Notes for Motor Owners

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 129, 5 November 1930, Page 7

Notes for Motor Owners

METHODS IN AMERICA. SALVAGING OF MATERIALS Following the systematic wrecking of more than 18.G00 antiquated motorcars, a leading motor company in the United States announced recently that the salvaging of materials obtained in this manner was practical, and that it was now increasing its facilities for «ontinuing the work on a more extensive scale.

At the present time a force of 120 men at one plant dismantles these apparently worthless hulks at the rate of 375 cars every 16 hours. Many parts, such as tyres, are salvaged in their entirety, and other materials are being converted into useful articles, while the steel is remelted in furnaces to be used in the manufacture of fresh cars ami trucks. The derelicts are brought from dealers at a fixed price of 20 dollars a car. There is no restriction as to make, age, or condition, except that all cars must Lave at least some resemblance of tyres and a battery.

Valuable Parts Removed. The. present method is first to drain the cars of petrol and oil, which, with any grease Ls saved. The cars are then hauled into the building ana placed on a progressive conveyor, where the headlight lenses and lampbulbs are recovered. The spark plugs and battery are taken out and all glass removed. That which is whole or may be cut to useful sizes, is used for glazing in the plant buildings, and the broken bits are sent, to a glass factory for remelting. Floor boards go to a box factory to be used for lids.

The cotton and hair obtained from upholstery and roof are separated, niade into bales and sold. The muslin from roofs ami the better grade of upholstery covers are made into buffer and polishing wheel?. The imitation leather from side-curtains and roofs is immediately transferred to electric sewing machine operators near the con- , veyor line, to be transformed into ! aprons for use in blacksmith and other engineering shops. Smaller pieces and trimmings are made into hand-pads. Dealing with Metal Pieces Petrol tanks are pressed and made into bundles to be taken away end treated for the recovery of terne steel. Overhead compressed air wrenches unscrew the wheel nuts, and when the wheels are removed the tyres are inspected. If the tread is good they are sold as used tyres; otherwise the entire unit is placed in automatic shears, which shear both tyre and rim. The tyre is quickly stripped and tossed into a waiting cart to be sold as old rubber, while the rims join others for use as furnace scrap. Hubcaps are salvaged for aluminium, ignition wire for copper, oil cups for brass, bushings for bronze, and other bearings for babbit. All metals are kept separated by depositing each kind in steel barrels.

As the conveyor-propelled and now all but dismantled cars reach a station

near the end of the salvage line, men with oxygen torches burn the engines

loose from the frames. Hoists are attached to the engines, which are swung into a. washer containing boiling water and soda ash to expel all grease and dirt. Meanwhile what is left of the cars continues on the conveyor into a 20-ton press which crushes them. The remains are then transferred to the third c-onveyor, which carries them to the furnace doors. CHECKING STEERING Several points must be observed in cheeking up the case of steering if anything like a satisfactory adjustment is to be expected. The first and most important is to be sure there really is something wrong with the steering gear.

Never judge steering at night, because that is W’hen fatigue is apt to be misleading. Also the tyres should be properly inflated before the test is made.

The next step, if stiffness is still observed, is to jack up the front wheels. This eliminates the matter of tyre drag. As the wheels are swung back and forth any general stiffness will suggest seeing if the gear needs lubricant. Stiffness at just one point is usually an indr ion that the gear itself needs adjusting.

Much time can be saved by testing with the wheels jacked up, because in an unusually large number of cases the trouble is in the gear itselff and not in the connections alignment or other factors which figure only when the car is in use.

SPARKING PLUGS ADJUSTMENTS AND CLEANING “Sparking plugs should be seen—. not touched” is evidently the motto of many motorists. It is doubtful if one in 10,000 ever adjusts the gaps. Very few of those who complain of difficult starting, uneven slow running and misfiring appreciate the fact that the points gradually burn away and that the gaps want adjusting accordingly and accurately. How many know that the correct gap is wider in the case of coil ignition, compared with magneto? Now, before running round to- the garage, opening the bonnet and taking out the plugs, search the tool kit for a gauge, which most likely will not be there, and then repair to the depot where they sell a feeler gauge of the correct thickness for the ignition system installed. It is not a good practice to set the points by the thickness of a visiting card or the ragged edge of a much-used knife blade. And donot bend the central electrode when trying- to make the points meet. When the plugs arc out they may as well be cleaned, and if the plugs •are of a demountable type they should be taken to pieces and the job done thoroughly.

Efficient operation of the plugs makes a wonderful difference to the running of the engine. A MAGNETO HINT. Should the spring in the magneto break a good repair for the time being can be made by removing the broken member and passing a small but stout elastic band around the points—if you have a rubber band.

TYRE ECONOMY.

There is probably no surer way of reducing the running expenses of a

motor-car or motor-truck than to reduce the speed to within reasonable limits. The best illustration of how high speed wears tyres is the fact that in all the I big long distance road and track races held in various parts, of the world, specially built racing tyres have often to bo changed. Even on a special track surface, covers are frequently worn out in distance events, yet Those same covers would under ordinary driving conditions, ami carrying double the weight, last many thousands of miles on road surfaces far inferior to a racing speedway. Sudden acceleration is another destructor of tyres, as also is the harsh application of brakes. The present era of improved roads and performance has brought about higher average speeds and greater acceleration, and although tyres arc built to-day that stand up to the new operating conditions in a wonderful manner, the life and mileage of those tyres can be considerably extended by a reduction of travelling speed, particularly when in excess of 30 miles an hour. An idea of speed effect on tyres can be gathered from the fact that a tyre running at, say 20 miles per hour has a life of 15,000 miles; at 40 miles an hour its life would be reduced to 10,000 miles, and at 60 miles per hour is 3300 miles. SAFETY FIRST. Traffic conditions in the neighbourhood of all the great cities of the world are now becoming so congested that super-efficient brakes are of primary importance. Motor-car manufacturers have realised this, and modern cars arc all fitted with four-wheel braking systems, which give the driver the ability to pull up in an emergency in remarkably short distances. So far, motor-cycle design has hardly kept pace with this development of fourwheel brakes on cars, but notable exceptions arc some of the 1930 models which are fitted with interconnected brakes of very large diameter. Application of a single brake pedal, conveniently placed close to the offside footrest, provides the maximum braking power on both front and rear wheels, thus giving these machines a decelerating power superior to that of even the best of cars. Careful tests have shown that the braking effect is so great that it gives a coefficient of friction,between the tyre and the road of more than unity. This sounds impossible at first sight, but it is due to the interlocking effect of a pneumatic tyre with the relatively rough toad surface.