MOTORISTS ON TOUR

Southland Times, Issue 23740, 11 February 1939, Page 18

MOTORISTS ON TOUR

USEFUL EQUIPMENT

PREPARING FOR MINOR TROUBLES

It is the good fortune of the presentday motorist that his car may be taken on an extended country tour without his having to make any special preparations or load it up with spare parts as a precaution against trouble.

Not so many years ago, no motorist would have dreamed of setting off without a spare spring or two, a complete set of sparking plugs, extra tyres and tubes, and spare tins of oil and petrol, quite apart from a most elaborate tool kit excessively weighty in itself. In these days the only really essential preparations consist of filling the sump with clean oil, filling the petrol tank, and checking the electrolyte in the battery and the air in the tyres. Any serious mechanical trouble experienced is sheer bad luck and is so rare that its occurrence is justifiably looked upon by the owner as a de finite black mark against the car or the people whose duty it is to keep it in good order. Nevertheless, he is a wise man who forsees the possibility of slight troubles and carries the equipment and spares to overcome them as quickly as possible. The development of serious faults when on tour need not be feared. What must be guarded against are those slight derangements, trivial in themselves, but a great nuisance if the owner has not the equipment to put things right. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Because vibration causes most of these little troubles, the electrical system often offends in this way. A wire may shake loose or become frayed | enough to cause a short circuit, a fuse j or a lamp bulb may blow. Therefore, a few electrical spares should be carried. These may consist of a box of fuses, a roll of adhesive tape for re-insulating frayed wires, two headlamp bulbs, and a tail lamp bulb. A knife and a small screwdriver for dealing with electrical connections should also be included.

It is also suggested that at least two spare sparking plugs be carried, because the modern car is much harder on plugs than the old types because of its high compression, and the failure of a plug in even a quite new car is not at all unknown.

Other engine parts will hardly be needed, though a coil of stout wire carried under a seat does not take up any room and may prove invaluable for "Jury-rigging” if something about the chassis is broken unexpectedly when an almost invisible pot-hole is hit hard.

The other spares can be confined to the tyres. Normally the ordinary equipment of the car, a spare wheel complete with tyre and tube will be all that is necessary, because the country is well sprinkled with garages where punctures can be repaired quickly and easily. Apart from this there is always the chance of two punctures within a short time of each other, when the car is between two towns many miles apart, so that whether the car is travelling at night or in the daytime an extra spare' tube pushed into a vacant corner gives a feeling of added security. In addition, a pair of tyre irons should be carried and a box of valves. If the owner wishes to be prepared for all possibilities he may also carry one of those small vulcanizing outfits, but this is scarcely necessary with the spare tube.

Finally, before starting out on tour the motorist should check over the tool kit and make sure that everything is in its place. Frequently an invaluable pair of pliers, a screwdriver, parts of the jack, or the wheel brace are left at home in the garage, their absence only being discovered ,when they are needed very badly indeed. It also is a good plan to fill the oil gun before setting out, because a bearing may run dry in the heat out back and start an annoying squeak which can be stopped immediately by a few pumps at the handle of the gun.