MOTOR NOTES. By " Accumulator."

Progress, Volume II, Issue 7, 1 May 1907, Page 251

MOTOR NOTES. By " Accumulator."

The Ford. The very latest Ford sensation is Ford Model " R " which is " an edition de luxe " of the familiar 4-cylinder 15-18 h.p. "W" Runabout ; the body is larger and more highly finished.

Clutches. If a clutch is fierce, scrape down the tacky polished surface-and, to do it thoroughly, unship the whole device-immerse in water (just warm) ior say 24 hours, and then dress with some good clutch dressing-oil — not castor oil or mineral oil ; it pays to buy the speciality.

weather was fearful, and the aquatic deeds of the Mitchell are quite the talk among the " squattocracy."

The Car of the Future. There is no doubt that the car of the future will be the 2-cycle air-cooled motor using a lower grade of fuel than heretofore, or else the steamer, which latter has already " arrived." One has only to experience a run on a White or Turner-Miesse steam car to understand thoroughly the "poetry of motion." It is a wonder the steam car has met with so much opposition so far.

Combination Racer and Cruiser. This boat " Slim Jim " has developed a great turn of speed. She is 35ft. long by sft. beam with seating for eight passengers in the cockpit besides the steerman, is a good sea boat and has reached sixteen knots an hour with only 15 h.p., and has never been beaten by any boat of her size, power and displacement. Her engine is a 4-cylinder Monarch running at 750 revolutions per minute. When first built this boat (about two years

should be kept on your car. Another good book dealing with the motor-car generally is " The Motor Manual " (1/6) published by the proprietors of the " Motor ".

About Radiators. A radiator often gets excessively hot and occasionally the water boils in it. A very frequent cause of this is a defective pump, which results in poor circulation. Also I have found that the necessitous habit of rilling up at odd creeks causes a certain amount of sludge and foreign matter to collect inside and clog up the tubes. To clear this out, throw in a few handfuls of washing soda, run for a few hours hard, and then drain off the water while the engine is going.

A Good Device. The Stepney " Spare " wheel has become standard in Europe. It consists of a rim provided with adjustable clamps. This is carried on the footboard with a blown up tyre on it ; should the motorist get a blowout or puncture, all he does is to clip the Stepney on to the rim alongside the deflated tyre, and then proceed on his way. It is essentially a temporary device, and should be run not more than say 30 to 50 miles. How ever, instances have been known where they have covered quite long distances.

A Canterbury Tribute. Mr. Geoffrey Porter, of Ashburton, writes as under : "My Ford ' W ' has now completed

necessary it is effected very quickly, and with practically no trouble worth speaking of. The claim is also that the simplicity of design decreases the cost of the upkeep as much as it increases the reliability. The new car has come to stay, and ranges from two cylinders to four, with h.p. of 10-12, 18-20 and 20-22.

Unseen Firing. Multi-cylinder cars are the usual thing now-a-days, yet one often notices uneven firing in the cylinders. This may be due to a variety of causes — sooted plugs, uneven intervals between the making of contacts in the commutators, faulty carburetter and faulty adjustments of same accumulators run down, faults in the coils, and trembler blades sticking or points pitted, valves blowing back, etc. ; all of these can be remedied by testing and adjusting. There is another cause which I have known to puzzle one — there are several pipe joints between the carburetter and the inlet valve. If one of these is leaking ever so slightly, it results in an excessive amount of air being sucked into one cylinder or another, and consequently too poor a mixture to explode. To test for this, pour a little thick oil on each joint in turn and watch if it is sucked in. If so, it will be necessary to take down the pipes and carefully remake the joints with sheet asbestos served with £)ixon's pipe -jointing solution.

Some Don'ts. Don't buy " cheap " sparking plugs. Don't stop your car and leave gears in mesh. Don't meddle with adjustments when everything is going well, just to see if you can improve things (that is, when you have friends on board — they don't appreciate this). Don't go out of Wellington without knowing the brakes are right — there are too many declivities in and around the City for this ; also think what a mess you would make of your car. Don't, when you get a puncture, run home on the deflated tyre — use one of these " spare " wheels — the Stepney is one of the best. Don't smoke when you are near the carburetter, or filling the tank.

Recklessness ? One hears so much, about the recklessness of motorists, and especially their alleged ways of driving in traffic. If ever there was a subject with two sides it is this one. Primarily it is self evident that no motorist willingly endangers a valuable car which, in the event of a collision with a vehicle, is certain to suffer damage, and risk a fine more or less heavy. In the second place, we who have been behind the wheel know the quandaries one is faced with so constantly in town ; due to carriages

and carts appropriating whichever side of the road is convenient to them ; while as for pedestrians, I cannot help thinking that it must be the bucolic element who imagine that Lambton Quay is the main street of Featherston, and therefore straggle anywhere and everywhere across the right of way. I should like to take our City Inspectors for a drive through town, and can warrant they would speedily change their views. This is perhaps not the class of journal in which to air the motorist's grievances, still perhaps my remonstrance may catch the eye of those who have authority over us — let us hope with some good effect.