MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 145, 8 March 1918, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

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Oraokod petrol Pipes. : A cracked petrol pipe, is generally'due to vibration. The result may be 'that the pipe has, swung backwards am , ; forwards, touching occasionally som' 3 portion of the car, or the. metal ma'y have become crystallised and' then given way. Before repairing such a fault the pipo should first be annealed, at the spot whero it has proved defective, Tliis is performed by raising'if to a red heat and then quenching it in salty water. The pipe may then be sti;e ngthened and repaired in either, of , the, 'following manners :—A piece of tin 'may be 'cut so that it will almost <-,d circle the tube. It should be long on/jTjjrh to extend at least half an' incn >/t>,vond the crack at both .ends. The vjufAe of the tin and the outside of I,h' A tube must eacb be tinned, and then -they should be sweated together. A, neater- and quite .as strong a job m'&j: be performed by lapping tho oracJJiCjd tube with Sine wire applied as tightly as possible. Solder can then be run into the coils until they are practically solid.. After once exporienoijig a breakage due to vibration, care should be taken to prevent a recurrence by staying the pipo at the point of greatest vibration, by means of a" light Vracket. Hill Climbing. Are not automobile manufacturers and dealers injuring themselves by puttiug'so much stress on the hill-climbing qvia/.ifcies of their cars on :high gear?: ask.s an American expert. The amateur Mtiver is told that his car can climb anything on high, and naturally he atAempts to do it, with the result that lie ( seriously racks his car by hanging on f 1 to the high gear too long, and then takes a week's wear out of the gears in attempting a frantic, last second change. It is exceedingly poor • policy, and bad_ practice as weli, to hang x>ll to the high gear on a lull until tl}6 engine begins to pound, in the of pulling up the last few yards, without a change, a$ this pounding indicates that the engine is being -strained in a way that, will surely -shorten the period 01 ite usefulness. T"no gear should be invariably .lowered, vhile the engine is sytl pulling freiry; and further lowered ,-4t the slightest sign of distress. The / 'loss iii tijvie resulting from this system of driv'ng can bo counted in -seconds, while, the increased usefulness of the car is measured : by months, and There .' ' A-soft or flat tyre on a front wheel always makes itself noticeable to the driver, because it becomes difficult to hold the car in a straight course. If you are on a level road and the car .shows a marked tendency to turn to the right, you will probably lind that ■', the right front tyre is soft. The pounding and bumping of a flat tyre will attract tho driver's attention to .n. flat tyre on a renr wheel. Silencer cut-outs will .not be found on the cars of the future, according to an. American, exchange. The members of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, it adds, voted unanimously for their elimination. Tho reasons given for the action are:—"With moro than 4,000,000 cars in use and supplying a-great service in ' the transportation »f-the individual and of materials, thjj use of the silencer cut-outs is unfair to the public and adds an unnecessary noise to American lifo Cars have ample power so that the slight increase in speed which may come from the use of cut-outs is of no importance. There may be times in adjusting motors whore a cut-out is useful, but in such cases it can be operated from under the car." Notwithstanding the best fitting goggles, motorists \arn. frequently inconvenienced quite seriously by dust in their eyes, and although it seems impossible to exclude the dust the subsequent treatment for the abatement of the annoyance is quite simple. A solution of borax in warm water will quickly remove the dirt, and may be applied either by means of an eye-cup or by a small swab of cotton, particular attention being given to wiping out the inside of the lower eyelid, where the hulk of the dust will collect. Besides cleansing the eye, this solution will be found decidedly soothing, and to allay the natural inflammation. A series of experiments recently carried out by the British Fire Prevention Committee shows that the best way to extinguish a small petrol fire is to spread over the burning liquid a mixture of 10 pounds of bicarbonate of soda and 12 pounds of common sawdust. The sawdust need not be wet, hut must he free from chips and shavings. The theory is that the sawdust, by floating-on the burning liquid, excludes the oxygen of the air, and the ]ieat of the flames generates carbonic acid gas, which helps' extinguish the fire. Sawdust alone gives satisfactory results, indeed better than sand or similar materials. Lighting-uptime: To-day, 6.25 p.m.; next Friday, 6.14 p.m.