MOTOR NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17068, 28 September 1929, Page 10

MOTOR NOTES

CYLINDER CARS. EXCEED ALL OTHER TYPES. For the first time in the history of the motor industry, six cylinder "cars promise to lead the field in production this year, according to a recent survey. t'p till this year four cylinder cars ranked in annual production volume. Comparative production figures for the first six months of this year are ■ offered in support of the forecast. During this period there were produced' approximately J ,900,000 sixes as compared with approximately .1,205,l Mifl fours, an indication of what the total for the year is apt to be. How the automobile picture lias changed almost overnight will bo noted in an inspection of tiie 1928 showing. Last year four cylinder manufacturers built approximately 2, OPS, l)0() ears, while six cylinder manufacturers were making !,(j 17,000 cars. As it now stands the year 1929 should show approximately 15,000, 000 six cylinder units as compared to only 2,250,000 four cylinder units. WILY YOUR CAR .BREAKS DOWN. ‘‘Autocar,” tin English automotive publication recently compiled figures listing , the parts of a motor car that appear in the list of breakdown causes. 'These, figures give tin interesting picture of why the emergency road service has been inaugurated:— Brakes .1, valve mechanism ,4, crankshaft .5, differential • starting 1.0, bevels and worm drive 1.0, valves 1.4, lighting failures 2.0, water, circulation 2.2, ,lubrication 2 :o, transmis-, sion 2.0, earlmretion 2.0, front axle and steering 3.3, universal joint 4.1, road wheels and. suspension 4.2; clutch 5.1, not stated 5.8, cylinders and pistons 10.5, accidents 13.5, axle shafts 13.8, ignition 22.7. SAHARA DESERT PICKED FOR RACES. Two important motor races are to be run next year from Algeria to the Sudan. The more important of the two will be known as the ‘‘Grand Prix du Sahara.” These races will lie a landmark in the history of the great African desert; they will show the world how the actual means of communications across the sandy hills or along the stony wilderness, have been made easy. New r tracks have been created and the old camel caravan ones greatly improved. The tracks over the Algerian Sahara now cover about 3000 kilometres.

THE MODERN WONDER. Hardly a day passes without some reminder of the modern wonder (hut the little petrol engine is. Perhaps its application as propelling power on ti two-wheeled vehicle is'more wonder I'll!'than any other form of its uses. Here ii is (•found in a. minimum or space, giving' no visible sign of its extraordinary strength and endurance, ever ready for remarkable performances. Even those who use it every day seldom think of crediting it with its real worth. That a man may step from his house door, sit upon a saddle, and be carried many miles on a journey in a short space of time is in most cases regarded as a matter of course. The motor cycle—a crude contraption of thirty years ago-—has developed into an almost infallible means of 'conveyance for hours, for days, or for weeks, with rests and leisure as the rider; wishes. Modern motor-cycling is a marvel of mechanical motion, and for. touring in sum-mer-time it is untouchable. Independent of time-tables, booking wotry, station stopping, etc., the motor cyclist goes his way contented. And this with a minimum of fatigue. There is no doubt that the motor cycle of today is a boon to the wi-e section of mankind that chooses it for transport purposes it; commonplace life. i APPLYING THE BRAKES, Few motorists realise that when they apply their brakes that they are really applying their tyres—increasing their grip on the road; that it is therefore necessary that they should all grip with equal force; that if they don’t the car must swerve. The more powerful the brakes are, the more use they make of the tyres. The moral is—have your car balanced when you apply your brakes. Tn other words see that the tyre pressures are equal in each pair of wheels. The advice of the Dunlop Pcrdriau Co. is to get the pressures right and test the tyres every week \vith a good tyre gauge. Riding will be easier, inure comfortable and—of greater consequence—you and your passengers will travel more safely. CARS IN JAPAN ARE WELL LIGHTED. # Additional protection for passengers in motor ears in Japan is provided by a recent statute requiring that all motor cars must be equipped with dome lights. These dome lights must be brilliantly illuminated when motorists drive after dark, otherwise the car is liable to confiscation by the police.

BUILDING A CAU. DEVICES ALMOST iiUMAX. “Many almost human devices have horn developed in the complex work of building a motor car," says Mr. \V. M’cHanlv Forman, managing director of General Motors. “Two new ones, the piston mil ling machine and a cylinder honing machine, are so uncannily accurate ami methodical as to give the impression of a “brain" concealed somewhere in their interiors. “The piston machine, one of the newest in the industry, furthers the impulsion of having been constructed to duplicate the work of the human employees in the factory by its two “arms," each with “fingers" which are its chief features. “Pistons in the rough are carried through the machine turned out in less than a minute, complete except for one or two minor operations. Contradicting the old axiom, each “arm" is so synchronised as seemingly to know exactly what the other is doing. , “As one ‘arm’ reaches up that tlie live ‘ lingers ’ may grasp a piston in the rough, the other reaches down to sei/s- the one which has had its time on the 'machine. As (lie latter is lifted up on the opposite side of the machine, a rough casting is brought down and anchored firmly into place for milling and cutting. “The ‘arms’ and 'fingers’ are actuated by compressed air. One of the dilliculties that had to be overcome in construction was to’get the ‘fingers’ to release the pistons at exactly the right moment. Seventyone pistons pass through the machine each hour. “The cylinder honing machine does a delicate .job which formerly required the work of twelve men, and its operation is precise and exact. So accurate is the machine that it stops automatically when the honing cylinder has reached the point of .001 of an inch in diameter. 1 “Another interesting machine in operation in the industry here is n multiple spindle drill which bores 110 holes in a cylinder block at one operation and requires only one operator.’' FRANCE BI’ILDINCi MORE CARS. France is now building .”.-1 per cent, of the European production of motor cars, the equal of England, and second only to the United States as a manufacturer of cars. Last years 200,000 motor cars were, made in France; this year the number will be between 250,000 and 280,000. The number of workers employed in manufacture of motor cars in the country is more than 200,000.