TOUGH BODY TESTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1024, 15 July 1930, Page 6

TOUGH BODY TESTS

SHOCKS, SHAKES, JOLTS Brutal punishment of materials and construction have been devised to test the Mono-piece metal body used on Dodge cars. In one of these tests, a car was rolled down the side of a mountain. More fearsome is the treatment meted out by the “Belgian Roll,” a mechanical device which bucks and heaves and tries to shock and shake cars to pieces. The “Belgian Roll” is so named because it was designed to reproduce the worst conditions found on the war-torn Belgian roads. It is built in a pit, and consists chiefly of four large eccentric rollers. When a car is lashed in position over the test pit, with its wheels on these rollers, the wobbling revolutions of the rollers shake the car in paroxysms of jolts and lunges. When the speedometer of a car being tested on this machine registers 1,000 miles, the engineers know that its body, frame, and chassis have been subjected to the equivalent of 10,000 miles of the roughest driving. As a result of these tests, bracing, design, and materials have been improved. Flash and spot welding processes used in the Mono-piece body have been proved superior to bolting and riveting. A.A.A. ACTIVITIES Next week the A.A.A. patrols will be active in the Franklin district, visiting Pukekohe on Monday, July 21,. and testing headlights at the same town on Tuesday, July 22. Work will be carried on in the Tuakau district on Wednesday, and headlight testing will be conducted at Tuakau on Thursday, July 24, and Waiuku on Friday, July 25. The signpost patrol returned during the week from carrying out comprehensive work on the No. 15 maiD highway, between Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, and the service officer also returned to town with a vast amount of detailed information with regard to hotels, camping grounds, and touring data. HEADLIGHT TESTING “Motorists whose cars have glaring headlights should realise the nuisance they cause other road-owners,” said Mr. A. Grayson, president of the A.A.A. at a meeting of the council of the A.A.A. during the week. It was decided to charge a nominal fee for the adjustment of the lights of nonmembers’ cars. Letters have been forwarded to local bodies in the association’s district intimating that a patrol will instruct some local officers in the testing of headlights if the local body is willing to co-operate. The Auckland City Council will also be requested to provide headlight testing facilities similar to those previously in use. NEW ROAD MAPS The various maps issued annually by the Auckland Automobile Association are now well in hand for this season, and progress reports on the headway being made with the compiling of each map have been made by the touring manager of the association. The 1930 edition of the road guide is being revised, and a number of new trips will be added to this season’s guide. Information regarding over 50 individual runs to picnic resorts and other local places of interest has been compiled. A map comprising an area of 40 miles north and south of Auckland for inclusion in the booklet is now in course of preparation. Tho annual revision of both sections of the North Island map has been completed, and the folders will include a reference index whereby any name appearing on the map can be located at a glance. There will also bo included a table of mileages which will show intermediate and through mileages at a glance, and can be used in addition to the actual mileages on the map. A list of camping grounds throughout the North Island is being prepared by the touring manager, and will be put in booklet form within the next few weeks. The issue of a revised edition of the Taupo, Whangarei, and Gisborne maps will be considered shortly by the service committee of the association.

NEW M.T.A. OFFICERS The annual meeting of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Motor Trades Association was ' held last week and the following new officers elected: President, Mr. W. F.-Fowlds; vicepresidents, Messrs. G. B. Beaver and R. Pollard; executive committee, Messrs. T. A. Low, J. Harrison, ,T. W. Henley, Walker, Smither, F. B. Cadmau and Stan Andrew. PERFORMANCE THE REAL TEST The Wright Aeronautical Corporation, manufacturers of the whirlwind engines of the Southern Cross, have cabled the Vacuum Oil Company Pty., Ltd., as follows: “Klngsford Smith’s whirlwind engines in excellent condition at completion of transatlantic flight.” Duration of flight, 46 hours 56 minutes flying time. The three engines consumed 10.67 Imperial gallons of Mobiloil, averaging approximately 3.56 Imperial gallons an engine. Southern Cross engines used 10 per cent, less than makers’ allowance.