MOTOR & CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1930, Page 21 (Supplement)

MOTOR & CYCLING

MAKING MOTORS MIND. HELPEUL HINTS FOR MOTORISTS. (By Max Wall, service manager of General Motors New Zealand Limited.) Careful drivers will avoid sudden' stops except iu an emergency. A general jiractice of the sudden - application of brakes imposes an excessive strain on all parts of the car, necessitating more frequent adjuatmeutfi and repairs than would normally be expected. When a light burns out it is usually due to excessive generator voltage caused by corroded battery leads, broken wiring or dirty or loose connections in the charging eircuit. These conditions can be avoided by taking your car to the service station . periodically for a complete checking of the electrical system. A pinched tube can be prevented if, after the casing is on the rim and be-, fore spreading the rim, the tyre tool is run around the bead on both sides of the casing which allows the tube and tyre flap to slip into place. Trouble sometimes results from allowing benzine to get low in the tank, as this may cause sediment, and water to be sucked into the teed line and carburettor. Leaky valves may be the cause of loss of power. Take your car to the service station for a thorough inspection if performance is not up to standard. Have the carbon cleaned and valves ground if . inspection discloses poorly seated valves. Be sure to keep all.lamp lenses clean. This is easy to do and facilitates the pleasure of motoring and diminishes the chances of accidents. The rear, lamp especially is. apt to become entirely covered with dirt. If so, it is pratieall-y useless. A rattle that is often difficult to locate can sometimes be traced to loose bolts which hold the bumper connections. Trouble often thought to be with the carburettor-sometimes can be eliminated by removing the pipe line and cleaning it. Usually there is a strainer -at the base of the carburettor, or at some point in the fuel line. This strainer often becomes so clogged that the carburettor does not get a sufficient flow of benzine. Before changing the adjustment of the carburettor, it is advisable to find out whether there are any obstacles in the line. A warning is issued to those who sometimes use the clutch pedal for a foot-rest. This, habit causes needless wear on the various jiavts of 'the mechanism affected, and results in slipping clutch. Misalignment of the front wheels or low pressure in the front tyres will cause hard steering, also wheel wobble. Special attention should be given to the battery, ignition cables and spark plugs in cold weather because cold benzine needs a hot spark. A bucking engine is sometimes due to improper adjustmeiu of spark plugs or breaker-point gaps. 'The best time to drain the radiator for fleshing is immediately ai'iei' a long trip.

AUTOMOBILE HISTORY. WHEN THE HORSE WAS A RIVAL. ' Au interesting panorama of the development of the motor industry over a quarter of a century recently came to light when • preparations were being made to move the Olds Motor Works to larger offices. Blue-prints and specifications of engines and parts carried a running story of the evolution of the automobile from little one-cylinder cars to the present multi-cylinder motor care. Copies of old advertisements illustrated the obstacles of thirty years ago. Thon the horee was the keen competitor and many of the advertisements were written to show the superiority of •the motor car over the equine. Another major problem was to convince the doubting public that the -automobile was reliable. This resulted hi such ad-' vertising headlines as “It Goes,” and “Built to Run and It Does.” CHINA’S ROAD EXPANSION. RAPID PROGRESS MADE. China to-day lias more than 30,000 miles of roads capable of bearing motor-car traffic, with' an additional 3763 miles under construction. Dirt roads are being rapidly converted into paved roads. The provinces which at present possess the greater number of usable roads are Kuangtaung and Honan, yet the district between Shanghai and Peiping is steadily growing in the number of motor' roads it contains, as are Chekiang and several others provinces in Central China. In the province of Kukien there were only three motor vehicles in 1922. To-day that province has more than 300 buses running over modern and well-built roads. The highwav between Foochow, the capital of the province, and Amoy, a prosperous seaport, is described as one of the befit in the country. Highway construction in the interior is being rapidly pushed. MOTOR CYCLE DESIGN. PROGRESS SINCE 1920. There has, been remarkable progress in the design of the British motor cycle during the past seven years. In November, 1920, a 500 c.c. motor cycle created what was then a world's “record” by covering 71.0 miles in the hour; on June 27, 1927, a motor cycle of the same capacity covered 100.5 miles in the hour. In 1920 the Senior T.T. was won at an averaged speed of 51.4 m.p.h.: the 1927 event was won at an average of 68.4 m.ph. Even more marked is the contrast in the junior events, where the figures are 41.2 and 67.2 m.p.h. respectively. The remarkable speeds attained in the Isle of Man point to improvements in road-holding qualities, acceleration, braking, and general comfort, as well as in matters of power output. Moreover, in the matter of price year by year has shown a steady decrease in first cost. At the same time specfications have been greatly improved; three-speed gea rs, larger tyres, and luxury fittings, such as flexible top saddles, knee grips, steering dampers etc., being incorporated iu the accoutrements of popular’ priced machines. Ira 11)14 the popular 500 c.c. single -cylinder

belt-driven models sold at with three-speed gear at £6O. 10-day although the cost of practically every commodity has been doubled, tiebled, and even quadrupled, one can buy a good 50(1 c.c. machine with three-speed, chain drive, mechanical lubrication, and many other improvements, at approximately £45. ,

The desire for higher speeds has called for great efforts on behalf of the. metallurgists in the production of special steels capable of withstanding enormous strain. Particular mention should, be made of valve steels: not only has the liability to corrosion by the hot gases been overcome, but, whereas a fow .years ago, valve breakages were a common occurrence, to-day the designer, confident of the reliability of the material concerned, places his valves in such a position that breakage would mean the wreckage of the whole engine. 'The introduction of nickel, aluminium, and tungsten alloys has been largely responsible for this confidence.

Improvements in frame design have been considerable, but three distinct schools of thought may be noted — namely, those who prefer the diamond frame' the duplex cradle- frame, or the pressed steel frame. At the present time convention plays an important partin the- question; but the pressed steel frame, with its scope for providing better weather protection to the rider and power unit, will probably make considerable progress in the future.

MOTOR MILLIONS. BRITISH INDUSTRY GROWS. ■ For every motor-car produced in 1907,1 British factories produce 18 to-day at prices which, on an average, are 50 per cent, below the pre-war level. These and other striking facts arc set out in a booklet entitled “Pride of Achievement,” which lias been produced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (British Manufacturers’ Section). It announces the start of an extensive campaign to regain the. overseas markets that were lost as. a result of the war, and tells the history of the remarkable progress made by the British motor industry at home during the last 30 years, in face of many difficulties and fierce, competition. The British section of the society has opened offices in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa,as first links in a chain that is to connect world markets with th-? British factories. During the first eight months n 1929. Britain exported motor vehicles, cnas-sis and parts to the value of £7,000,090. an increase of over 25 per cent, on the corresponding period last year. In 1913, states the booklet,. Britain had just commenced to develop overseas markets, and had exported 90(H) cars that year, when

the resources of the industry were turned to the manufacture of lorries and tanks for the war, and the export trade was strangled. “The stage is now set for an era. of expansion, throughout the world,” continues the booklet. “British manufacturers were, never more to do their best, not only-for the welfi'ie to the industry, but in order that th<y may play their part in maintaining British commercial prestige.” In 1900 there wecr only 3000 motor vehicles —including private cars, cals and commercial vehicles —on the roads of Britain. As a result of a 1000-mile tour of motor-cars throughout the country, organised by the Automobile Club ' (now the Royal Automobile Club), the number of motors multiplied over sevenfold in five years, jumping to 23,000. Last year Britain reached a record output of 215,000 motor vehicles, and the industry employs- directly and indirectly, close on half a miHi<m nieir aml women. AMERICA’S CROCKS. Believing that inan.V motor accidents are the direct result of the use of old,

worn-out cars, motor manufacturers in America have, formed a committee to organise a campaign to scrap them. The committee has the support, of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, and it estimates that 400,000 old cars will, be sent to the scrap-heap this year, in addition to the normal scrapping, which is couistautly goinw on. The campaign is being financed by the motor m.anufactureri? to the extent of 15 millions dollars, ami it ia hoped that with the numeroiif? safety features of new cara. it will result in a greatly reduced accident list. At the best, it can only be helpful and cannot entirely slop road accidents, as there are several other important factors, over which nobody has any control. ’There are unsafe, incompetent and reckless drivers, ami careless pedestrians. INTERNATIONAL TUNNEL. NEW DRIVE FOR MOTORISTS. The world’s first international motorcar tunnel, joining Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada, will be opened in October. The itunnel, which will cost IS.'(HX),OOi). represents the latest achieve-

ment of scientific construction bent to serve automobile travel. It runs under the Detroit River and its construction has been a constant struggle against nature. It is a mile and a quarter long and its lowest point is forty-five feet below the channel water level. It has a roadway of twenty-two feet and an estimated - capacity of 1,000 vehicles, an hour in either direction, being limited to that number by the customs regulations. .. . New Dietliods of vciitnuiivii liuve been introduced and engineers say that the air in every section of the tunnel will be entirely’ free from carbon monoxide gas. In the ventilating towers at eaoli end of the tunnel will be giant fans, six of the blower type and six of the exhaust type. Fresh air will be pumped into the ’tunnel and emitted alongside the roadway at about the level of tlie ordinary automobile exhaust. Suction fans operating through the upper duct will draw foul air through openings ui the ceiling slabs, where it will be conveyed into stacks in - the ventilation buildings. Approximately one million cubic feet of air per'minute will be required under maximum operating con-ditibus,-and a complete change of air will 'be made each !N) seconds.