here? ’’ demanded a policeman who had rushed up attracted by the crowd. “ Oh, nothing.” replied one of the by-stnnders. “An estate agent was trying to sell a house to the motor car salesman who was trying to sell him a car They were pretty evenly matched, for they both dropped from exhaustion at the same moment.”