HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20248, 17 July 1937, Page 28 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

LONDON CAR THEFTS. SIX THOUSAND A YEAR. REMOVABLE PARTS ARE TAKEN. More than 6000 -oars a year are reported stolen to the Metropolitan Police in London. Complaints are at

present particularly numerous in north-western districts of London, but the yearly total varies little; an epidemic in one district follows a decline in another (writes a contributor to the London Daily Telegraph). Nearly all the cars are recovered. When the monthly figures are checked there are usually only from four

to seven of the 500 lost remaining unaccounted for. They are not always recovered in as good condition as when they were lost. Joy-riding accounts for most of the thefts, and generally the owner gets his car back within 48 hours. The registration number is first broadcast to all metropolitan police stations, and if the car is not brought in within a certain time, the engine number and other details are circulated throughout the country.

Thanks to this and the registration system, stealing to re-sell has become too difficult to be common. Since a certain elaborate organisation in London for re-painting and renumbering stolen cars was broken up two or three years ago, little of this has been done. But often a lost car is recovered minus everything removable —tyres, lamps, cushions, even the ignition coil and dynamo are taken.

No place is safe from the car thief. ! He raids official as well as unofficial ! car parks, and helps himself from cars | left in front of houses, shops and ! hotels. He will even enter a garage | and get away with a car. Good locks, not the ordinary igniJ tion key, will defeat the joy-rider, but ! ; the insurance experts say that against the professional car thief they are of little worth. USE FOR OLD OIL. The old oil drained from the crank--1 case of the car can be used for many purposes, and need not be thrown away. If some of the oil is placed in a wide tin or dish and allowed to stand for several days in a warm situation any petrol which is contaminating it will tend to evaporate and the : sludge will settle. The upper part of the oil will then be partially purified and may be used for lubricating lawnmowers and other implements, or as a preservative for exposed woodwork. Discarded engine oil is also said to be effective as a weed-killer. ACCELERATION PEDALS. Although most cars produced in the last year or so have accelerator pedals which are so placed that the sole of | the foot rests on them with comfort I during a long drive, many older I models have a pedal which is so hi£h, particularly for women drivers, that ! only the point of the toe touches it. i This makes a long drive very tiring. ! It can easily be remedied, however, I by screwing a piece of board to the floor, either as a heel rest just behind the pedal, or, if the pedal is on the I extreme right side of the car, beside j it, so that the foot can rest on it when j the accelerator is slightly depressed. | YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Periodically one is reminded of the causes which lead to a car battery i giving trouble, and new remedies are ! offered us for restoring an unhealthy battery to normal condition. Mr E. G. McKinnon, M.1.E.E., chief engineer to the Exide Company, says that “it i should be understood that if a leadacid battery will not sulphate it will iiot function.’’ From this it might be inferred that the evil of exoessive sulphation is inherent in a battery and cannot be avoided; but this is not the ease, for, i although the plates in a lead-acid i battery will sulphate badly if neglect- I ed or ill-treated, they can be kept ' free from severe sulphation if the mattery receives the right kind of treatment. Discharge from a battery depends essentially on the combination of the sulphuric acid with the active materials on closed oircuit forming lead sulphate in both plates. Moreover, a certain amount of lead sulphate is beneficial in a healthy positive plate for cementation purposes. Without it the active material might tend to be too soft. Normal lead sulphate is in an uncrystallised state. Sulphation becomes troublesome when a battery is undercharged for too long a period (varying according to several conditions), and the lead sulphate passes from the uncrystallised to the crystalline state. This can be compared to a hard shell over the active material in the plates, and, being a poor electrical conductor, Is difficult to act upon by a charging current. Sulphation can be recognised as a hard, white deposit on the plate or plates, but this should not be confused with the appearance of hydration —a sulphated surface is flat, ; whereas hydration has a softer and : creamier appearance. From time to time special battery electrolytes and solutions have been put on the market for which claims are made as a cure for sulphation or Its preventative. Many of these cures or dopes are harmless, but it is very doubtful if a single one can be shown to have any lasting value. In the case of bad sulphation, it is advisable to take the battery to an official batj tery service station for special treatj inent.

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS.

HOW TO TREAT THE CAR. For a number of years car manufacturers and their dealers have delivered automobiles to new owners with the windshield covered with stickers, admonishing the owners not to exceed a 'certain speed for oertain mileage limits and a few other “dont's” which have all beoome obsolete with the great improvement in design and efficiency of the modern motor-car. However, it is well to bear in mind that careful handling and moderate speed is not only essential from a safety standpoint but will add greatly to the life of the car. “That which is gained is not so much in the engine unit as It is in the transmission, and especially in the rear axle,” says Mr Hickey, a service manager, of Toronto. “The teeth on the main drive gear and pinion of the rear axle unit are set up in rolling maohines and these teeth are lapped to a very fine finish through the use of a speoial lapping compound. While this is the finest finish known, it will not stand the heat generated from abnormal service the saine as a set of gear teeth finely burnished through their own reciprocating action and with the aid of a good extreme pressure lubricant. This process of finishing all takes place in the first 500 or 1000 miles if the car is driven at moderate speed,” explains the expert.

FLEXIBLE PETROL PIPEB. Trouble has frequently been experienced in the past with copper petrol pipes leading to the carburettor. The incessant vibration they were subjected to caused them to fracture or else caused the unions to leak, and with age they “crystallised” and became more and more brittle. Some years ago a petrol-resisting rubber hose was introduced with success, and a length of this bridging a gap cut in the copper pipe provided a temporary solution of the trouble. Owing to vibration of the engine having, been considerably increased with the Introduction of flexible instead of rigid engine mounting, manufacturers realised that a permanent solution of the difficulty would have to be found, and after exhaustive experiments really satisfactory types of flexible metal-braided hose have been evolved. SPARKB. We acknowledge receipt of the June ssue of the Austin Magazine. Being i special Continental number, It has several more than usually interesting features. A Tooting man was recently fined for refusing to move out of the way >f a car and breaking the window in i fit of temper. “Mardie, what on earth do you see n that young medical student with whom you go motoring so often?” “Oh, he has such beautiful roadside manners.” Motorist at Highgate: “The police have got me all ways. I’ve received two summonses, one for driving forwards and one for driving backwards.” Perhaps he was trying to do both at once. ' It is not improbable that next summer Sydney’s bus drivers will appear in shorts. Darlington school children must learn the highway code before being allowed to cycle to school. Pity all magistrates are not under similar compulsion before being allowed to dispense justice. Clerk at Tottenham Police Court: “Defendant is summoned for dangerous driving, careless driving, no driving license, no insurance, and one or two other things.” Lucky Thirteen: Thirteen people were involved in a road melee on the Portsmouth Road, Hampshire, recently, when one car overturned, another hit a tree, and two more collided. Not one of the thirteen required medical aid. Passing motorist (to driver standing by his car upside down in a ditch and badly bent) : “Shall I send a breakdown van out to tow your car in?” “No, thanks, old boy. It’s' finished with.” The Tyrol Provisional Government has just sold the top of the Grossglockner, Austria’s highest mountain, io the Austrian Alpine Club for half a crown. A peak price. If the car refuses to start after being left for a period, although It has been previously running well, suspect an air bubble in the fuel system, usually caused by an air leak in the line to the fuel pump, causing that component to suck air instead of petrol. When the car is in motion the pump will overcome a slight air leak, but the leak may make it impossible to start up. Sequel to expansion of the motor industry as well as general industrial recovery is Dunlop net profit of £l,502,700 (against £1,288,244 for 1935). Announced: One per cent bonus in addition to 8 per cent dividend on the ordinary shares. When Mr R. W. Scotter, representing the Commissioner for Road Transport in England, informed I lie IndusD’ial Commission that drivers complained that they frequently became so hot driving during the summer that they had to roll their trousers up to their knees, Mr Justice Webb said: •The remedy may be to provide these men with shorts.” Mr Scotter: “I think there would probably be objection - from the Mr Justice Canior: "I do not see "h> Uil should be. There is no dmibi that one’s legs get very hot while driving in the summer."