MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 2, 27 September 1918, Page 9

MOTORS AND MOTORING

(By "Clutch.") Keepirig Down Carbon. Decarbonising is not a pleasant or amusing job at any time, and ho is a wise driver who studies his engine with a view to preventing the formation of carbon on piston and combustion hoadl Although tile remedy would be worse than the disease if the engine were starved of oil, it is found very often that a cautious reduction in tho oil feed can be mado without any fear of the consequences—most engines receiving a far too liberal allowance of lubrication.. Driving witli too rich a mixture will also add to the carbon deposit, apart from being very extravagant; iff air and. petrol can be controlled separately, the air lever should be advanced until a noticeable falling off in power results; it then- can be moved back until .the power is restored, and this should constitute the most favourable driving mixture. Naturally, the setting will have to bo altered many times en route, depending on various conditions, but this method of finding out tho maximum amount of air that the engine will take should become quite mechanical in time, until instinctively the correct mixture is given nt all speeds. No matter how cunning tho driver may be, however, carbon is' bound to collect, and must be removed periodically. It should not bo forgotten that bright, polished surfaces attraofc far less deposit than rough "black" surfaces. For this reason, decarbonising should be carried out as thoroughly as possible. Undoubtedly tho top off the piston receives a very large share of tho carbon, but, as. this is usually quite accessible, it may be polished with, emery cloth when the carbon has beon removed, producing a slight but useful reduction in the amount of tho deposit. It is impossible to deal with tho combustion head, etc., in tho same way, but much pan Im done by being thorough and painstaking, and by using the best aud'most. practical tools. "Press tho Button" control.

"One day," says a writer in tho "Light Car." "we may have press the button control for all operations in handling a car. Wo aro' certainly making strides in that direction. For instance) we can enter a car, press a button, ar<l the engine starts;'wo can sivitoh on the lights in the same way, and systems have .'been devised, somewhat complicated it is true, ,for effecting a change' of gear electrically. Shall we ever arrive at a time when to drive a car one handles neither steering wheel nor brake lever, touches r.eitlior pedalp nor gear levers, hut merely sits in front of ■an-, instrument board, dopressing a switch to start or stop, to go faster or slower, to. turn to tho riglt or the left, and so on? Look at the troublesome operation of merely putting up the hood in ...wet weather. It is true there are so-called "one-man" hoods and hoods that can be put up inside the car without storjn; that is, if ono is a littlo ainbirous, and can- steer in a straight line while looking in the opposite direction. Fancy if, whon overtaken bv a shower and we wished to raise tfio hood, we merely pushed a small lever or depressed a button and tho hood mysteriously appeared 'from "the recesses in'-Virion it was completely hidden, from .view previously, and erected itself, affording ;the passengers com-plete-shelter. Wo might even go a stage further, and arrange for the com-, ple.te automatic lubrication of a car lo cover nil moving parts, doing away finally with such objectionable instruments as grease-guns and locomotive oilers. _ All these and many other points in connection with'a car offer a fruitful field of' ingenuity" 'for'those whoso talents ' have been expended upon merely destructive work, and one wonders if, after the war, it will not bo possible t.o deflect those talents into coiniuorcial channels,. Mending Tyros, Localising a hole in a tube is sometimes easy and sometimes very, difficult. Some tubes become porous, that is, they allow air to escapo at one or more places fast enough to mako the tube inconvenient to use; but tho holes are so small that they are difficult to find. Special preparations aro sold in tho form df powders for putting inside the tube to remedy porous tubes. One reason- why small'leaks' are difficult to traco is that, whilo searching, ono is unablo to pump air into tho tubo at a pressure anywhere Approaching' tlio working pressure of the tube for fear of. bursting it. '. One method of overcoming this is to inflate the tubo to about lialf normal size,'and, having obtained a long piece of string, fasten one end securely .to the valve. Nest wind the string spirally round the tube, taking enro to make tho spirals regular and at about l}-in. apart from eacli other, and make tho loose end fast, to the valve. It now will be found that, tho tube will bear as much greater pressure without showing signs of strain, as the string supports the weak parts. If the tube is immersed in water, the puncture generally ■ will bo found quite easily. Before leaving the subject of small leaks, • perhaps it should he stated that very frequently they are found to ho not ir. tho tubo proper, but in the valve. It tho hole in a punctured tube is a large ono-it should bo vulcanised.' If small, it can bo securely patched with one of the many patent preparations on the market. In order to get the best results, the proper solution must be used for tho corresponding patches. The'solution of the various makes of these special patches are not, usually, interchangeable. Cleanliness is one of the essentials for success in the patching operations. Here and There. Some new covers are particularly (difficult to put on the wheel, being j rather small and inflexible. In snch : cases it is a good plan, if time permits, j to get the cover on as far as possible, • nrd lcavo it in this stretched condition j overnight. In the morning it will bo ; found that it can Ibe more easily I handled

A mistake that is not uncommon with the average amateur' is to use emery cloth always held in the hand. For rough work this is onough, but it is both easier and more accurate to make.-use of a backing. The simplest form is a flat strip of wood, such as can comfortably be ."ripped in tlio hand, to one face of which a strip of emery cloth is attached with cold glue. Another plan which is useful when various grades of emery are required in succession is to ma'ko a backing stick, ovor which the emery cloth can be folded at each end, ami held in ,placc bv the wedging action of a, strip of wood. Two or three sizes can ho made, the largest to take the full length of a sheet of emery when torn into strips. Jimory cloth is made in different grades of roughness, but for working 011 machined surfaces it is beat to use the smoothest. Lighting-uptime To-day, 6.52 p.m. Next Friday, 5.59 p.m.