THE MOTORIST

Northern Advocate, 15 July 1933, Page 6

THE MOTORIST

V . Itiß CONTACT BhEA&ER. . -L •• •/. ■ Accurate setting of the gap between •v the points of the contact breaker is es- : seratial to even and economical running, and new owners of English cars • ;will bei interested to know that a suitN able gauge for . checking and setting ■ this aperture .as comprised in; almost eVery kit' of tools. Every Lucas • ignition, spanner will bo found to have a f thin* spring blade attached to ’ onO end, for use when making this adg juatifaenta The procedure is simplicity ■ .itself. -When it,is desifed to effect an v adjustment of’the pap, remove the dis-

tributor cover by snapping back the spring clips at the sides, and the engine should then be turned until the rocker-arm is raised by the cam and the points part., If the car is pushed slowly forward in top gear matters are simplified. ‘ The lock nut behind the bracket supporting the fixed contact point should be then slackened. Then rotate the screw holding the contact point itself until the gauge on the side of the spanner just passes between the two points easily. Retaining the screw in that position, with a second spanner tighten up the lock nut, and that’s that. " ■ ; . V "•"

HEADLIGHTS. METHOD OP ADJUSTMENT. The problems associated wfith glaring headlights safe road illumination at night have for a long time perplexed traffic experts. Although many inventions have been developed and marketed, the fact remains that no anti-glare device has yet been universally adopted. The situation is made more difficult today because of faster speeds and the increasing use of bitumen for road surfacing. Even with powerful headlights the illumination of a bitumen road, especially when it is wet, is often inadequate, and another risk is created by the dazzling beams of light from oncoming ears, which are far more troublesome to drivers than is the case on a whitish concrete or gravel surface. Various expedients have been tried, such as dimming switches and tilting headlights, but as a rule traffic experts consider that such appliances are more dangerous than useful, iff that they make a call upon the attention of the driver and also, either by reason of lowering the intensity of the lights or causing the beams to dip abruptly, impair tho projection of the rays, so that driving vision is restricted. The practice of dimming is also condemned on the ground that it leads to confusion and risk, and recently the New South Wales Commissioner of Police issued a warning against if. To sum np the position, it might be said that the motorist is in the unfortunate position of having to make the best of a bad job and must at all times be careful not to “drive beyond the lights;” that is to say, the speed at which he proceeds, having due regard to the nature of the road and the illumination from the headlamps of his car, should be such that he can halt the vehicle within the length of roadway which is amply lighted by the headlamps. ’

In an interview', Mr .1. Fielder, the chief engineer of the N.R.M.A., offered much practical advice which should be valuable to many car owners. He states , that more road accidents are brought about by weak and badly adjusted headlamps than by glare, and considers that one of the vital objections to many types of diffusing lenses and glasses is that they cut down'the projection of the light to a dangerous degree. In New South Wales the regulations require that the lamps shall be so adjusted that the rays of light shall the ground not more than 180 feet in front of the motor vehicle; but Mr Fielder points out that if a literal interpretation is placed upon the directions referred to, it is not feasible to set ordinary headlights in such a way as to assure an adequately long projection of the illumination. On the other hand, if the lamps are So adjusted that the primary rays strike the roadway at the prescribed distance, the secondary rays jvithout causing dangerous glare or confusing approaching drivers will light up the road ahead for a considerable distance, with the effect that the'forward illumination is well diffused and the motor-* ist is not, as it were, driving into a wall of blackness at a given distance in front of the car. The procedure advised for testing and regulating the headlamps is as follows:

See first of all that the parabolic reflectors are clean, for a film of dust will, as has been ascertained by laboratory tests, diminish the intensity of the light by 15 or 20 per cent. The next step is to focus each bulb in its reflector by means of .the adjustment provided. To that end the beams should be directed against a "wall or fence from a distance of about 20 feet, and each bulb moved backwards or forwards in its socket until a narrow circle of concentrated light is secured. It should be noted that the brightness of the lamps is sometimes affected by corrosion at the back of the lamp-holder, which, in the ease of single-wire electrical systems, imposes a high resistance in the “earth” return circuit. After the bulbs have been focussed as described the ear should be taken on to a level road and away from street lights, and a dark object set up at a height of about a foot and at a distance of 180 foot. TheJieadlamps are then manipulated until the main rays from each strike the object. It will be noticed that a dark line is thrown at the point w'here the main rays terminate and the secondary rays are projected at a higher level.

When the correct elevation of the beams has 'been ’secured, , each lamp should ho placed so that its light is projected in a straight line in front of the car, and then given a slight inclination outwards. The effect of that setting is to distribute the light over a wider space, so that the full width of the road is lighted up and ene can detect in good time persons who are crossing the highway and can better discern corners and turnings. SYNCHEO-MESH DEFINED, A synchro-mesli mechanism is a device which performs automatically the duties hitherto accomplished by the driver with the clutch pedal and throttle when changing up or down, and it leaves the driver with only the simple operation to perform of depressing and releasing the clutch pedal while moving the gear lever. In other words, the ’ synchro-mesh mechanism eliminates any necessity for judging the speed of the engine in relation to the gear to bo meshed. An American invention adapts the principle of car-type gears to aeroplane drive.

MILLION A DAY. HUGE TAXATION. WHAT MOTORISTS ARE PAYING. Averaging the price at £SO each, the total value of the world’s automobiles is 1750 million pounds. That stupendous figure has only an intangible interest in itself. But it has an interest for every motor user when used in terms of Government revenue. Or, more directly, as a source of taxation. Last year the thirty-five million cars in the world represented 300 million pounds in taxation—a cool million every working day. •The people of the United States of America, with their 21,045,000 ears, 98,000 motor buses, and 3,231,000 motor trucks, pay annually in petrol taxes and registration fees the almost incredible sum of £219,000,000. This amount actually exceeds the wholesale value of the .1,430,000 new cars and trucks sold hi* that country during 1932.

Great Britain also derives a huge revenue from motor users, and last year collected £02,000,000 from similar ation, while France, Italy, and Germany also obtain large contributions to national revenue from automotive activities. In Australia the owners of the 535,000 cars and trucks in service last year paid £9,000, 1 000 in petrol dues and registration fees. This approximates an average of £l(s per unit, as against the £S per unit per annum paid in the United States of America, which at least suggests that Australian motorists are paying for better roads and ‘government that does not show’ the same improvement.

LUBRICATING SPRINGS. Defective lubrication is a frequent cause of spring failure or corrosion of the springs, and care should be taken to see that each- spring regularly gets a fair share of oiling. A toll which will help considerably in doing this may be made from a piece of steel about Sin long, and 14in wide. This is forged to a tapered shape, and is used to prize the spring leaves apart so that the lubricant may be forced between them. The best lubricant for this purpose is a mixture of half paraffin oil and half lubricating oil, to which some flaked graphite has been added. This mixture is quite fluid, and may be injected between the leaves with an oilcan. In the case of vehicles in constant use, the springs should be lubricated every two months.