TAKING CARE OF THE CAR

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

TAKING CARE OF THE CAR

NEW 'DEAS, NEW METHODS

UPKEEP EXPENSES KEPT DOWN.

TASKS THAT APE EASILY DONE

(By

"Autoscribe.”)

There was a time when a man cither played golf or owned a car, the one being about as strenuous as the other. That was in the bad old days, when motor manufacturers seemed to take a special delight in making as inaccessible as possible, and when even a puncture had to be looked on as a major breakdown nceessitatinr. an annoying interval for mending the tube. Nowadays with spare rims and wheels, bettor body finishes, chromium plating, and improved methods ot lubrication, . the lot of the motorist is a much happier one. Added to that are the improved service facilities no w available, with high pressure lubrication taking only a few. minutes, and major repairs only a few hours. Many motorists never bother to do their own oiling, and greasing, but ! others delight in doing it as it keeps i them in better touch with their cars | and enables them to see minor defects | before they have gone -too far. The i same applies to the cleaning of the ear. So many garages and service stations now have efficient equipment for carry- j ing out this work that many motorists i leave it entirely to them. HOW OILING IS SIMPLIFIED. ; The earlier ears were turned out with little consideration for the owner-driver. The oiling points were distributed aH over the chassis in the form of small holes, and the car owner had to crawl under the car at all sorts of awkward angles in order to attend properly to the oiling. The next step forward was the grease cap, but these, too, were awkward to fill, and the fact that they took some getting at meant that the oiling was often neglected. The pressure grease gun was a very great improvement, the nipples being placed in convenient places, making greasing comparatively easy. Practically all cars are now equipped with this system, and a complete run-over takes., minutes in place of the weary hours taken under former methods. Fortunate, indeed are the owners who do not have to bother about grease guns, but who can, by pressing a button or’ lever. I grease the whole cf the cnassis. This new system is fitted to a good many of the more expensive cars now, and consists of a cylindrical device, oy means of which oil is extracted from the sump and delivered by pipe-line to. an points on the chassis which need oiling. An ingenious arrangement at the various points regulates the quantity according to the nature of the bearing, those needing most oil getting it. An additional advantage of this system i«s that the oil from the engine is warm, and thus readily gets 'into all bearing surfaces.

Another device largely need on most cars iis a thickness of rubber pressed between two fiurfacea of steel to maxe a bearing, which needs no lubrication at all. This is utaed for attaching spring shackles, shock absorbers, etc., the necessary “give” being provided by the rubber. Every one of these fitted to your car means one or two less points needing attention with the grease gun. THE HOOD IN WINTER.

’ There are many little attentions that can be given to the car during its useful life, which wifi extend the usefulness of those parte most subject to wear. Take the hood, for instance,, in the. case of a tourer. There are a number of hood . paints on the market,. and the use ot o- s of these not only freshens no the look of the hood, and thus smartens up the car but also makes a leaky hood 'absolutely waterproof again. The tops of closed cars also can be smartened up ' considerably by the use of one of these . hood paints. Cleaning the ear has always been the most laborious part of car ownership, , I but even this has been simplified during recent years as harder finishes have been used on the body, and ae epecial preparations which dissolve dirt have been brought out. Practically all care now on the market are finished’ with , cellulose, for which special cleaners are :.vailable. , v en these are rubbed on tq dusty panelling, they have only to be left a few minutes to dry, when dust and all can be wiped off, leaving the body spotless again. If the finish ia beginning to lose life, it can be readily treated with a special" polish, which dissolves a little of the top surface, allowing the finish to be smoothed over again. TOUCHING- UP ODD SPOTS. Rust is the greatcut destroyer of all types- of machinery, and once you allow mudguard# ; become rusty, and to remain long in that condition, you maybe sure tnat they will' become weaker and weaker, until they break through. The secret of long life with car bodies and chassis, is rigid attention to the paint, and now that cellulose io so commonly the finish used the powjesuion of a gun is a great advantage, allowing you to touch up any places where the finish is- showing signs of cracking or wearing, and especially to run over the mudguards at regular intervals. Spray guns are becoming more common and cheaper, although they have not yet attained the popularity in New Zealand that they have in other countries. By atomising the finish, they make it poteiblo to retouch any part of the car in such a way- that detection is impci-uible. Yon can never hope to secure the same reunite with a brush, although naturally it« use is much to be preferred to leaving well alone. A spraying attachment is now fitted to certain makes of vacuum cleaner#, so that the use of cellulose looks like he- ' coining almost universal. CARE OF FABRIC BODIES’. ( Some fabric-covered bodies are finished with cellulcee as well, but many are ’ just plain fabric. Where they are covered with cellulose they can be ; Up with a fairly stiff brush, but ‘

greater care should be taken of the fabric itself. A fairly soft brush will get any dirt, out of the fabric, which cm then be cleaned with the special cleaners. These usually contain oil, as well as cleaning substances, and thus give the fabric a beautiful glossy finish, as well as taking off all the dust. When it comes io the actual hosing (if the car, it is ■ possible to buy special brush attachments which fit on to the end of the hose, mid over which the water runs. Naturally these make it ever so much easier to get off all the dirt, and they have the additional advantage that all the dirt is washed away from the brushas the work proceeds.

Many of the small ears which are now so popular have rigid celluloid side-, curtains, while the tourer models of big ears also have a certain amount of it in their side-curtains too. After being in use for a while, this invariably becomes yellow, affecting the appearance of the car, and also affecting visibility. Metal polish will usually, be found best for cleaning up those celluloid curtains, mid although it is not possible to get rid of the yellowish colour entirely, they can be greatly improved by its use.

Of all the measures proposed for keeping the car in good order throughout its hie, none is of such great importance as that which aims at .keeping rust at bay. If the chassis and body are thoroughly protected from its ravages, it is not too much to say that its value for re-sale purposes after two or three years will be very considerably increased, while upkeep expenses will be kept down to a minimum.