Motor and Cycle

Otago Witness, Issue 4085, 28 June 1932, Page 62

Motor and Cycle

By

DEMON

From Tuesday the wholesale prices of motor car tyres throughout New Zealand was increased between 10 ami 15 per cent. The reason given is that for some time past tyre manufacturers have been losing money', and the factories have announced to the distributing companies that increased prices must be obtained. Motor registration completed at the Chief Post Office, Napier, shows a much smaller decrease in the number oi vehicles in use than was originally expected (says the Telegraph). Registrations up to June 14 numbered 2244. of which 194 were motor cycles, while to the same date last year the total registrations were 2467, including 248 motor cycles. The decrease. 223, is by no means so serious as had been anticipated in view of prevailing conditions. I submit that 25 miles per hour on a broad, bitumen road is a perfectly reasonable speed for a service car, your Honor, stated counsel in a motor collision case in the Supreme Court at Hamilton. Inusually slow, I suggest,” commented his Honor smiling.

The final Conciliation Council proceedings in the dispute effecting the workers in the motor construction industry throughout the Dominion failed at Wellington on Thursday. The commission wid give formal notice to the clerk ot awards, and the award will lapse in accordance with the amended Act of last session.

A judgment by the late Lord Birkenhead which is of real interest to motorists, and. indeed, to all users of the road, was referred to in the Auckland Supreme Court. Legal utterances are occasionally beyond the comprehension of the ordinary “ man in the street,” but those of Lord Birkenhead were characterised bv simplicity of expression as well as profundity of thought, and the dictum referred to is a case in point. His lord ship laid it down that if two vehicles, whether motor cars, cycles, or anything else, were proceeding on opposite courses which must eventually intersect, and an accident occurred, the responsibility was equal. “ A great and permanent contribution to the law of contributory negligence” was the way in which the judgment was described by counsel. SIGNAL CORRECTLY. A report from the Wellington Automobile Club states that an ever-increasing number of drivers are not following out the motor regulations in regard to signalling before turning or stopping. 'the motor regulations lay down that a signal indicating that a driver intends to stop or to turn to the right must be given at a point at least 30ft before stopping or turning. The regulations further require that the arm shall be kept in the signalling position until the vehicle is stopped or until commencing to turn, as the case may be. A large percentage of drivers merely put out the hand at a point considerably less than 30ft from the stopping or turning point, thug creating risk of accident. MAN OF 1,000,000 SKIDS. Mr Thomas Dale, the skidding wizard, has just retired after 46 years in the service of the London General Omnibus Company, during the last 1 1 years of which, as a driving instructor, he has created and corrected well over 1,000,000 skids. Here is his advice on how to correct a back-wheel skid. Don’t touch your brakes when the car begins to skid. Release the accelerator pedal and ease the clutch. Turn the front wheels in the direction of the skid; that is, if the rear wheels skid to the left or near side, turn the steering wheel to the left or near side. Turning the front wheels into the skid will check the spinning back wheels. If possible, as soon as the wheels begin to grip, change into a lower gear and accelerate. The car should then straighten up. For a front-wheel skid, which is rarer and even more dangerous, the skidding champion advises: —■ 'fry to create a back-wheel skid by jamming on the brakes. This will swing the tail round. Then act as for a backwheel skid. ■Skidding, according to Air Dale, can be avoided to a great extent by:— Driving in a careful manner on greasy roads so that sudden breaking is avoided. Accelerating gently. Taking corners at slow speed. Avoiding sudden diversion of direction, such as pulling oyer suddenly to pass another vehicle. INDIANAPOLIS “ 500 ” RACE. The Indianapolis race of 500 miles was won by Fred Frame in an eight cylinder Miller Hartz special. His speed was 104 1-10 miles per hour, breaking the race record.

The interest in this race has greatly increased since 1930, when the rules governing the event were altered allowing stock model cars to compete. The outstanding features of the last contest were the fine achievements of a number of competing cars built of stock parts of ordinary touring models, demonstrating the efficiency of the small-displacement engine, and the sterling performance of the CumminsDiesel engined car, which finished thirteenth, averaging 86.17 m.p.h., covering the 500 miles without a stop, using approximately only 10s worth of fuel. Forty cars out of the 72 cars nominated for the 1931 event qualified by attaining a speed of 100 m.p.h. for 10 miles—a stipulation ’“A t,h.t mW—,v* preliminary tests prior

to the day of contest. The winner was L. Schneider, a former Indianapolis motor cycle policeman, driving an eight cylinder Miller. His time was shr lOinin 27sec, an average speed of 96.6 m.p.h., and by his stfccess he is stated to have won £BOOO. Eighteen cars finished ont of the 40 starters. It is interesting to note that there have been 19 events since the Indianapolis speedway was built in 190!) —■ the first race being in 1911, and won by Hay Ilarroun, driving a six-cylinder Mannon. his average speed being 74.59 in.p.h. In 1925 P. De Paolo, driving an eight-cylinder Duesenberg. was the winner, his average speed being 101.13 m.p.h., which has since stood as the record for the race. FOR CHEVROLET OWNERS. “The Chevrolet. Six Car and Truck,” by Victor AV. Page. M.E., from Angus and Robertson, Sydney, is a manual of instruction for owners and a guide for servicemen. It is a practical treatise, explaining the functions and construction of all parts of Chevrolet Six ears and trucks, with complete instructions for operation, maintenance, and lubrication. A perusal of the book, which runs into 490 pages, with numerous illustrations and a comprehensive index, reveals it as an exhaustive and practical guide to everything embodied in the 1932 improvements of Chevrolet products. In treatment it is non-technical and is designed to help the car-owner. At the same time the repair-man is promised “ many short cuts explained for repairing all parts of the car, and various special tools and fixtures are described in detail to facilitate the work. “ The latest synchromesh and free-wheeling transmission is explained in detail, and illustrated with clear and distinctive drawings showing all mechanical parts, with the components indicated by plain, descriptive lettering. The price of the book is 12s (id. WORLD CONDITIONS.

SIR HERBERT AUSTIN’S VIEWS. The following is an extract from a letter received in New Zealand above the signature of Sir Herbert Austin, and is of more than passing interest: — “I have just returned from a visit to the Vienna Fair, and I also made a car journey into Czechoslovakia. Things may be bad in New Zealand, but I feel sure that if New Zealanders had the same conditions as they have in Eastern Europe at the present moment they would consider themselves very well off under their existing conditions. You can buy a cow in Hungary to-day for £2 10s. and a horse for even less. I was told that the best that any of the farmers could do., even with wonderfully productive land, was to keep themselves from starving. The poverty in some of the big centres like Vienna is appalling. ■‘Really, the trouble with the world is that people are expecting to live on too high a basis since the Armistice, without realising that before they can do so they must provide the ways and means: and. as a matter of fact, they are at the present time in most case's very much better off than they were in pre-war days, but they do not compare their present conditions with 1913: they try to compare them with 1919-1920, and the comparison, of course, makes them disgruntled. IVe shall, of course, get down to a reasonable basis, but it is a slow and painful process.” ROADSIDE REPAIRS. Stopping for roadside repairs occurs usually in an emergency which demands that the work must be done at once in order to proceed. A puncture should be remedied as soon as it is detected, since driving on a flat tyre causes considerable damage. Mechanical troubles likewise are often of an emergency character. The first thing to do is to get the car as far oft the road as practicable. The danger of working alongside a highway is obvious. Ihe next step is to see that the car itself is properly placed. If on even a slight grade a good-sized stone or other object should be placed in front or in back of the wheels, as the case may require, to prevent any unexpected movement of the car. Care in parking to make repairs by the side of the. road is doubly’ a safety measure. It is a protection to the motorist who has stopped: it is a protection for all other traffic. A car juttim* into the roadway often creates a dan” gerous obstacle for passing cars. On many highways it means that two lines of traffic cannot pass safely- or without an increased risk of collisions. STREAMLINING WILL COME. It is anticipated by scientists and mechanical engineering experts that not only will motor cars and motor coaches be streamlined in the not distant future, but a’so high-speed ‘trains. Increased speed, however, will not be the major objective; the main aim is decreased cost of operation.

If. the body, wheels, and mudguards, considered as a unit, are shaped according to modern aerodynamics a car shape can be developed that will have but onefifth of the air resistance of the present type of automobile, yet it will have the sam« ample passenger space as the modern sedan.

It has been proved that a powerful sedan car, weighing about 32cwt and requiring a 90 h.p. engine for an 80 m.p.h. speed, has 84 per cent, of its power absorbed in overcoming air resistance. If streamlined, however, it could attain 100 m.p.h. with a 50 h.p. engine. A present day ear, with a top speed of 80 m.p.h. has a petrol consumption of

about 10 m.p.g. . Streamline the same vehicle and it will travel 30 miles to the gallon. For this reason streamlining is sure to be adopted some day. As to trains, it is computed that a train that now travels at 40 m.p.h. could, if the engine and carriages were properly streamlined, attain a speed of 100 m.p.h. at an additional cost for power of only a fraction of a halfpenny a mile. Much has already been done in England in the direction of a streamlined car, and it is significant that America is taking aft active interest in what is going forward. Revolutionary movements often start in Europe; it would be nothing new or surprising, however; to see the principle come out in the mass from the factories across the water. CORRECT FOCUSING. Correct focusing and sitting of lamps is most important. The lamps should face straight ahead, as shown by placing a straight-edge across the fronts. They should also point slightly downwards. Focusing should be done on a white wall about 50 feet distant, each lamp being covered in turn, the aim being to get an adequate area of illumination free from dark spots. The final test of illuminating power is made on a stretch of lightcoloured road. When the engine is running at normal road speed, the ammeter should show a steady flow of current sufficient to balance the power taken by the lamps and screen wiper, or to give a slight excess if no wiper is used. Except for cleaning the commutator, work on the dynamo or starting motor is best left to an expert. Both units should be lubricated in exact accordance with the maker’s instructions. A DRAMA OF FASHION. BONNETS AND TOOLS. A man bought a new car —this is rather heady stuff for a salesman to read nowadays—but he did. and when he was driving it home a clok-clok noise started in the back part, and, as he was an old hand, he said to himself. “Ha! The wheel nuts aren’t screwed up quite tight.” So he looked for the tools, and eventually discovered that they were in a locker under the long, long bonnet, and he undid one side of this fashionable bonnet after some trouble, because it was new. But when he had forced the locked catch back with his knife and broken the blade, he found that the tools were all packed in a conglomerate mess so tightly to stop them rattling that he could not get them out, so he shut that side of the long and fashionable bonnet, and set about undoing the other side, but when he got it free and opened it, one point caught in the license holder, so that he dropped the bonnet side, and it removed a large piece of the paint of the scuttle. So he said. " Bother! ” and propped up the bonnet side again, while he broke his finger nail undoing the other catch ol the tool locker. At last he prised the tool roll out. and, taking the only screwdriver, found that the mingy little blade in the common little handle was not wide enough to undo the dear little screw which held in its place the chromium disc which covered up the wheel bolts inside the fat and" fashionable hollow hub body. So lie said ‘‘Bother! ” again, and went away in quite a huff to a garage, where lie left instructions for this herculean task to be carried out regardless of expense. And this is a true story, however sad it sounds; it is all due to the fashionable habit of keeping up appearances.—The Motor. REQUIREMENTS OF LARGE BUS FLEETS. The Birmingham Corporation opened a new bus garage recently: this cost £67,000 to erect, and is equipped with five Hammond low-pressure petrol metering columns with a storage capacity of 50,000 gallons. Some idea of the speed with which the petrol filling requirements of the big bus fleets are met may be gathered from the installation at the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., which is typical. This concern is now operating five Hammond metering’columns connected to four 12,500 and four 5000 gal tanks. The layout is so designed that any of the columns can draw from any of the tanks as required by means of selector valves. When the plant is in full operation, 100 gallons of petrol are discharged to buses in one minute from five filling points. THE SHOCK ABSORBERS. ADJUSTMENT FOR SUMMER. When a hydraulic shock absorber is in action, oil (usually glycerine or a special fluid) is being continually forced through a small hole by a piston. This hole or opening is adjustable in size, and a very small opening restricts the flow of the fluid, and consequently checks the movement of the piston, and so of the spring to which it is attached. The oil or glycerine in the shock absorber becomes thin and free flowing in the heat of summer, whereas in the winter it is sluggish and heavy. This means that in the summer the action of the shock absorbers will be much freer, with the result that the car will pitch and roll. To overcome this the absorbers must bo adjusted. This is done by tightening the nut which regulates the size of the opening in the shock absorber. With friction-type shock absorbers it will be found that the opposite applies. These should be loosened in hot weather, since the metal parts expand with the heat and cause greater friction. Should friction-type shock absorbers squeak they should be taken apart and washed in kerosene or benzine. ENGINE WARMING IN THE WINTER. There ‘prevails among many motor car owners the inaccurate belief that the colder the engine of a car can be made to run the better. In point of fact the proper working temperature of most engines is only a few degrees below the boiling point of the radiator water. If an engine is over-cooled its efficiency is impaired, the fuel consumption tends to increase, and. owing to imperfect vaporisation of the fuel, .there is a danger

that the oil may be washed from the cylinder walls by petrol and the cylinders damaged. Most modern cars are fitted with an automatic thermostat associated with the radiator in such a way that the engine temperature is always correctly adjusted, irrespective of the air temperature. but when such a device is not fitted there is a danger that in winter the engine may inn cold, especially on long trips, when the car is driven into a strong, cold wind. Overcooling can be prevented by reducing the amount of radiator surface exposed, and the simplest way of doing this is to fit a sheet of some flexible weatherproof material into the front of the radiator, between the shell and the core, where it will stay in position. J’robablv the best material for this purpose is • a sheet of light celluloid. Preferably a motor meter should be fitted to the radiator, and the size of the screening sheet adjusted until the correct running temperature is attained. The area of the sheet should be adjusted carefully, because if it be too large insufficient cooling surface in the radiator will be exposed, and the engine will then boil. •*

“ DEAD SPOT ” OF DRIVING VISION. A former drawback of many closed models, which has now been almost overcome by improvements in body design, was the “ dead spot ” caused by 'the front pillar of the body on the driver’s side, but even with open types having windsejeens r w ‘th narrow metal standards it iv ill be found that there is an appreciable aiea of dead spot"—that is to sav, unless the driver moves his head slightly to one side, he will not have full vision of oncoming and cross traffic. When the side curtains of a tourer model are in position, this disability is increased. Witti some early models of cars the trouble was so pronounced as to be a positive danger, but nowadays it should cause little or no risk. The R.A.U.A. reminds motorists that it is a wise precaution to learn by experiment how great an arc of “ dead spot ” there is in their driving vision, ami to use special care at night when driving on roads where there are many pedestrians, or when approaching intersections. MOTOR RACING ISLE OF MAN GRAND BRIN. , . LONDON, June 19. lhe Isle of Man Twenty-four Hour Grand Prix resulted: — 0,-? l, , ln , ier an(l (;I| inetti (Alfa-Romeo), 29.14 kilometres, average 123 hourly 1 on, 0 ! 1 ?*; ;ind G,,i(lotti (Alfa-Ro’rneo), 2914 kilometres, average 121.2. Lewis and Richards (Talbot), 2108 kilometres. average 101. 3. 'Thirty-six started. Nine'finished.