THE MOTOR WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 10 (Supplement)

THE MOTOR WORLD.

i, BY FOCUS.

■i . ■ ...... -.;, .. ... ....... -,■;.■ .- - ■-■. .: WOSK 07 TEE A.A.A. Inspection of roads preparatory to the '■'' posting of sign 3 has been made on behalf of the Auckland Automobile ; 'Association. So far, the Pokerio-Paeroa road, the road via Glen Murray to Huntly, and the Auckland-Hellensvillo road have been inspected. In the near future these roads •will '. have sign posts erected at necessary points, so that motorists will have no trouble in finding their was. It is part Qf the association's policy to spend a fair amount of money in the erection of posts. TO-WAIKATO VIA GLEN MURRAY. To. those motorists to whom time is no object and who wish to avoid the Rangiriri Hills tho alternate route via Glen Murray affords a pleasant change. Travelling to Pukekohe via Paerata the the road is ir: fine condition also being faster-' than by way of Pukekohe .East. The route runs straight past Pukekohe along tho Tuakau Road and down to the Waikato River. . On crossing the rives by bridge, 42 miles from Auckland, the road turns;; sharp to the -left toward Pukekawa running alongside * the river for half-a-mile, where graduated posts are placed •to show the height of the river when in flood.' ■": Turning inland' , the ascent to higher country begins and after six miles, new metal on. side roads is apt to bo misleading, but. the .old metal must be followed for another mile; when ?a?3 patch of a mile of new raw metal is; encountered. This is followed by two miles of clay with a few corners where the surface tells its own story of what it would be like in wet weather. 1 All along this stretch, small heaps of metal seem to indicate that road work is still in progress. New metal now again appears 'and; continues, for almost four miles, when, after 100 yards of clay a good hard road runs the, remaining half-mile to the Opatea * Bridge- and •. landing. - Climbing '. uphill " metal continues for three parts of a mile followed by one mile of hard sandy-clay Toad the turn off to Rangiriri, just over one mile before the Glen Murray post office. ; The road is now fairly good, ; and all either clay or sand with the ex- •<* ception of two stretches of one-half and one and one-half miles of ; new metal nearer. Rangiriri. After crossing .the Waikato by the bridge at Rangiriri, eleven miles after leaving the Glen Murray Road, the main South Road is met. An alternate route to Huntly lies along the west side of the river but motorists are advised to use the main road from Rangiriri on. The trip is much more interesting than via Mercer, and although 17: miles i longer good; roads are met with practically everywhere, the new raw metal only making hard going. In all, . there are not more than ; 12' miles of clay, . which by r next r winter 'should be practically all metalled. .The speedometer re-, gisters 68.7 miles to the Rangiriri Hotel by: this road, and v 51.1 over the mam road via Mercer. t : «■» ''' .

T WORKING ALONE ON TAPPETS. i Adjusting the valve tappets of 'an. ,L 'head motor is not the easiest work in the Car owners who check over the tappet clearances occasionally to rid the motor of annoying taps and clicks find v'that it ,is particularly difficult because of , the fact that in turning over the motor ;;: with the hand-crank, the position.. of the yfi | tappets ..cannot be 'k watched at * the , same ; time. ' f The motorist has to crank .& little, then run around to see if , both valves are closed, and then j,crank a little bit more. ; .By the time he thinks he has the engine just about, the right position, he finds that ■■■■■ ■:.• ■. . he ■ has passed upper (' dead centre for the :.; particular Under.;;' He has to crank the /complete cycle again. '. •• J The way out of this is to turn the flywheel by hand, if it is the cone : type and : ~ exposed. This : applies > particularly ■> to most old models and to some new models ■ of popular J makes: These \ fly-wheels are ; usually marked for the * dead"? centres ot the cylinders, and show the , positions at . which valves ishburd just i begin gto open or . close. i. A With a little experience at ad- : -:. justing tappets, .; however,';., one can tell when the valves are fully closed without ■•: watching the.markings ;on the -fly-wheels. •'.■'■._"' When :both; valves 'of la cylinder are .tully closed, the respective piston .•.will bo at its ;,:.-• highest point in the cylinder. If' in doubt ■•;-''-•:. as to ..where the piston in, r; remove x the . : spark-plug and locate the piston with a ..': pencil or screwdriver. :•' ■ ■" The motorist who is working all alone on tappets of a " car with an enclosed clutch,, will save time by improvising a (direct circuit from ; the battery • to the V. starter motor and inserting a makeshift ■•■:'.:,; switch wherever it is handy for him. n He can _do all the work, therefore, without getting into the car-to use the starter or /.stepping around to the front to crank by ■.;. hand. - ;' ?, [■ ■' -T . : -.--f ::':■■ v BACKFIRES. v • ■'.■•■■■• ': :f * Some engines which have a valve diagram with a considerable overlap, so that the - inlet .valve opens early, tend-: to fire : • the mixture in the inlet pipe until the en- :,;": fine lias become hot. • This symptom at rsfc i* puzzling, as it would seem to indi- .;■■.•; cate a weak; mixture. It is well to re- . member, v however, that the carburetter should not be flooded too much when this' *•, occurs, as the flame may sweep across tho float chamber and set the carburetter alight., It is: better to put wire gauze Over the ordinary air intake, and to drill ';- other air holes so that' the flame shall not • play on : the float chamber. „.jtj,,:<;.: ———-——- •' ~ -«/•*' '.MOTOR CAUSERIE. - ', 't 1 [BY OUR BRITISH CORRESrOXnEXT."] ' ■ ■''* Safer Motor! Lorries; V-."'' - ;A .jury at the City Coroner's Court, London, in returning a verdict of''." accidental!- death in a street .fatality, exonerated the driver 'from blame and added the following rider. "That "all heavy motor lorries should bo : compulsorily .fitted with side life-guards." In ; the case in question, it appears that the . deceased stumbled, just as the lorry was abreast 'with him, and fell between the front and rear ,wh eels. Had there > been side-guards the fatality would not have occurred. It was worthy of note that, whereas all public service buses in London must be equipped' with closely-fitting side life-guards,- there is no such requirements in tho case ■of lorries. The explanation of the discrepancy lies, 'a of course, in the fact that the buses are licensed only, after they have complied with the regulations of Scotland Yard. Iha lorries, on the other hand, are not subject to- any such rule. On the whole, there appears to be a good case in favour of the rider above quoted. , Motor Shipping. The motor ship has always found a , ready advocate in the New Zealand Herald, and readers will therefore bo interested to learn that the last ' twelve "•■-; months have seen an increase of 29 per cent, total ' deadweight ' tonnage of these ships completed, with the .result that 429,465 tons have , been added to the world's motor shipping tonnage. Though British shipowners and, builders were late, in showing,interest ■in this,new development, nevertheless the Old Country now stands at: the head of the list, of motor shipbuilding countries./ Twenty-one inotor :--.: vessels/totalling 181.750 tons deadweight, ;. ware, constructed' in British yards in 1922, this figure being 50 per cent, above the - previous year's output. ; Motor cargo ships , of nearly ; 21,000 tons deadweight are now being built, and a 22,000-ton liner is under ,;;„ construction. ;-. And yet how paltry these •iv figures would sound if read a decade hence : ■'■:,:•.■ : —when, in the light of developments, one fe.. may ' safely anticipate an almost entire exI' 10 "- of the v steam vessel in favour of fiu-augmed craft! ; ■■:' , I J ■■■'-" ; ,"

'~ : ; ;NOTES. - ! Lady o motorists will be glad to learn that to face 'bad weather is by no means bad for the face—so the skin experts say. For the renewal of licenses on London motor-buses ior 1923 a nice little cheque changed hands the other day. It was for £245,823. The enormous production of the United States in motor-cars and other vehicles i reached its zenith in 1922, in which year (2,400,000 units were produced in tho States alone. A speed of 1200 miles an hour will be entirely possible in aircraft within the next 25 years, according to Professor F. W. Pawlowski, of the aeronautical engineering department of the University of Michigan. Experiments are proceeding with a Westinghouse air brake, which has-been fitted to the well-known Count ZborowiiV racing " Ballot." . There seems TwiMehood of the air-brake princTple being widely adopted by motor-car designers in the future. A man, lying on his death bed, called his chauffeur, who.had beeni in bis service for years, and said, An, Sykes, 1 Si going on a long and rugged journey, worse than ever you drove me. well, sir," consoled the chauffeur, there s one comfort. It's all down hill- |

$ In the conduct of your business, be sure that -you■: do not allow for used cars more than you can sell them for, because if voir do, sooner «r later you are doomed to We. Try to conduct your business on a safe, sane and profitable basis, -his is the .remedy that a* goingj#tosave the situation'for,you and for the manufacturer. , : ,V ; ~

The Post Office Department at Washington after seven years* experience with motor-trucks, has come to the conclusion that they have many advantages oyer horse-drawn equipment, even where the distance to be travelled is short. In one city alone £6000 was saved by the motorisation of a portion of the letter-bo* collections and parcel post delivery ser- ■ vices. ■'....' \ ■ : , v :'.

Notwithstanding the extraordinary value offered in British motor-car tyres, the Board of Trade returns (says The Autocar) disclose the fact that. v during the past year no less than £4,241,847 worth of rubber tyres were imported by Britain. The quality of the modern British cord tyre is unquestionable; its lasting qualities as compared with the fabric tyres produced in pre-war days have been proved to be, far and away superior.

The metal road to Henderson is gradually becoming worse, it being impossible to dodge the pot holes. Via Swanson the metal is continuous, and in places is quite smooth. On Wednesday, prior to the rain, the clay road via Brigham's Creek was in fine order, the surface being very smooth. 7 A little metalling is being • done, there* being only three stretches, each three quarters of a mile, where no metal appeal's.

, In addition to the experiments with rubber roadways being tried elsewhere in.';., the London Metropolis, a short street running from :,"., St. Martin's Lane V V to '; Shaftesbury ,- Avenue _is to be : paved with ;'this ; material. Two distinct types of construction are being laid in the same street, with a view to exact; comparison of results. One of these (says Motor Transport) consists of rubber face concrete units; the other has a base of vulcanite and a surface of rubber compound, 38 per cent, pure rubber. This is said to result in a surface that meets all possible conditions; just soft enonp.h, just hard enough, and unaffected by rain, snow, refuse, or oil. Another experimental ■ stretch of • road is being laid in Little St. Andrew Street, W.C. ■ ; : r 'j MOTOR-CYCLING. iy'fi. Still no action; baa. been taken/with regard to the rear lighting of bicycles. Several English : manufacturers; are experimenting with mechanical oil; pumps. : A pleasant day's outing is , via Tuakau and Pukekawa to the;' Opatea Stream, at distance of about 55 miles. "; ' '. '■;'']-''c.- : ■■ >:■;;. :.-; ;1 '. < : " - '■•" l--' "; : ■,". ;■ ..;•.■'•'.?'>.■•■'"-., 1 The Beachlands test will be held today, leaving the P.O. at 2 p.m. It will be followed by a picnic to the beach'.to'* morrow. - ;■?' Probably lack of attention in failing to fill batteries with the weekly supply of distilled water makes more trouble than any other cause. ,' * ■ '''', -: > • .• It is considered possible that flexible sidecars will gain five minutes a lap on the ..Isle of Man T.T. course, over the usual English rigid fitting. ' ;■ If la valve rubber is. inclined to stick through not having been removed for some months, heat the body of the valve with a match, when th« rubber will come away. *„'-",'"'''' ■ ' :: ' - If the spring wheel could be evolved, the suspension troubles of motor-cycle designers would bo disposed of once and for all. ' An English firm has produced a wheel of this nature, which, it is claimed, is suitable for single track vehicles. • The novice had seized his engine.; arid to the go'oa, Samaritan who pulled up to help him, he said: " I can't understand —everything looks alright, and . the compression • feels better than it's ever been before!" ■//•'•■■' h ~' >

ERITISfI OVERSEAS TRADE. After the assembly of a motor-cycle engine has been completed ; there is still one important process which it must undergo before it can be delivered to the purchaser. It must be tested in order to ensure that it develops a certain minimum power and that there sire no latent defects in the component parts which have escaped the " viewer's" strict scrutiny.; - n - In a motor-cycle factory it is usual for the complete machine to be taken on the road ;by a professional tester, who, by long practice, becomes able to detect instinctively the origin of "' taps" .and knocks" which the average motor cyclist would probably fail to hear until they developed considerably. The tester, too, is quickly able to classify the power of the engine under such impromptu headings as passable," ".jolly good," or " dud." Often it is sufficient for the tester to ride a machine for about a dozen miles, in which distance is included the ascent of a local test hill, and on his return to the works' either to " pass" the machine or to hand it over to a special repair squad with clear instructions as to the work that must be done to it before it can be passed off test. Engines Only. * In factories where engines only are made, however, it is out of the question for every engine ? produced to be fitted into a frame and tested on the road. In such cases the engines are always run on the bench and subjected to a test for power by being coupled',to a " brake," which can be adjusted to absorb a varying, but always known, degree of power. These brakes are of several types and may be electrical, in which case "the horse power developed is measured ':. in accordance with the amount of electricity generated, or may incorporate friction device which records the pull" of the engine on a' spring; balance. * ■ - , (To be Continued Next Week.); ■•'■; j