Your Chevrolet— Its Care and Maintenance

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 237, 27 December 1927, Page 7

Your Chevrolet — Its Care and Maintenance

A SUN special feature to assist the owner-driver to obtain the maximum results in performance by the proper care and treatment of his car.

To get the maximum efficiency from your Chevrolet car or truck at a minimum of expense, correct maintenance is essential. If the Chevrolet owner or driver on reading this article will follow out the instructions contained therein, lie will benefit to the extent of thousands of carefree miles. Most service articles start with lubrication, but it is proposed to pass over this much discussed, but not the least important factor, as the majority of Chevrolet owners are conversant with correct lubrication. By dealing solely with the mechanical side of service, the most valuable advice will be provided in the space available. Most men can perform simple mechanical operations, and there is nothing very difficult about those described. To clean the cylinder head, drain water by opening the radiator drain cock. Disconnect the upper radiator hose connection and hood. Remove the spark plug wires and rocker arm covers. Remove each of the eight bolts holding the cylinder head to the block. Disconnect intake and exhaust manifolds. Lift off the head, then carefully clean all carbon deposits from cylinder head, top of pistons and walls of combustion chamber. If no valve facing tool is available proceed as follows:—Place a light coil spring 12in long around the valve stem. Smear grinding compound thinly on tho bevelled edge of the valve head, then insert the valve in its original position. With a brace and tool, turn the valve back and forth through a quarter turn, using enough pressure to overcome the resistance of the small spring. Do not turn valve through a complete circle, as this will cause the compound to cut ridges on the surfaces. After rotating the valve a few moments, release the pressure on the brace. This will cause the coil spring to act, lifting the valve slightly. Before again reseating for further grinding, turn valve one-quarter revolution. Add fresh compound when necessary. Continue the grinding operation until the entire contact surfaces of both the valve and the cylinder head seats show a complete seat not less than l-16in, and not more than 3-32iu wide. To test for perfect contact, mark lines with a lead pencil about Jin apart on the bevelled edge of the valve head, and replace the valve. Give the valve

LARGEST BUS. JULES VERNE CREATION. The largest motor-bus in all the world has just appeared upon the streets of London, like some invention out of a tale by Jules Verne. It is made of aluminium, and it has two decks and six wheels. For the comfort of the passengers, and to lessen the wear and tear of the streets, the usual solid tyres have been discarded in favour of Dunlop pneumatics and the upper deck of the bus is covered-in to protect the occupants from rain. There are seats on the two decks for 6*i people and the vehicle is feet long. It is being tested now with another huge bus some four inches shorter and made of steel. Whichever of the twin monsters proves to be the most reliable will be selected as a model for a fleet of others to ease the traffic problem on the streets of London. -

Blake: I wonder who owned this car before I bought it. Hamilton: AVhy? Blake: Whenever it comes to a dark place on a lonely road the engine dies.

one-half turn to the- right and one-half turn to the left, using a little extra pressure on the bi'ace. If all pencil marks are removed the grinding is perfect: if, on the other hand, one line or part of one remains untouched, tho fact indicates an uneven spot, and the valve must be reground until it seats properly. Before replacing valve in cylinder head, clean all grinding compound from valves and valve parts. Hold the valve head between wooden block clamped in the jaws of a vice. Wrap a narrow strip of sand paper around the valve stem and pull the ends back and forth, at the same time causing it to slide lip and down on the stem, until the stem is highly polished. Do not continue the operation of polishing valve stems so long as to remove any metal from the stem of the valve, or a loose fit in the valve guide will result, and, in the case of the intake valves, cause trouble with the mixture. Constant vibration causes leaky manifold gaskets, and will make the motor miss. With the engine running, test for manifold leaks with an ordinary oil-can filled with the petrol. Proceed slowly, squirting a little gasoline along the edges of each gasflet. At the point where the leak occurs the petrol will be sucked in and the motor will “pick up” and run properly for a few seconds. Remove and examine the gasket, replacing it if it is broken, or shows any evidence of weakness. Should the leak be in the manifold itself, it can sometimes be brazed; however, a new manifold is the best solution. All valvo adjustments should be made after the motor has been run until thoroughly warm. Crank the motor by hand until the push rod being tested has reached its lowest point of travel. The space between the rocker arm and the end of the valve stem or push rod should be about .008 of an inch on the intake valves, and about .010 of an inch on the exhaust valves when the valve is seated. For determining clearance use a standard thickness feeler gauge. The exhaust valves are the two centre and the two end valves in cylinder head. The other four are intake valves. If gapping adjustment is required, loosen lock nut and turn the adjusting screw on each tappet until proper adjustment is obtained, after which be sure to tighten the lock nut.

PARKING An easily learned method of proper parking in limited space is to pull up parallel to the kerb alongside, and close to the vehicle behind which you are going to park, so that your rear axle is level with its rearmost part. Turn the front wheels sharply to the kerb and back slowly until you can see that by swinging the front wheel over to the right your left mudguard will just clear the rear of the vehicle ahead. Turn the front wheels fully to the right, and back to your position at the kerb. This method, once you know positions at which extreme turns are to be made, will park you at the proper distance from kerb and other vehicles in one backward movement.

“IT NEVER RAINS .*. .” Halted by an inspector at a Christchurch intersection the driver of a sidecar outfit stepped off and left his engine running. He then set his outfit in motion again, but slipped in mounting the saddle, fell over, was run over by a cyclist, and sat up on the roadway to watch his riderless outfit collide with a post on the corner.*

MOTORING OR FLYING WHAT A WAR PILOT PREFERS I have often been asked which I prefer—motoring or flying, to which I promptly answer—flying, said Mr. R. C. Nelson, winner of the last R.H.C.A. reliability trial. Then, that which I would rather own —an airplane or a car—and my reply is: A Car. But if I could afford it I would own both. The reason for choosing the car of the two, although I prefer flying, is that the uses of an airplane are so very much more limited. For instance, one could hardly park his airplane on the esplanade, near the band, nor could he ride in it at night time. It would be useless for shopping or city work, and. during severe weather, its place would be in the hangar. One lias only to become accustomed to the air to get much more enjoyment out of a flight than a motor trip, and it is impossible to convey in words the sensatidn of flying. But it is nearest to my own ideal state of transportation. It is the freedom of moving in what can be termed space, with no restriction as to direction. The special thrill of swinging round in a turn, with the wings banked to balance the centrifugal force, which would otherwise cause sideslip. Then the scenery—anyone who has noticed how a few feet up to the top of some building makes an interesting view can understand what rising hundreds and thousands of feet in the air might mean. These things grip an aviator’s mind more firmly than anything a car can offer. I have taken many people on their first flight, people whom I have had to persuade hard to get into a machine, and, with few exceptions, it has been easily the greatest thrill of their lives. One very doubting gentleman made a lot of sarcastic remarks about the plane in which I offered to take him up from Mascot, and would not get into it until he had seen it make a long trip or two. That man, however, soon overcame his doubts and fell so much in love with the air that he asked for more, and it was only the second time he was up, I think, when he was holding the dual joy-stick. Won Over A few days later lie was advertising in Sydney and Melbourne for a machine, and he was taught to is now a seasoned pilot, with some excellent performances to his credit. The gentleman in question is Mr. S. L. Tyler. He is what I call one of the lucky people of this world—he owns a car and two airplanes. He would think life was not worth bothering about without his beloved Curtis. But I often wonder which Mr. Tyler would surrender if he had to —his airplanes or his ordinary, but infinitely more useful, car.

ENGINE KNOCKS. RESEARCH FINDS Tf«M. What does an engine knock look like? Why are some knocks worse than others? These are the kinds of questions that General Motors engineers asked themselves back In 1913. Cars had been fitted with self-starters and battery ignition, and the demand for automobile fuel became so great that refiners were forced to make gasoline heavier. Charles F. Kettering, chief ot the General Motors research laboratories and inventor of the self-starter, began to study engine knocks to find out whether people were right in blaming them on battery ignition that he had developed. He soon discovered that knocks were by the fuel. In an effort to find out the causes of knocks, two novel instruments were developed,, both of which have played an important part in the refinement of the automobile engine. One is the Midgley gas engine indicator, which shows exactly how the pressure varies inside the cylinder when the compressed mixture of gasoline and air is ignited. Whenever the engine knocks, a series of saw teeth appears on a little diagram, instead ot the usual smooth curve. By studying the different things that make the saw teeth disappear, much lias been done to improve the modern automobile. The other instrument is the bouncing pin indicator, which measures directly how much knock there is. When the engine knocks a sharp pressure wave is developed, which throws a little pin up in the tube above the cylinderhead and makes an electrical contact. The current that fl'ows through, while this contact is closed, lights a lamp, and at the same time decomposes a chemical solution in a graduated tuhe. The amount of gas formed by the decomposing of this solution is proportionate to the current, and. therefore a measure of how much the engine knocks. The lamp shows you howbad this knock is. By such highly developed and painstaking methods. General Motors cars are subjected to the ceaseless scrutiny of science to make them ideal for general use.

When parking your car or moving: out of parking space always have your car in motion before trying to move front wheels, thus saving: unnecessary wear on steering assembly.

MORE THAN ONE. FAMILIES AND CARS. AN AMERICAN HABIT. It is estimated that well over 2,700,000 families in America possess more than one car—and the number is still growing rapidly. The question, therefore, arises: Will the smart family of the future run at least two cars? The ownership of more than one vehicle is a situation which varies greatly in different areas. Garage rental is a strong influencing factor. In some suburban towns in U.S.A., the majority of houses are built with two-car garages, and in such cases as many as 30 to 40 ,per cent, of the car-owning families have personal transportation for each adult. About 18 per cent, of the car-owning families own more than one car, while taking the whole of the American families into account about one in every 10 has two cars or more for its members. This deduction was arrived at from a survey of the following table:— Total registrations (last year) .. 19,237,000 Cars owned by business houses 1,140,000 Private family motor-cars .. 18,097,000 Number of families 27,500,000 Number of families owning car* 15,317,500 Cars remaining after allotting one a family 2,779,500 Here are a tew of the reasons put forward by the Automobile Association of America for the running of more than one car:— One for father's business, one for family. One for rough usage on farm, one for going to town. For school and for family. Old car worth more to user than at resale. Cars at low prices make two available for former price of one. All adults in family need individual car.

In many cars still in service the radiator is mounted directly upon the front frame cross member. In this position it is subjected to the stresses of road shock and is likely to become loosened. This accounts for a great deal of the noise in many of the older cars. An effective remedy is to cut an old inner tube into strips to make a cushion between the base of the radiator and the frame. Care should be taken to make the mooring bolts absolutely tight in order to obtain the advantage given by the rubber cushion.

. MODERN TREND. CHASSIS LUBRICATION. CAR OWNER LOOKED AFTER. The modern trend of motor-car design has been towards relieving the user of all work or adjustments which could be done automatically. The idea underlying motor-car development is to make motoring easy and time-saving. The machine itself has been developed along the line of being self-lubricating and almost selfadjusting. All unnecessary mechanism has been eliminated, and the vehicle has been made as self-maintaining as possible. Probably the extensive use of th# motor vehicle by women and the wide adaptation of it by the owner-driver who cannot afford a chauffeur and whose business leaves him little time for giving attention to the car, have been the causes which have led the designers and manufacturers to devote so much attention to details which, in earlier days, "were not considered important. Chassis lubrication has now been recognised as being so important a matter that it is receiving unusual attention at the hands of those who are interested in catering for the modern user of self-propelled vehicles. It is obvious that the greasing of all the transmission and suspension mechanism of the car—often (generally) concealed behind and below valances and running boards—is not a job suitable for the woman driver. Neither is it a job which should be imposed upon the much-occupied business or professional man who wants his car readv and fully equipped for the road at all times. From the maker’s point of view, again, the simplifying of this lubrication makes for longer life and wear, an j better and more efficient operation, and must add to the reputation of the nrm who completely provide for it. various forms of automatic chassis lubrication are now on the market. They are also installed in a large number of well-known cars, and will be found in large numbers as the importance of the matter becomes more evident to motorists and to makers. All motorists will be glad to see the developments in this direction and undoubtedly they will have the effect of increasing the popularity of motoring hy removing a very real objection which many people have to the time and expense—attendant upon the proper care of the car in the vital matter of lubrication, and in getting longer life and better service for the capital laid out upon the vehicle.

ONLY WHEN NECESSARY While the motor-car horn is one of the most necessary parts of a motorcar, some drivers think that it is intended to be there for use—and abuse —on every conceivable occasion. It is common to hear impatient motorists tooting during the periodical hold-ups at intersections, especially if some unfortunate driver happens to be a little late in getting off the mark. The practice is childish, and merely brings ridicule from the sensible citiNo driver wishes to stay longer than necessary at a crossing, and everyone is off promptly unless some mechanical defect or traffic itself ties him up.

ACTIVE PROPAGANDA The British motor trade delegation which visited New Zealand recently has returned to London. The delegation has advised British car manufacturers that active propaganda will be necessary if the ground lost in Australia and New Zealand during the war is to be regained. The delegation considers that road conditions in the British Dominions •overseas have very seriously to be taken into account by British motorvehicle manufacturers, and that the latter must bestir themselves in -tn effort to devise a workable scheme that will help them to tide over the time that must elapse before roads in Australia and New Zealand are laid and maintained more or less on the lines adopted in Great Britain to-day. • • • Making good time is a matter of driving consistently at a reasonable speed. This rate should be neither so fast as to be dangerous nor so slow as to kill the pleasure of motoring. A magistrate recently said that a man who invented a really effective silencer for motor-cycles deserved to have a public monument. We disagree: we feel that he should be rewarded in fcome way.

CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS

SUDDEN DECISION DANGER. A good rule for driving is: “Don't do anything suddenly.** This goes for stopping, backing, changing direction, crossing railway tracks and approaching street intersections. Most accidents are caused by onc'o haste, one’s too sudden action of some sort. Crashes between cars are almost always caused by one driver's sudden decision to do something other than he has been doing. He suddenly decides to turn or to pass another vehicle, or to stop or to increase speed, or simply *o go ahead. The driver approaching or coming up from behind has no time to adapt his actions to the sudden decision of the first, and in a flash the accident has happened. If motor-car dealers, generally, in teaching customers to drive or io other contacts with them, would em phasise the necessity for delibera’i and watchful changes in the driving ol every car, it would help cut down tlv accident toll.

Loose gravel or wet cloy will j. car to skid at times at the least touut of the brake.