MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 192, 3 May 1918, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

: ■■'"■' (By "Clutch."). ■ ■■■ The War and Motoring, When fhe war ig over the motor industry will still bo irith us, but it will bo a different industry, according to tho "Motoring Age," published in America. This journal adds: "True, the car will liavo four ' wheels aiul an engine " and pueumatic tyres, but our 'mental attitude towards jfc will Lave changed. Perhaps before the war is over several of our national characteristics will have changed. Heretofore we .always have aimed at having the biggest-thing. The biggest idea has too often been our false god. We wanted tht) car with the longest wheel-base for a given price. Given two cars, one with 115 in. aud tho other with 120 in. wheel-base, selling at the name price, we wore too prone ■to take the 12flin. car solely because it was biggor, looked bigger, and perhaps appealed to us a.? a better individual advertisement of our pocketbook. Wo have been ton prone to buy the car with the biggest engine rather, than tho car with the most efficient engine. Given two cars of equal price, but one with a ,350 cubic inch engine and fcbe other with a 280 cubic inch engine, vre ■Almost iiivariaWy liave taken the 350 cubic inch one because it was Wgger, without ever' stopping to ask how carefully the combustion chambor had been designed and finished; without carefully looking into the reputation of the maker to balance all connecting, rods and pistons; and without looking into the reputation of the. maker as_ to hia care in finishing bearings, using hichsyade steels and having a reputation for careful inspection of all parts entering into the car. When the war is over wo will .have a new attitude toward the car we are going to buy. It is more than possible that we will, to an extent, liiivo followed the. attitude of the French or British buyer of tho past, who luis been moro interested in the- maintenance cost of a car than in the first cost of it. Before the war many of tho European buyers had a> certain income to live on, and they couln buy a ear, providing its cost of maintenance could -practically ■ be guaranteed. When tho war is over a very large percentage of our citizens will hnve learned lessons of economy and thrift. They will havo learned how much scienco is necessary to live on a certain income, and before they decide upon a certain car it will .be necessary. to give them some rather definite conception of how far a set of tyres tfilUinn, how many miles the car really will go on a gallon of petrol, how many years the car will run before the main bearings of the engine have to be renewed, how many miles of travel the universal'joints will stand, and how many inilc3 of travel other parts will stand without renewal." The .Trend to v Economy. '

Exhibits air the.recent A T eiv York show suggested that American car designers are paying close regard to'economy. Tho inside drive typo of :body was, for.example, greatly increased in number, tho underlying idea behig that many carowners who heretofore employed chauffours will henceforth; drive themselves, and to these tho enclosed drive type of body 'Baturally makes a , , special appeal. Touohing' upon coaohwork, tho elraightline typo of touring..body was prcdoininant, and this tendency, which, wae developingin Europe before the war, is obviously taking a firm hold in tho States. •The- four-seater car, not nocessarily, of low power, but in some cases having, engines rated to 80-h.p. and oven higher, ■Iβ also becoming ■γ-ory popular, being standardised by the, manufacturers and known as the "sports" model. British Imports, and Exports, Tho figures' of. tho • iuotor.-oar trade of tho United Kingdom for 1917 hiive now been published, and show a considerable decline as compared with'lol6. Last year only 5552 cars and chassis were , iniported iroin abroad, as against 8113 in 1916f. When compared with pro-war figures, the decline of tho import trade is oven greater, as will be seen by the following statement, which shows'tho imports in each year since- 1913, the last j-ear of normal trade;—; ■ •: ■.... ', Complete Chassis . .Total Year.' Cars No. •■ No. No.' 1913 ...-.„.;. H,,m . .7,958 14,778 1911 • 7,520 6,649 11,169 •1915 16,655 y.Sil W,m • 1918 5,109 3,001 .. 8,113 1917 .:". 525 4,927 . 5,552 The average valuo per car in 1917 was .£355, as compared with £ISo in 1936. und.d£2ss in 1913, whilst tho-correspond-ing values for chassis were JEG3S, and JE235 respectively. In tho .case of exports of British cars, there has been a continuous decline iti the number of complete cars exported each year sinco 1913,. whilst as regards chassis the number exported last year was "greater than in both 1915 and 191K; though less than half 'what the figure was in 1913. The ipllowing statement gives tho actual figure for the- last five years:— ■ .Complete. Chassis Total Year •'Cars-No. . No. . No. ■ 1913 7,597 1,234 8,831 1911- 6,054 1,430 7,490' 1915 3,279 . 483 3,762 1916 2,483 566 3,049 1917 1,572 . COS • 2,178 The total value of the export trade wns je2,896,000 in' 1917, as compared with A 421,000 in 1916, and JC-4,359,000 in 1913. Here .and T^ere. Evidence of. the drop in Australian motor imports appears in the latest 'figurea, for Victoria. . Ifor February, tho , chassis landed wero valued at i' 35,027; j and for March they had fallen -la It is practically certain that there- whs ■ nearly as great a falling- oil , in this State, and it is very evident- that a serious shortage- .of cars is- .threatened • in the I Commonwealth. ■•-.■■!

Loss., of compression is very, often duo to . insufficient clearance. . between the valvo stems and their tappets, or when the valvo tappet adjustment is cut down to such a fine point as to prevent tho valves-from shutting down properly on to their soats as soon as thu'rs stem elongate under tlio influence of heat from tho engine. If \rear oil the piston rings is suspected, tho crank-case inspection plates may be removed; when-the hissing of air past' the leaking- rings will bo noticed, whilst tho crankshaft is rotated slowly by hand. .In (ho. event of the compression proving faulty on one cylinder only, when this test is applied, the lealcago may possibly bo due to tho rings of that particular piston having worked round in their grooves fo (hat all (he gaps iii tho ring uro in lino; but if, on the other hand, the compression is observed to escape at an equally rapid rato past all tho pistons, then it is moro than probablo that considerable wear lias taken place on the rings, pistons, and cylinder -bores. Tho principal object of the compression, test is to detormino whether • the loss of compression can be rectified by such methods as grinding.in of valves and tho renewal of various washers. and joints, or whether wear has taken place which may necessitate the replacement of pistons, rings, and cylinders, or tho a'lternativo method of grinding out ilio cylinders to receivo new ovoreize pistons. Ligliting-up time:—To-day, 4.57 p.m. I Next Friday, 1.40 p.m. I