GARAGE WORK.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 April 1928, Page 14

GARAGE WORK.

MECHANICS’ NEGLIGENCE. It does not take much to exhaust the engineering ability of the mechanics in some country garages. A motorist took his car along to have the valves ground. In due course the job war done, and the bill paid (says a Melbourne journal). Setting out for home with the expectation that the car would he considerably improved in performance, tin owner was chagrined to- find that the engine spluttered and coughed, and made a general nuisance of itself. Next day he located the trouble in the failure of several valves to close properly. After grinding the valves, the garage mechanic had neglected to readjust the tappets, the result being that in several instances there was no clearance between the valve stems and the fappet.s. When the engine became warm and the stems expanded, the calves rode on the tappets at times when tliev should have been closed.

The incident would suggest that the garage proprietors should exercise greater supervision over the work which is undertaken. This is by no means an isolated case of thoughtlessness or lack of knowledge, otherwise it would not have, been considered worthy of comment.

Motorists are often impressed by the outward appearances of garages, and, in general, would rather take their business to a pretentious-looking establishment than to a humble-looking one. But appearance is no infallible guide, for some of the best work is turned out from premises that look more like scrap-heaps than business establishments!