High Road and By-Road

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18927, 22 April 1933, Page 20 (Supplement)

High Road and By-Road

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS.

MOTOR BPIRITS. As a result of discussions held during the recent conference In Sydney of the Australian Automobile Association, a request 4s to toe made to the Federal 'Government to 'fix standards for first grade and second grade petrol. It has toeen pointed out that under existing conditions It Is virtually Impossible for a motorist to obtain ■redress if an unscrupulous vendor ■supplies him with second grade or adulterated petrol when he has asked and paid for a first grade product. It is recognised that for some engines second grade petrol is more suitable than first grade, but It is contended that the buyer should have some assurance as to the nature of the fuel purchased. Such protection, it is claimed, would toe accomplished if ■standards were defined, and motor fuels were brought within the scope of the Pure Foods Act, under which fraudulent retailers could toe prosecuted. BRAKE DRUM COOLING. ■lt is surprising that cooling fins on brake drums have not toeen more generally adopted by car manufacturers, In view of the increased thermal stresses toeing put upon the brakes,, owing to the greater decelerating powers of the latest cars, states an overseas journal. In bringing a vehicle to a stop, practically all the energy absorbed toy the brakes is converted into heat, so that the temperatures to which the material .of the ■drum and the linings are subjected may exceed the degree of heat at which the metal is tempered, resulting in distortion of the drum and locking of the wheels. Also considerable expansion may be caused toy overheated drums, and this may seriously affect the correct functioning of the brakes. Both pressed steel and cast brake dry ms, when tested, have shown decided changes in their structure due to over-heating, and the strength of the metal in some cases was reduced to an unsafe limit. In the effort to ■decrease the unsprung weight of the vehicle, the weight of the brake drum may in some instances toe reduced, but 'this is not considered toy leading authorities to be a safe practice. A properly ribbed brake drum, many critics declare, is no heavier than one without ribs, and at the same time retains its shape better. It lias been stated 'that toy providing cooling fins, the radiating surface of the drum may be increased more than twofold.

TOOLBOX LIGHT. The selection of tools for making road repairs and adjustments after dark is greatly facilitated if a light toe permanently installed in the toolbox. So wide a range of miniature sockets and electrical 'fittings is available now that this accessory can be improvised in an hour. The socket should be mounted in some place where the light will reach every part of the tool box. The globe should be covered by a stout wire screen, which will protect It from damage, and the effectiveness of the light will be greatly Increased if the side of the globe facing the person looking into the tool box is covered with an opaque screen to* keep the direct rays out of the eyes. The value of the light will be still further increased if 'the interior of the toolbox is painted white or some other light colour. When a light is fitted in the toolbox there is a danger that it might be left on inadvertently if, as is desirable the wiring, and control switch is made a permanent part of the electrical equipment of the car. To eliminate 'this, a pilot light can be fitted on the dash. If the electrical system of the car operates at a six volt pressure a three volt electric torch globe can be used to 1 - light the toolbox and a similar globe can be used as a pilot light. If wired in series the two lights will always light together, and an effective safeguard will thus be provided. BIGGER OARS IN DEMAND. One of the many satisfactory signs ■of the times Is a renewed demand for the bigger and more costly types of ■car which 'has been experienced by several famous British .concerns during the past few months (says Motor). Another Is the steady Increase in export trade. It cannot be doubted that tire suc•cess of the British motor industry during a most difficult period has been in no small measure due to the activity with which technical developments have been pressed forward, particularly in respect of the transmission. No other country can yet show models in production which embody mechanical innovations so important and farreaching as, say, the self-changing gear-box and fluid flywheel. Nevertheless (continues Motor), It will behove our engineers to maintain the pace already set if they are to continue to rival their competitors. The American cars displayed at jVie New York show embodied more novelties than ever before, and Continental designers have been actively developing improved sparking systems of fundamental importance. All of which goes to show that motor car design Is still far from reaching finality.

PASSING OF THE CLUTCH. A new automatic transmission has been Invented by an American engineer. A car equipped with this device will have no clutch to push put or gear to ■shift, according to the inventor. The gears are mounted on over-running clutches which are put in action and held in and out of action by centrifugal governors.

The governors .are operated by the speed •of the engine, and in idling there is no movement of the ear. When the accelerator pedal is depressed the car moves because the. governor lias pul low gear into action. As the ear increases in speed, the governors automatically put the car in second and Dually third speed. If I lie engine slops for any reason at all the clutches are thrown open and the transmission is in neutral. (in hills as soon as liic engine labours it aiilnmalically goes lo second speed, (hi level roads il may he so adjusted Iha I il slays in high as low as live miles an hour, when il automatically changes to a lower gear.

DIRECTION INDICATORS. The need is becoming apparent for some regulation, with a view to standardisation, of the direction indicators which are appearing in increasing numbers on new cars. There s.re many different types of indicators in use, and' these operate in so many different ways, that signals are often confusing, asd do more harm than good. There is good reason to doubt whether more than two signals are really needed —(the stop signal and the signal, generally given by the hand, that one Intends to make a right-hand turn. Most cars are already .fitted with stoplights, which also serve as “slow” warnings, and the ordinary hand signal Is quite 'effective, although It is sometimes difficult to make in modern closed cars. In such cases a mechanical or electi’io right-hand turn signal would be an advantage, but many experienced drivers feel that, to avoid a confusing multiplicity of signals, no further signals are really necessary. SPARKS. The difference between a Scotsman and an electric battery is that you can overcharge an electric battery.

A young woman university student in Auckland has been granted a taxidriver’s license.

-Drivers in England have been advised to wear white gloves to enable road-users to see their signals at night.

Sheffield’s first traffic signals of a type which regulates the traffic by contact of the vehicle wheels have just been set in operation.

Roller bearings have a load capacity some 70, per cent, greater than ball bearings of the same external dimensions.

In this year’s Indianapolis raoe, fueltanlc oapaoity will be limited to 15 gallons, so as -to Increase the number of pit stops.

Series of tests In America have shown that trafflo-actuated light signals save some 45 per cent, of halting time as compared with pre-timed signals.

“Horns play very little part in giving warning, for one side always says they sounded their horn and the other that they never heard it,” says an English judge.

He was going at 18 or 20 miles an hour, and there were a lot of people and traffic about, defendant dodging in and out like a swallow Hying home. —From the Autocar, September 30, 1898.

A revision has taken place in French road law. (Previously drivers gave way at crossings to cars approaching from the right. Priority is now given in every case to vehicles mi the main ■road.

Light oil containing 33 per cent, petrol Is reported to have been discovered in Brunei, British Borneo. A company has persistently searched for oil in that district, but previously had ■discovered only heavy oil in shallow wells.

Of the 20,000,000 cars in use In the United States it is calculated that 20 per cent have outlived their average •of seven years’ usefulness. In spite of the increased petrol tax manufacturers were optimistic at the opening ■of the New York Show recently. They ■anticipated an improvement in sales flgures.

That the Commonwealth of Australia is rapidly recovering its former prosperity is indicated by the Increasing imports of British cars. The number of orders received from this territory by the Morris factory during the first five months of the current season represented an increase of 41 per cent on the corresponding period of. the season preceding.

Lubrication of the cylinder walls of •a cold engine does not take place until about 500 revolutions.

In the first eight months of this year approximately 1,120,000 cars were produced in the United States. This compares with 2,022,000 in the corresponding period of 1931.

The world consumption of petroleum products during 1931 is estimated at 47,00(5,000,000 gallons, and petrol, gas and fuel oils represent about 83 per cent of the total consumption.

All motor cycle riders who cover a lap at Brooklands track at 100 miles an hour are entitled lo a gold slar presented toy the B. M.U. R. (dub. 'I lie Ursl gold star was won toy the tale 11. Lc Yack in 19T2.

Motorists on a coastal road in England were recently held up by a swarm or flies. There were many species among the swarm. They came apparently from the sea, and toy the time night fell' they had mostly disappeared.

During an address given in Wellington on the economic wastage as the result of the deterioration of rural roads, Mr. 11. F. Togood said it appeared that the public and even, perhaps, many members of county councils, had failed to grasp the fact that, £5,000,000 Invested in road crust had disappeared in road dust in the past 12 months. This wastage had not been replaced in the ordinary course of maintenance, and on many miles of roads the deterioration had not been arrested, but was continuing.