MOTORDOM

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 May 1936, Page 4

MOTORDOM

NEWS OF THE ROAD

(By

“Gearbox” )

CLEANING UPHOLSTERY.

M AKERS’ RECOMMENDATIONS

The life of the interior of a car can be lengthened if the upholstery is cleaned regularly and carefully.. By taking the same care of the interior of the car as they do of their household furniture car owners will find that the upholstery will prove more durable and not become the eyesore that stirs up a yearning for a new car.

Keeping a car interior clean is a simple matter. Thorough brushing twice a month or more frequently if necessary with a whisk broom will do wonders. If ordinary spots appear, clean them at once. If more difficuut spots are discovered, they can be cleaned by experts, though getting rid of them is by no means difficult if the instructions of fabric makers are followed. Should a hole be burned in the upholstery by a cigorette, it is wise to have an experienced upholsterer make the repair immediately before the damage is increased by wear.

Tire more difficult spots to remove have been-listed by fabric manufacturers, and they have prepared simple instructions for removing them. These are as follows: — Ordinary stains from sweets other than chocolate can be cleaned off in most cases simply by rubbing the discoloured areas with a cloth soaked in very hot water. In doing this, start the cloth moving in a spiral or corkscrew motion from the outside towards the centre of the spot. Stains from fruit-filled chocolates should be rubbed with a cloth soaked in lukewarm soapy water. Scrape the spot with a dull knife while rubbing, taking care that the fabric is not damaged. Then rinse tire spot with a cloth soaked in cold water. Milk chocolate stains are removed with lukewarm water, sponging with a cloth dampened with chloroform after the surface is dry. When paint stains the upholstery every effort should be made to remove the spot as quickly as possible. Paint spots that have not dried should be removed with turpentine or any good paint remover. Hard, dry paint stain's should be rubbed with a solution of equal parts of denatured alcohol, benzine, acetone, and amyl acetate. A cloth thoroughly soaked with this mixture should be rubbed over the spot, starting from well outside the stain and working in to the centre of it. Scraping with a dull knife will help. In removing grea/e stains, first as much grease as possible should be scraped off with a dull knife, and then the discoloured spot should be sponged with chloroform, ether, benzine, or any other good solvent. The best solvent of all is carbon tetrachloride.

Lipstick stains can generally be erased by using a solution of carbon tetrachloride or chloroform to wet the spot, and then pressing blotting paper firmly against it. Repeat with the solution and clean blotting paper as many times as is necessary to remove the stain.

Liquor and fruit stains usually can be taken off by pouring boiling water on the dirty portion of the fabric, scraping with a dull knife* and rubbing with a. cloth soaked in hot water. Sometimes, after the water has dried out of the material, it is necessary to sponge with carbon tetrachloride to remove every trace of the stain. When a dog has stained the upholstery, lukewarm soapsuds and then a brisk rubbing with a. cloth soaked in cold water will remove the stain in most cases. Next pour a weak solution'of ammonia and water on the spot, and then rinse again with cold water and a clean cloth. Tar or substances containing it can be removed by applying chloroform and scraping with a dull knife, then rubbing the spot with Iranzinc or carbon tetrachloride. Iron rust usually can bo washed off with warm soapsuds, followed by a cold water rinse.

ALTERATION IN SHAPE

The shape of vehicles has altered too, for the provisions of safe motor roads, fenced off like the railways, all over the British Isles, the Continent of Europe, and extending to India and Africa as well, makes the maintenance of very high speeds for long distances possible. • Perfect streamlining is therefore essential, and it was eventually found that this could only be obtained by dispensing with the old, arrangement of the engine in front. The width of, the forward part of streamlined motor vehicles has proved far too valuable for passenger accommodation to waste it in housing a narrow engine which can easily be st owes! in the pointed tail. All four wheels are independently sprung in order to give perfect adhesion and road-holding on bends-, with more, effective braking on rough surfaces. The driver’s only controls are tire steering wheel and one pedal, which both accelerates and br'akes. A popular type of body seats two abreast at the front, three amidships, and two more in the rear part, with detachable seats which can be removed if much luggage has to be carried. Commercial motor veheicles have altered radically in design, and the roads have entirely superseded the railways. In many places special roads have been provided for goods and heavy passenger traffic along the embankments and through the cuttings where our 1936 railways used to run. Capable of over 100 m.p.h., built to give

luxurious comfort, and arranged for serving meals while driving at full speed, the Dresel-engined buses seat 100 people. An ingenious radio control regulates the distance between such vehicles in the event of the roads being unduly congested at rush hours. Needless to say, all have independent. wheel suspension and run on giant pneumatic tyres in comfort and absolute silence. SIX MONTHS’ PROGRESS.

The combined overseas sales of Mori"s. Wolseley, Morris. Commercial and M.C- products for the first half of the current season (August, 1935, to January, 1936 inclusive) showed an increase of more than 27 per cent, compared with the corresponding period of last season. The territories mainly responsible,for this expansion in orders were Europe. New Zealand, Australia, India (including Burma and Ceylon) and Africa.

WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

A VISION OF TRANSPORT

Let’s look ahead! Instead of makinggood resolutions (which we are sure to forget) for the new year, let us take the crystal and gaze into it to see how motors and motoring will develop, not necessarily this year or next, but in years to come (states an English motoring journal). At the moment progressive manufacturers try to anticipate the public’s requirements. Some concerns are particularly clever at this, with the result that they have produced models which have continued to enjoy popular favour for eight consecutive years. We are now, however, gazing far ahead, leaving the immediate problems of the motor car factory behind. Unconcerned as we are with economic questions or the effect on the public mind of too drastic changes, we are seeing the car of the future, designed to run on the road of the future. What will it be like?

The ever-increasing number of automobiles in use has made the question of fuel supply a serious matter. Should the petrol engine have continued favour, vasts fleets of tankers would have had to bring our fuel from overseas, energtic efforts to produce sufficient fuel from raw' materials at home having been unsuccessful. Wars and rumours of wars have restricted shipping activities and threatened the supply of fuel on which not only the life of the nation, but the power and might of the Army, Navy, and AitForce depend. Therefore the petrol engine has died out in favour of light high-speed power units of Diesel type, and these are in general use in cars, aircraft, and shipping. They possess the advantage of extreme simplicity, and are immune from the harmful effects of rays designed to interfere with electrical apparatus. They run on oil, so that this country is independent of supplies from abroad in the event of war or of strained political situtations. Much research has resulted in the production of Diesel-type engines as quiet and as odourless in their running as the petroldriven units of 1936.

PARKING JITTERS

The parker’s aide! There’s a person who deserves treatment —literally and otherwise! For I have found in my constant, widespread perusal of the papers and periodicals to which m v friends subscribe, that he has been wholly neglected. Yet this passenger, who directs the holder of the wheel while parking, belongs to no one community. He is everywhere, bless him! Sometimes he is as eloquent as if he were addressing an audience of the deaf and dumb, using his arms to describe vast arcs or delicately twitching his fingers. At other times his I succour is purely verbal —and just try not to notice it! (writes Marcella Hartman, in the “Buick Magazine.”) Once the coveted parking place ahs been discovered I eagerly advance upon it, to be advised by my assistant! “No, back! Now this way. (If you know which “this” way is, I don’t.) Cramp your wheels. Cut ’em. Atta-girl! Now,, straighten ’em out! You have three feet.” I begin to feel that I am, in truth, a triped. Before 1 realise it, I am in a state of tremors, and the car, uninten tionally shifted in high gear, lunges into the one in front. I clench my teeth.

“Now that way. Bring it back. The other way. Cramp ’em. A little more.” And, crash! We have collided with the car behind. The cumulative effect over a period of years of this form of co-operation is to break down the strongest nervous system. I was never, at best, a nonchalant parker, and in this Anno Domini one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-six, I find myself growing Weak and jittery as I hear the jargon beginning at my side. .‘Now right. No —right, I say! I Straighten ’em out!” I should think that this was due simply to nr- sloppy, inefficient parking, did 1 not find that in air r group of passengers whose fellow guest I chance to be there is always a vicarious parker. IS he or she —for this assistant is quite as likely to be feminine —an expert parker driven to vocal despair over wasted motion? Could ho, if the wheel were relinquished to him, magically stow the car in place by a' mere twist of tire wrist? Or is he simply as full of relief that he hasn’t a job of parking on his hands that he expresses it by directing the fellow who has?

Now, 1 know that you’re reading for relaxation and not to be bombarded with a volley of perplexing questions. But, franklv. I need your help. I. am at a loss to know the cause and cure of this pernicious habit. I feel quite sure that this Parker’s Aide would not offer unasked counsel about planting a garden or planning a menu. What, then, impells him to park by proxy? Any explanations and suggestions you can give me will be welcomed. Only don’t urge me to drive alone. I love companionship—except when I am parking!