PETROL PUMPS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 15, 15 December 1937, Page 23

PETROL PUMPS

NEW BRITISH STYLE. SYSTEMS OF INDICATION. . It is now possible at some British filling stations to buy “6d worth” or “5s worth” of petrol instead of asking for so many gallons. About 800 of the “computer” type of petrol pump have been installed in the country—chiefly around London —since the last motor show. They are common in the United States and South Africa. On the dials of these pumps are two sets of figures, one in gallons and tenths of gallons, the other in shillings And pence. The pointing hands are worked oil separate systems, and act as a check upon each other. It is a simple matter to alter the price ratio mechanism to any cost per gallon of petrol, varying from id to £l. Some customers apparently like buying petrol for round sums without an annoying number of pennies and half-pennies in change. Those who still call for so many gallons w'hen asked, “Will yon take the change in petrol ?” almost invariably agree. Garage proprietors like the innovation, and appreciate the fact that the new pumps are cash registers as well. Two registers on the side of the pump show the total number of gallons sold and the total takings. NOISE FROM OVERHEAD VALVES. Although it is often stated that overhead valves in standard productions are virtually a thing of the past, a quick mental review of the models offering will show that this arrangement of the valves is to be found in some of the most popular models on the market.

To-day these valves are equally as reliable ns the side valve type, and in many cases engines fitted with them are more efficient and freer from detonation than are side-valve models. The one disadvantage under which Hiey labour is a tendency towards noise as the engine grows old, but the motorist who complains of this should also remember that overhead valves are more susceptible to adjustment than are the side-valve types, and that even a slight looseness is apt to cause a most objectionable clatter. Very often careful adjustment to the clearances recommended, by the makers will eliminate this noise, but if it is not as effective as could be desired, there is little to worry about. In any event, valve noise is rarely apparent when a car is running at normal touring speeds, but only when the engine is idling. FILLING THE RADIATOR. If, by any chance, the engine overheats and the level of the radiator water falls seriously, do not at once try to fill up with cold water. Violent temperature changes are apt to be disastrous to such important units as cylinder castings. A PNEUMATIC TENT. Camping motorists will be interested in a pneumatic tent which recently has been placed on the English market. This tent is shaped like an Eskimo igloo with windows to open and shut from the inside and so constructed that, upon inflation of an air tube, built into the seam of each of the four corners of the tent, the tent assumes a taut,- upright position with the four seams converging to a dome shape at the top. The tent is made from a proofed fabric and when the seams are deflated, folds up into a very small space indeed. It has the very great advantage also that there is no centre pole to get in the way. “THE ROAD IS YOURS.” Many motorists might profitably take a leaf from the book of the drivers of the large petrol lorries who are among the most courteous to be met with on the road. “Sound your horn—the road is yours,” is the slogan painted on the tailboard of one company’s lorries. If private motorists adopted the same courteous attitude to other road-users, motoring would be much more pleasant and distinctly safer.