MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 305, 13 September 1918, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

(By "Clutch. ,, )

Motorics will coiitintto to spwnlatc, in tlie nlisenop of ;u\,v <lircct evidence, as to tin! degrw In which cheap and standardised curs will bo i'ortlicoining afti'i 1 tin! \ynr. Hut there arn other factors besides .jjrinii which have to be borne in mind: and if lliei'o in ono thing above all others that it is certain ivo shall want it will be the car that will give no trouble. All experience has shown that the majority of petty annoyances that have harassed the privnte'oOTicr have been duo to ineffective workmanship or faulty design.' In other words, they ar« rarely typical, hut concern the individual car; find whereas in one car it is, say, the lubrication that is faulty, in another it is the ignition, in another the brakes. Whatever it is, one may he tolerably sure that one can find plenty of other cars that do not display the same fault, and the situation amounts to this— that the ideal car is one which has been carefully thought out and skilfully constructed in every detail. For every;tiine'thnt we have suffered from the use. of a new featnre which did not fulfil expectations we have suffered fifty times from troubles which were; non-existent on cars of even earlierdate. Hence it follows that cheapness is not the only end which manufacturers must have in view; if standardisation is to he any good it must ensure simplicity and freedom from trouble into the bargain. Carburettor Trouble. , The best advice to those motorists who habitually blame the carburettor for poor engine performance is to leave tho instrument alone and look for trouble in the ignition, oiling, or : other place. Once a carburettor is installed and adjusted correctly it is not: very likely that trouble will be en- ; countered, for it stands to reason that ; when a carburettor gives good perform-I ance day in and out, and then sudden- . ly the engines ceases to beat regularly, '■ that the carburettor adjustment should j not be tampered with, apart from see- j ing tliat the flow of petrol is free. Too ! rich a- mixture is the chief, cause of > much carburettor trouble, and yet one j of the most difficult ones to locate by the average driver. An over-rich mixture lias too much petrol in it for the amount of air, used, and, sometimes can be detected by black smoke issuing from the exhaust. In addition the action of the engine is sluggish. Also, if the mixture is too rich, but not rich enough to cause smoking, there will | be a pungent or acid odour coming from the exhaust. One can detect this odour every day on the streets of our cities, coming from cars that are running perhaps every dny on a mixture that uses entirely too much petrol; Too rich a mixture causes the engine to overheat; therefore the owner whose engine overheats easily should havo the carburettor adjusted to cut down tie petrol a little] or increase the air supply. Other symptoms of too rich a mixture are sooting of the plugs, abnormal consumption of jpetrol,. and I diminished Biigine power. Here and There. Although brasswork does not develop rust as iron and steel do. the tarnishing which is usually removed by cleaning and polishing is really a mild form of corrosion. Lamps especially, which are often macJe of thin sheet spun to shape, should net bo left in this condition for long, as it is quite possible for the surface ,to .become seriously damaged. They should be cleaned and given a coat of vaseline or lacquer. It is oven more important not to leave nickel-plating in a'i tarnished condition, for after a time Ao underlying mefcnl becomes exposed, (Mid, short of roplating, the original appearance cannot be regained. A new "ight-weip'ht motor-cycle record has been established in America. The latest holder is| V. C. Short, of California, who succeeded in covering 849* miles in the two rounds of this clock, adding fifty miles to the previous best figures. ■ Tho ride was put up on a 3.} h.p. Olrivelaud, on a. trade nearly two miles A peculiar incident in connection .with the ride was the fact that a motor-cyclist named W. P. Williams started'for the record, but after riding six hours was ftfrced to retire owing to illness. His place was then taken by Short, on tho same machine, and he completed the last eighteen hours, of the 'run, the best time for tho whole day being made during the last two hoi\rs. The previous holder was E. Berfjstrom, on an Indian light-weight. Lightinn-up time: To-day, 5.37 p.m.; next Friday, 5.4-1 p.m.