MOTORING NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17651, 11 December 1920, Page 6 (Supplement)

MOTORING NOTES.

BEHOVING INSULATION. •In removing insulation from stranded wires, be careful not to cut any of the line threads. These are so thin that i liev are easily cut with the insulation. Bach of these strands does its share in carrying i'ne current to the lamps. CARBURETTER ADJUSTMENTS. 'Jo adjust the carburetter for high »peed. tut dwiUhe mixture until it is so lean thai the motor will miss when run- .,',.' idle Then add just a little more '■„*, "to the mixture. Test the adjustment V.'," |, lc i, speeds, quick accelerations and AN EMERGENCY BRAKE. If ..,.-, ,ue roasting d.wii hill, and the ■ ■■.:.'-'s t'aii " (lie thins; to do is to throw k\h" switch'and let in the clutch. This ,-, ,-i,j ,*',■■. k the car as the engine would i ,*.,-(• „.'< iw«-fr stroke to propel it and ,i, r.i st ".••]'. mi I ravelling upwards On the r ..iii'resiion stroke, would meet a resistance in pivssuie. A LUBRICATION HINT. Tie '■•biK-ini in '"' p gearset should he . ,!- ' 1 i 1 .. , "h0-.' , it of the gear box. or even ~',-, ~... i-.Mitie of Hip main shaft. I his , | ' vi'limer-e the countershaft and bring ", ',' .- P .Mho eaa.e shaft gears into the „'.';. 'V. '' il.e packing rings should be J-*,. i-, rrevfeDfi.leaiage where the drive '■'„>; rm-rges" "from the. gear case, and « hew the shaft from the clutch enters it. THE NEW CAR. M-iiiv drivers do more damage to their ■-~' the first week they'drive it than dur- ,-,', ..„.. week thereafter. Often they d<> ,[,l ,t.'.n t» learn thoroughly the three- ,,■■-■' f.T driv.ng, and they smash up the ,-.-n : s and wrape thousands of miles of „.,. off the tvres. But probably the E1 ., 1U olfence" of all is the neglect of ■;.'),.. in a new car it takes considerable .'.','„>"'fo- the parts to gel thoroughly vorke-1 in 'Hie new car will naturally .•.n'eiate more friction than one which has been rur for some, time, so more, frequent oiUng is advisable. BELGIAN MOTOR INDUSTRY. Before the war there were twelve automobile factories in Belgium, located in the neighbourhood of Liege, Charleroi. Brussels- and Antwerp, employing 4000 to 5000 in.-ii. The annual production, chiefly private cars and motor-cycles, approximated 45Q0 to 5000 auto-mobiles and ehassis'and 7000 to 8000 motor-cycles. Mass production in series of standard types of automobile is not characteristic of the Belgian plants, special attention is'given to the construction of engnes and in satisfying the foreign market, especially South America, -as to . form and decoration. There is*a market in Belgium 'at the" present time for American -automobiles.' The machines desired arc those -of a. federate price, *■ It is necessary ,that the*" be strongly built as many Belgian roads are of cobblestone construction. "" THE IGNITION SYSTEM.

The ignition system of an automobile should ho inspected, carefully to learn it a 11* wires are intact, that the terminals aro bright and clean, and the insulation is not saturated with oil -or grease.' The terminals should all be. soldered and the wiring should be taped wherever it may chafe. The sparking plugs should be taken out, disassembled and cleaned with petrol. „If the porcelains- are. heavily coated with carbon they can "be soaked m kerosene until it softens, when it can be wiped off. Don't scrape the porcelain, as this may remove the glaze. The shells should he cleaned by scraping. When assembling, care should be taken not to seat the insulators too tightly upon the gasketgf'"#ut./ the- plugs'''should endure a' pressure of 250 .'Ho> ; 300 pounds without Jeakage at the gaskets. ' The sparKing plug points should be scraped or polished bright :M& set"l-64 inch apart if magnetoignition. The.breaker box and distributor of the magneto can. he cleaned by blowing out the dust' with an automobile tyre pump and by wiping with a-'-'cloth dampened -with benzine. The distributoi- or timer jhould be similarly cleansed.;......

COMPULSORY ARMSIGNALS. On •"occasions '.^uring..-the past 10 ;! years, '.says the£&utocar| reverted s ' to the 'question of arm .signals that should . he made bw drivers of motoe arid ether I vehicles to indicate a, -proposed .'.change ..of ',-; direction or aT'.xedtictioii of Speed. The ; old, haphazard, conditions continue; and ? as often as not'-' -itfkeja:; a driver does signal i with his hand .he; makes a gesture' which does vpt correctly; indicate what •he" in- '; tends %o do. sWrA^ereg.ha^e,-i lbee^'f^ i iod r ' many epilisio-ns'on- i it is not unreasonable to assume that, at any rate, some of them have: been due • either tp no,ssig&al -haying«been given -by? '. the driver of a ear in front, or to; the" '"' fact that the signal given was unintelli- ' gible or incorrect. Though we are by no means in" favour of unnecessary " con-. from past experience -that; ] the.ii'isk of accident will not 'be reduced to the minimum until a definite penalty is imposed upon those drivers who, when implicated in an accident, can be proved to Have contributed towards it by a failure to signal a change of direction or of speed in accordance with a code cf signals to bo generally accepted. A knowledge of the code-might be made essential for all those to whom driving licenses are granted.;,/ Wgf : §f»tI£eHpAGTS : - HASSHLY<; ' ) A- gpabbfrJg.. : actmnlof the" 1 cone clutch is the-leather . facing becoming very '•xiryr "through use or by wear, causing the*rivet-. heads to protrude above the leather' face .and -come in contact, -with the metal of the flywheel. A dry ...x-lutch be' restored by sponging off ,iha face.of the . leather with kerosene and' applying a dressing of either neatsfoot oil -or castor oil till the leather again becomes soft and pliable. If the leather facing is worn down to such a point than the.,,heads of the rivets "come in contact with thti metal cone of the flywheel, the clutch ill stick, and to restore the clutch it will be necessary to* drive down, the riv s fe£ a 4|iH t 9.!:^C leatlier so as : to clear the cone. facing'that f has become rough or uneven" through* wear can be restored by. rubbing off the high .spots with emery cl§th, broken glass, a coarse file, or Band paper,, making the surface smooth. A new leather should not be refitted unless; you are absolutely ■• certain that the old leather cannot be reclaimed. . When new leather i s refitted, it is best to take the car to some good repairer and have him purchase a facing from the factory and fit, it correctly. After the new ■ leather has, been fitted it will take some time for it to fit itself to the cone of the flywheel and in the. meantime it will require frequent dressings with either neatsfoot or. castor oil. - ■■...,.. "/ j DO CASS RUN BETTER AT NIGHT? ! This question has served' as a holiday season topic ever since motoring became ! popular, and presumably it will' never be definitely answered. ■-"• Personally," writes a correspondent. -"I class it with the type of question: Why doe s the lower half of the wheel travel faster than the top half? J he theory that increased moisture in the air improves the carburation is, i n my "jiimou. ail bunkum." I remember an instance of a .light-driving enthusiast being quite positive that there was, an ' increased amount, of " free oxygen" in the" a.,- at .night 'a , ereas this is technically J impossible. Another enthusiast contended a a t .he undoubtedly get better sparking at night aud «.,. nnsfiring. It is impos fcole to find any theory to fit this claim. But how many are there who. believe i that there is some magic,in the night atmosphere appreciate that the wind dies : down at sunset as a.general rule,, and ■a" head > m(i or-a. side wind that has cheeked the speed of the car all dav mav entirely: disappear. Thi,, .seems a , -logical ex-■' planation of why" car "may oh occasion travel-better "night: , Sometimes the conditions .-would lbs reversed and the car would-run toes .at night., than in the ©BjVtlßSa." : ' - ■ '"■"