MODERN MOTORING.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LI, Issue 36, 9 December 1929, Page 4

MODERN MOTORING.

THE CAR OF TO-MORROW. LIGHT, FAST, ECONOMICAL. “Within ten years, automobiles will safely travel 100 miles an hour, weigh less than 10001 b., sell for less than £2OO, and cover 80 miles on a gallon of petrol. ’ ’ This is a prophecy of Mr Charles F. Kettering, president of General Motors Research Corporation. “Lightness of construction is one of the things we have learned from the aeroplane, ’’ said Mr Kettering. “Until 1920 we used to boast of how heavy our cars were. Now a chief selling point is how light they are. Aluminium, lvnite, and invar all came into motor car construction by way of the aeroplane. Just now we are perfecting for commercial purposes a new metal 15 times stronger than nickeled steel, yet only onethird as heavy as aluminium. We figure that we can allow about 41b. per horse-power in making motors ot* this new metal. Thus*, a 50 h.p. motor would weigh only 2001 b. “Light weight and improved methods of earburetion are going to double the mileage we can get on a gallon of benzine. I also believe that many parts will be eliminated on the motor car of the future. The whole method of gear-shifting is undergoing a series of changes—changes that eventually will do away with the cumbersome shifting lever.- Shifting, braking, and possibly steering will be part of the electrical system. “Body design i* due for marked changes’ also. We are only beginning to learn the possibilities of the streamline body in reducing wind resistance. NO LIMIT TO SPEED. SCHDEIDER CUP LESSON. Captain Malcolm Campbell, the famous English racing motorist, who witnessed the recent great air race held at Southsea, on the coast of South England, for the Schneider Trophy, and won bv Great Britain with an average speed of 328.63 m.p.h., relates his impressions of this remarkable event, as follows:—“I was impressed as any thinking person must have been, by the fact that here before my eyes, were men achieving a feat which bupt a few years since had been deemed utterly impossible—yet a feat so full of obvious potentialities that the momentousness of its performance was actually eclipsed by the possibilities which it opened up. That was what impressed ine most —the possibilities. There is no limit to man’s speed. That is the first and the greatest lesson which the race for this year’s Schneider’s Trophy has demonstrated. Speeds of nearly five and a-half miles a minute were achieved, speeds so utterly amazing that when the roar of tiie incoming engine smote on the ear one had to look two miles in advance of the sound to see the machine that made it! Speeds that upset all the old conservative ideas, speeds that confounded all the postulations and principles of those who in the early days of speeds, prophesied that neither man nor materials could stand up to a hundred miles an hour. A hundred miles an hour—and probably within two years we shall see similar pilots, in very similar seaplanes, doing four hundred miles an hour, and after that 500 miles an hour.

“Even then man’s speed will not stop. We shall go on discovering means whereby we can travel faster. Those means will be applicable on land, sea, and in the air. The three hundred mile an hour car is on the threshold of the immediate future. It may come next year. 1 hope that I may drive it. The 150 m.p.h. speedboat is close at hand, if not actually with us—and the 500 m.p.h. aeroplane will, I daresay, come in my lifetime. This race for the Schneider Trophy has demonstrated three things. It has shown that British manhood, British science, and British engineering can produce a trinity of pilot, design, and engine which can beat the worid.’’ LOSS OF POWER. A POSSIBLE CAUSE. Many motorists never realise that a slight tailing off in power in their ears is often caused by the brakes binding. This binding may he almost unnoticeable, and in the case of wirewheel ears the heat generated is radiated from the drums so rapidly that it is hardly perceptible. In the case

hints by the way.

of cars with disc wheels, however, this heat is not so easily dissipated, and the drums will get a good deal warmer. If there is any suggestion i of falling off in power, the wheels , should he jacked up and carefully i tested for binding, i In the case of front-wheel brakes, • it is often advisable to jack up the . whole of the front axle and test the brakes when the Avheels are on lock. It will often be found that there is « a slight binding when they are turni ed fully over in one direction or the . other. This usually means that there p is insufficient lubrication of the unii versal joints for the brake gear. r THE BEARINGS. i , POINTS TO KEEP AN EYE ON. i> Engine bearings should be fitted so . that they can be moved or rotated q freely by hand. Too stiff an engine lt will result in the scoring and wearing f of bearings. Other reasons for enr gine knocks may be worn valve tappets, fiat spot or cam, or tappets _ needing adjustment for correct cleare mice. Piston slap due to loose or worn piston, worn wrist pins, valve y mechanism, timing chains or gears, r cam-shaft, loose fly wheel, or car- [| burettor not adjusted properly are all s contributing factors. A high comy pression knock may be eliminated e by adding another cylinder head gasket. A spark knock is caused by ]■ the spark being too far advanced. A common engine knock results from an excessive amount of carbon in l( . the cylinders. The knock is very pro(1 nouncod when there is quick acceleration, or when ascending a hill. Reiarding fhe spark will somewhat reduce the knock. CAUSE OF FIRES. DANGER OF A BLOW-BACK. Many owners are under the inipres--0 sion that a blaw-back through the carf buret ter is the greatest potential r source of fire. This is true only if a the fire has something to feed upon in 3 the shape, say, of fuel leaking from q the petrol tap or a floodinge arburj rotter and becoming vaporised by the heat under the bonnet. Given a pere fectly leak-proof system, a blow 7 -back fl is not so dangerous as might he imag- \ ined. Assuming that it takes place I when the engine is running the danger is very remote. If, however, the engine stops at the same time that a . blow-back takes place, a tiny flame feeding on a small quantity of liquid i fuel, which may be deposited in the j. air intake as the result of the blow- } hack may appear. If it is not extinr guished at once, the flame may easily s spread to the float chamber. Two _ certain ways of extinguishing the blaze are by the use of a fire extinj guisher or by turning off the petrol, starting up the engine and revving it . at full speed until the fuel in the } float chamber is exhausted and the s fire automatically goes out. 7 ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. SIMPLE DETAILS. j Inattention to simple details con- . nected with the electrical equipment } of the car will often cause considerable inconvenience to the owner , driver, to say nothing of the cost occasioned by such negligence. It is quite easy to blame the dynamo for the lack of output, when the instrument itself is in perfect order. Sometimes one will continue to exhaust the | batteries, which are not receiving any i charge from the dynamo, simply ow- , ing to the failure of a lead carrying tin* current to the switchboard. When a defect of this kind arises the most natural tendency is to rush the car off to the garage or to a service station where electrical repairs are carried out, as a matter of fact it is quite a simple matter to trace out the various wires to ascertain whether they are in good condition and thus perhaps discover the cause of the trouble before putting the car in dock for so simple a reason. Sometimes a small length of insulation ’ tape I wound round a cable that has become ; chafed through, will save putting j the car temporarily out of service, j and therefore it is desirable to make j sure that a simple repair cannot he 1 carried out in the home garage, bc- : fore having to interview the technical [ staff of the service depot about <lej tails that could be put right in a few ! minutes bv one’s own efforts.