MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2740, 7 April 1916, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

IB? CLTJTCH.i

Weather-proof Finish. I'lte earner motor-ears wore noted for the eninellismnent of body mounting, 'i'ue amount of urasswork visible was n consideration in appearance, and tho work it entailed to keep it m a presentable state was great and incidentally expensive. Labour for cleaning and polishing is becoming more difficult to obtain, and the demand for bright shining finishes is fulling otf. 'iue dull, black finish, when first used on the American cars was not favourably received in other countries, especially England. Now it seems to ho better understood, and its appearance is becoming general owing to the discovery regarding its durability in all weathers. The particular kind of stoved enamel or other coating used to produce this finish seems to withstand bad weather. The dampness and fogs of winter are ruinous to Jbright brasswork. No expedient such as greasing or lacquering seemed to avert this result for long: The newer coating, though it lacks that lustrous finish sometimes desired, gives sound and practical results in wearing qualities. Highly-polished or burnished work will gradually give place to the plain, dull finishes with a limited amount of brass or plated detail to relieve the uniform dullness. Electrlo Starting. Touching the movement to dispense with tho magneto some interesting remarks are made by a correspondent writing to an English newspaper. In advising that the megneto may be done without, he says that this is already being done in the States, where it i'a to-day possible to buy electric startinglighting devices for a lower price than the cost of. a cheap magneto, and a, starting-lighting outfit, together with au ignition distributor for about the same price as has been charged for tho best-class magnetos alone, further, as showing _how rapidly the German invention is being ousted by the triplefunction electric machine, only thirty, three models of American cars out of about 200 will use the Bosch magneto this season. As n result the Bosch firm has been forced into adopting its own elcotrical _ system of starting, lighting, and ignition, which means that the very excellent magneto system of iginitioii will soon bo written off as a thing of the past in the States. "It is now;np to us," the correspondent adds, "to do tho for British electrical ignition and lighting systems are equal to. if not fetter than, any others, and they can ne made just as cheaply." . Claring Hoadlights. Any motorist who does much nigh* driving ou roads frequented by motorcars must have noted the growing nui. sance and danger arising from the uso of glaring electric headlights. To drive.mlo'the dazzling rays of such light on-a crowded thoroughfare is absolutely dangerous. Such lights are' not required on city roads, and unless motorists themselves use discretion in this direction, it will not be long era tho dimming of such Tight will bo mado compulsory. In America tho electric headlight glare has already caused much anxiety, adverse legislation, and ill feeling, so much so that the Society of Automobile Engineers has officially recognised it as demanding immediate attention. A series of tests have been worked out which may be ,used as a standard definition of what constitutes a .dangerous glare, and the results of such tests will be submitted to manuheadlights, with a'view to diminishing the glare—which is something quite difFeront from thei strength of tho light itself, headlights of comparattvely low candle-power and shortdistance efficiency, yet are abnormally glaring to the eye of tho observer stationed somewhere'in front of the car.. Future headlights are to be constructed according to scientific formulae, eliminating the glare but thoroughly retaining the far-reaching effects of a searchlight upon the road itself. Here and There. Lighting-up time for motor-cars and motor-cycles:—To-day, 5.40 p.m. Next f< nday, 5.28 p.m. A well-known automobile engineer has said" that more cars are every day progressing on the road to the scrap heap through destruction by rust and corrosion than from any other cause. To such an extent is the damage result! mg from these agencies feared by rail-, way organisations, which within recent years have become large owners of steel passenger cars, that special instructions have been issued to keep every fraction of metal well coated with paint specially adapted to steel protective purposes. /' The presence of water in the crankchamEer of the engine will frequently puzzle the.'motorist who attends to his machine himself;- and he will often seek for the explanation in many directions before lighting ou the correct one. The reason is simply that water is one of the products of combustion in the gns engine cylinder, and its presence is to be.expected in every motor though there are. reasons why certain motors will collect more than : others. At the temperature of the explosion this water exists':in the cylinder in the form of super-heated steam at high pressure, and however tightly the piston rings fit the cylinders there is always bound to be some slight leakage past them into' the crank case of the motor. Here the steam expands rapidly, and cools down until it condenses into fine globules of water on the cranlr>case walls, and gradually finds its way to the lowest point.