NOTES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18230, 14 November 1924, Page 3

NOTES.

"Roadster" invites articles and paragraphs of Interest to motorists for this page. FIXTURES. November 8-I(3—Olympia Motor Show.

When the springs of motor-cars arc completely enclosed, the driver of. the car is very apt to forget their existence. He occasionally takes his greasegun and forces lubricant into the gaiter, tut he has no means of ascertaining -whether or not it is getting to its proper destination. Some designers hold the view that as. a result of the high pressure which exists between the leaves of the spring, it is highly improbable that grease or even thin oil, so applied, would do what ,was expected of it, namely, get between the leaves and stop there. It has been found that cars upon which gaiters are fitted often come in for a general overhaul, when the service department have found that, in spite of the gaiter being full of grease, the leaves of the, springs themselves are just as rusty as if they had never been protected. The little time spent in carefully going over the mechanism of your car say, once a week, is a great insurance against heavy.repair bills, and should be regarded as time well spent. The duty should not be neglected. The owner who keeps himself au fait with the condition and operation of all the mechanism of the car will find that }ittje real attention or adjustment is

The triplex springing of the Overland caT is one of its special features, and. the local agents have adopted a unique method to demonstrate to Show Week visitors their faith in this springing, j They have on the streets an ordinary ! stoolc model ear mounted on "eccentric wheels"—wheels which are set three inches off 'the centre, having short spokes in one lialfi and long spokes in the other. The result of this is to produce a mechanical monstrosity which literally bucks and rolls over _ the smoothest city street. The strain on the springs is tremendous, as those who have riddeft,.in it have good, reason to know;, but the : cat, which is an ordinary model otherwise, takes the extra work without any sign of distress. Needless to gay, tho sight of a motor-car proceeding through the city at such an extraordinary gait, while its passengers are bumped and jolted unmercifully, causes considerable amusement to who behold it. ' Failure to realise that even though the balloon tyre is _ an easy-riding) over-size casing, built for _ cushioning and consequent comfort, it is not a stunt tyre, has resulted in useless mileage losses to car owners, says, the "Goodyear News." The en-oneous impression has got abroad that the balloon tyre is not only built for comfort, but that it will stand rough usage and can be run over the roughest kind of a street,over railway tracks, climb curbs, and take the jolt I and skid that follow slamming on the, ' brakes when the car is maintaining a high rate of speed, without damage. Properly cared for, balloon tyros will last as long and give mileage equal to that of high-pressure casings. An American firm is tackling the used car question in a successful way. They take cars by makes at least three years old and dismantle them completely, using the,, parts sp obtained to build cars which ars, to all intents and purposes, new. Some 70 per cent, can be used again, and very little scrap accumulates. A peculiar -feature of this business is that many of the parts that arc most expensive are used. The crank case, for example, remains as ; good as ever all through its life, yet its value is only a few pence a pound in spite of its first cost. The firm have proved that there is much hidden value in the used car.

required. Bad faults generally ariso from the neglect of small inspections and adjustments, and the owner who consistently looks over his vehicle and attends to these small adjustments when they first become necessary will get better service from his vehicle) more care-free motoring and a better price for the vehicle when he wishes to part with it and make a change.

An American fiVm is experimenting, with the object of perfecting a motorcar whose weakest parts are to be so strengthened that all the parts will tt/ear our simultaneously. The effect will be to prolong the life of the car and r eliminate the need for "spares." How long such a car would last is beyond the conjecture of the most expert expert. Presumably tho car would survive as a family heirloom until the greqt-grandson of the original owner, taking a hill one day "on top," heard a last moan from the exhaust and found himself suddenly sitting on a little heap of dust. Because the balloon tyre will not stand any more abuse than a highpressure tyre is no reason for thinking that it is a fragile piece of workmanship. Given the care tha.t the average car owner expects to give his regular casings, the balloon tyre should give him equal or even better service, because it affords better cushioning for tho car's mechanism, thereby reducing repair bills. It is essential, first that proper inflation should be maintained in tho tyres at all times, andsecond, I stunt driving should" bo avoided.

The improvement in motor-cat tyres of recent yeava has been remarkable. It is now no uncommon thing for motorists to drive many thousands of miles without even a puncture, to say nothing of the absence of more serious "blow outs," etc. A striking instance of immunity from puncture is recorded by the managing director of one of the British steamship this motorist having driven a Eover car shod with Dunlop tyres, a distance of 18,000 miles without one puncture. This is certainly a wonderful record! In the old days of unpleasant tyro memory, the motorist was delighted when he got one-fourth of this distance out of his covers and tubes. It certainly spealts well for the progress in scientific research in the domain of tyro manufacture that has been made within recent times. According to a United States financial journal, the Itrend of motor-car prices in America is upwards. It is stated that the prices of the new .models of several well-known American malces have been advanced.