Notes

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7301, 31 October 1933, Page 11

Notes

Ifc is proposed to open one of the biggost garages in Paris as a pawnshop for motor-cars. Of the fatal road accidents which occur in Britain, the greater proportion happen in built-up areas, and only 25 por cent in the open country. Comparatively few occur in really denso traffic, even in the London area. On many cars the accelerator pedal is so high off the floorboard that only the too of the driver’s shoe touches it. This makes a long drive very tiring. If the pedal cannot be adjusted, a way to improve it is to scrow a small block of wood on to the floorboard just in front of it, so that the heel can rest on it, and the pedal can thon bo worked in comfort with the solo of the shoe. A young American, of Philadelphia, has built a miniature petrol engine weighing only DJoz., complete with coil, batteries, and a ljoz- capacity fuel tank. The engine, which was designed to propel a model aeroplane, is a two-stroke, having a bore of 7-Biu., and a stroke of lin. The cylinder is only 2in. high, and an aluminium alloy piston is used, having two rings. When fitted with a small flywheel, instead of a propellor, the engine ran up to 8000 r.p.m. It is stated that certain of tho petrol distributing companies in the United States havo recently commenced to supply petrols charged with an uppercylinder lubricant. Much inconvenience and danger are caused to all classes of traffic by faulty methods of cornering. There is a tendency on tho part of many drivers to take left-hand corners far too sharply, with the result that the car is carried out into the middle of the road. Brake cables require only occasional lubrication to ensure that they slide easily over the pulloys where they are exposed, and easily in their casings. The exposed portions of the cables should be cleaned every 8000-10,000 miles, and the casings disconnected at the same time and slid along the cables toward the crossshaft; the portion of the operating cable thus left exposed should be greased thoroughly before finally replacing the casing in its correct position'.