MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1929, Page 10

MOTOR AND CYCLE

CLEANING THE CAR. DOING THE JOB PROPERLY. NOTHING GRITTY MUST BE USED. (By “Autoseribe.”— Special to News.) The sight of a friend cleaning hifl much fussed-over new coach with sandsoap on a recent Saturday brought it home to me forcibly that there is a o-ood deal of misunderstanding as to the proper way of doing this most necessary job. Car cleaning is the sort of ■routine job one does weekly for a stait; then the intervale between washings draw on 'to a fortnight, later to a month, and” between the time the first coat of paint -becomes “dead” and a second coat is applied, the car is probably left- to its own devices, with a clean in between seasons. Unless it is done properly, it might just as -well be left alone, and o-ritty. substances such as sandsoap are the last thing that should be used on delicate varnish. , Although it is a monotonous 30b, it should be carried out once a week, and if this is done w‘T probably take less time and less frequent cleanings. The first essential is a plentiful supply of water, and its value is enhanced if there ’is a good pressure, especially for the chassis.

SERVICE STATION OUTFITS.

Many service stations are now fitted with special pressure outfits which give a pressure of about 3001 b to the hose water. Clients can often make arrangements to use these at a nominal charge, and a few minutes with a hose of this description will take off all the rought dirt. One of the reasons why a car which has been left for cleaning at a station usually looks better than the home-cleaned article is that the right materials are used. A strong brush, a large sponge, and a piece of chamois leather comprise the outfit, and these should be in the possession of every motorist. The man who relies on a hose and a scrubbing brush usually scratches the paint before long. Even if there is only the. smallest quantity .of dust on the car, it should not be rubbed down while dry; that will spoil the mirror-like surface, for even dust is gritty, and will cut into the varnish. Mud which is clinging to the wheels for the same reason should be washed off as far as possible. The less brushing and rubbing the better for the pain.

COMBINED HOSE-BRUSH.

It is possible to buy a patent brush for fitting to the hose, this allowing water to °play on to the brush, and so softening the mud as you work over the surface —a most useful feature. Once the worst of the mud hae been cleaned off with water the rest may be tackled with the sponge, still assisted, by quantities of water from the hose. The worst of the mud lodges on the chassis, of course, and here brushing will probably be necessary, especially if the car has been doing duty over some of our back country roads. The art of car washing is to start at the top and work downwards, for in this way you are not washing mud over the part you have already cleaned. r . . . Unless you finish off the job with a chamois leather, drops of water will be left, and these will dry up leaving the surface spotted. For the same reason it is a good plan, if you have been, out in heavy weather, to run over the car as soon as you bring it back to the gaiage —a tedious business, of course, but one that is worth while if you value its appearance.

GETTING A FINE FINISH.

For the .final rubbing-up a specially prepared polish of some sort is needed. Cheap polishes designed for floors are useless on a car, and a specially prepared article will give better results and not damage the varnish. If you haven’t a polish handy, a brisk rubbing with a piece of velvet will give a glossy finish. The fine appearance of the car that, you know is a year or more old is due to care. The type of cellulose finish that is given nowadays will stand up for a long time, if given adequate attention, but not if it is rubbed down with sandsoap when it needs cleaning. A very useful idea, and. one that may save repainting the car for a while, is to have a tin of a high quality car enamel of the colour of your car always on hand. If you scratch the paint at all, you simply apply a little of the enamel before rust sets in. Mudguards are especially prone to damage when the car is left in garages, and a tin of black enamel is a cheap insurance against future mudguard repairs for if left unpainted the mudguards soon rust through. These paints . are all quick drying, and if left overnight will be dry in the jorning. Care with the c’-aseis is equally worth -while, for rust is one of the greatest fe._ of the ear. It is possible to procure quick drying chassis paints which will keep you" car always free of rust. It may be thought that an article on car washing during the winter is rather inappropriate, but actually this is not so. Most motorists aim at keeping their cars in reasonable order during the winter, even where they are used in all sorts of weather, and this care often takes the form of hosing them down, and leaving the paint to dry. Hosing, sponging and drying with chamois leather constitute the ideal method, and as rubbing down takes only a few extra minutes it is surely worth while.

tyre valves.

THEIR IMPORTANCE.

Sufficient attention 'does not seem to be given to their tyre valves by many folk who run cars. In these days nearly all tubes are fitted with Schrader valves, yet very few thoroughly understand its requirements. First and foremost it objects to dirt in its working parts, and therefore the pump should always be given one or two idle strokes before being connected to a valve. Secondly, the rubber parts should be kept springy and not allowed to get hard and perished. Next it needs an airtight cap screwed down reasonably tight with finger and thumb and certainly not touched with pliers. To be airtight the cap should have a sound rubber washer in its head —and not one that has been damaged by the sharp top edge of the valve body. A useful test. for airtightness is to turn the wheel so that ! the valve, with its cap

on, is pointing vertically downwards, then, to immerse it in a cup of water and watch for'bubbles. In the old days valve caps were intended principally to keep out dust; nowadays then- purpose is equally to keep the air in its piopei place. With wet roads, come new problems for many a ear owner. However, they are not nearly as difficult of solution as they wore ten years ago, before the era of brakes on all four wheels, but they are genuine problems, none the less. I‘lven with four wheels- brakes the car on a road surface rendered slippery by rain can play some surprising and—to the beginner —disconcerting pranks, especially—this is a very important point —if the treads of tyres arc worn down smooth, cither on front or rear wheels. To correct a side-slip or skid, when one has room to manoeuvre, is not very difficult, the prime necessity being to turn the front wheels towards the direction in which the rear of the car has commenced to slide. This action, which must bo nicely controlled and not overdone, soon becomes instinctive, whereupon the skid loses most of its power to alarm. It has been said that a car fitted with four-wheel brakes will not skid. This is untrue. Tour-wheel brakes have done much to reduce skidding, but they have not eliminated the risk of it altogether. When the braking pressure is equal on all wheels the tendency for the car to slide sideways is very slight, but it is most important that the pressure shall be equal. Where the brakes are fully compensated the requirements should be automatically fulfilled, but even then the retarding effect may be unequal, though the pressures of shoes on drums may be identical. Where the brakes are not compensated, the owner should use the various adjustments to ensure that the retarding effect is in fact equalised.' For the novice the best advice that can be offered is that he take his car to a first-class garage and carefully watch the process of brake adjustment by a competent man.. It is not as easy as it looks, but it is not difficult provided it bo tackled systematically. After one object lesson by an expert, the new hand should be quite capable of doing the job himself when next it is required. The number of inventions and improvements connected with free-wheel devices for motors indicates that there continues to be much public interest -n the movement in England. Undoubtedly at the back of the matter is the effect which development of this nature wili have on gear changing. Drivers who can get accustomed to every other act in controlling, a car will admit in many cases that they dislike the gear change more than anything else. There seems to bo something in gear changing which is instinctively mastered by some people, but is never learned by other people, try as they may. Hence the elimination or the simplification of the gear box appeals strongly to many persons, and more especially to new motorists. No doubt progress will go on until in effect the engine will automatically select the gear ratio which will best suit the speed and load conditions imposed upon it. One of the most surprising things about many motorists is their apparent apathy as regards the money absolutely w-asted, when driving a car with wheels out of truth. An observant motorist cannot fail to note, when driving along any popular road, the large percentage of cars that have a W’obbly back wheel — sometimes both —due either to the rims or wheels being out of truth. The lateral roll or scraping of the tread of tyres on the road, has such a rasping effect on the rubber- that is is little wonder some motorists cannot get the mileage out of tyres that the makers build into them. In many cases undoubtedly the driver of the car is quite unaware of the wheel wobble, for there is, of course, nothing to attract notice when the wheels arc stationary. It therefore remains for motorists either to jack up the back axle and revolve the wheels to see if everything is all right in this direction, or get another motorist to follow the car on the road and watch whether there is any evidence of wobble. Should the tyres, from any cause, not be running perfectly, true, then the trouble should be eradicated at once, either personally or by expert attention at a garage. Unless this is done, the covers in use will certainly have their life considerably shortened, which is not only expensive to the motorist, but unfair to the maker of the tyres.

CAR AND AEROPLANE.

SOME FINE PERFORMANCES.

It is generally taken for-granted that the speed attained in long distance aeroplane flights is much greater than anything on land, and one is apt to overlook some* of the wonderful performances of the motor car. The recent performance of Kingsford Smith and Ulm in their flight across Australia from Sydney to Derby—on their way to England —covering 2070 miles in 22 hours, 1 minute, and averaging 94 m.p.h. w-as a magnificent one, and serves to illustrate what really remarkable achievements have been recorded by the motor car under somewhat similar conditions as regards duration and distance covered. For instance, in 1927 in France, Messrs. Marchand, Morel and Kiriloff on an eight cylinder Voisin car, covered the astounding distance of 2724 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 113.4 m.p.h., and this, despite the fact that fairly frequent stops were made for changing drivers and the replenishing of fuel and oil, which, of course, cut down their actual driving time and meant that actually, their speed average was considerably above the figures stated. The Voisin negotiated the 2000 miles in 17 hrs. 43min Ssec, around a track in which wind resistance had to be overcome for half the distance. These figures thus serve to prove the wonderful efficiency of the one-engined racing car, against the three-engined power unit of the “Southern Cross.” Another remarkable performance was that of Mrs. Bruce, of England, who recently drove a Bentley car, unassisted for 24 hours, covering a distance of 2200 miles at Montlhery, France,

RANDOM NOTES.

NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE.

When emerging into a main road from, a side turning, remember that a vehicle on tho main road may be overtaking other traffic and, therefore, be on its off side.

To overtake another vehicle, and then to cut across its bows to proceed down a turning on the near side is a reprehensible action.

A straight side tyre can be removed from a rim with much less exertion if tho motorist first loosens the bead of the tyre before unlocking the rim.

Tugging at the steering wheel while tho car is stationary not only imposes undue strain on the steering mechanism, but causes unnecessary wear of tyres.

Thirty-one States in America require the use of rear vision mirrors on motor vehicles.

Draining of crank ease oil should be done after a run of several miles when the engine is hot and the oil is thin. In its state of greatest fluidity the oil will then carry off all sediment.

About brakes which squeak badly there is what may be termed a psychological unsafeness, duo to reluctance on the part of the driver - to apply them. The defect should be rectified at a service station.

The hood of a car never should be folded when it is wet. Otherwise the fabric will ..deteriorate quickly.

A British engineer has produced a car which has neither a gearbox nor a clutch. The transmission of power is effected through a novel arrangement of variable levers.

During bench tests in France the new six-cylinder Bugatti engine developed 270 brake horse-power at 5500 revolutions & minute. The piston displacement of this unit is 4000 cubic centimeters.

In Berlin noisy motor vehicles are confiscated by the police and fitted with silencers at the owners’ expense.

An English coroner recently stated that the most dangerous time in the life of a motorist was when he had been driving for about twelve months. # # # #

A new form of crossing signal has been designed in Los Angeles, California, which allows pedestrians to cross streets while acting as their own traffic officers. A push button works the signal that stops traffic for 15 seconds, after which it automatically reverts to the “clear” position for 25 seconds.

Extreme care should be exercised applying oil to the clutch to give it silence. Unless sparingly used the lubricant will get on the plates, where.it will cause severe damage. If. the noise is the product of a lack of alignment it is better to have the unit realigned than to try oil. * « # *

A peculiar grating in the horn is generally caused by a broken diaphram. A new diaphram should bo installed as they cannot bo repaired. # ■s

An easy way to clean sparking plugs and other mica surfaces is to wash them in a 10 per cent, solution of acetic acid. This quickly dissolves grease and carbon deposits.

If you are using your car tho second or third season, it is an excellent plan to clean out tho silencer, which may have become slightly chocked, with the deposit of carbon. The restriction caused by the deposit can considerably increase the back pressure and be the cause of trouble with sparking plugs and valves. Men with high blood pressure should use extraordinary care in driving automobiles, according to recent experiments conducted by psychologists of the Per-

sonal Research Federation. These experiments showed a definite relation between health and motor accidents. Men with high blood pressure were found to have more than twice as many accidents as those with normal pressure.

Some drivers may desire to grease their cars themselves. If you are one, be sure the outside of the cup has been wiped absolutely clean before applying the grease. Otherwise some of the dirt is likely to get in with the lubricant. Once in the cup it will work down into the bearing, with the opportunity to play havoc w’ith the part. It is also important to make sure that the grease goes completely through the bearing.

Keep on “feeding” until old grease is forced out. O 0

Apart from the fact that a clean engine is good to look at and reflects credit upon its owner, the habit of cleaning, it is one that ought to be cultivated, for when the engine is being cleaned more often than not a nut that should be tightened is revealed, or some other point which needs attention, and which may give rise in time to serious trouble if it is not attended to is noticed. Paraffin is a good cleanser, but petrol leaves a brighter finish.

There is no precise method, or mileage at which it can bo said that the combus-

tion chambers of the engine need decarbonising. Usually it will be necessary’ decarbonise after the engine has anything from 4000 to 8000 miles. Excessive carbon deposit causes the engm to knock and overheat when climbing a hill. Although it is not beyond the powers of the unskilled car owner to de* carbonise, it is a job best left O skilful craftsman in the service station. The cost is not high. # « « There are now 178.014 miles of roads in Great Britain. More is being spent or their development in proportion to their mileage than in any other country, road work grants last year amounted ta £18,66o;ooo. ' " ■ : ’ ..