MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 170, 12 April 1919, Page 3

MOTORS & MOTORING

'.By "Clutch.") High Prices. ■ Tho motoring carrMpondeut of an English newspaper observes that the high priccs makers fiud themselves obliged to charge for new tas are carniug as an unpleasant surprise to those people who havo been looking forward, to buying ; cheap motors. "Low pricos," he adds, ( "were expected in anticipation of a j greally increased output from the factor-. t les. Even the most disappointed motor- J ist, however, shoiiM not indulge in t wholesale charges of profiteering without duo investigation and a full knowledge of ; the conditions. The prices now being ( quoted are admittedly, high-higher ovon ] than makers themselves anticipated, nl- ( though it has been realised for some time that tho whole business was in tho melt- ( ing-ixit. It needs no particular commercial insight to foresee that every in- , crease in the price of a oar nariW3 its . market, and although makers have many ■ times been accused of being pcor engi- , neers, it is not often that bad salesman- . ship is charged against thorn. At some future time prices will fall, but those who , want new cats very soon, whether their orders havo been long on the books or not. will do well to harden their hearts and pay the prices asked. Some makere are trying to retain the old prices, but these for the most part are building cars very similar to their 1915 modols, in which held-over part 9 are being used. When existing stocks are used up, even these prices must increase, and makers are covering themselves by announcing that their advertised and publisted prices are subject to advance without notice. Confusion has arisen in tho mind of buyers owing to ft growing practice of advertising that 1919 cars will cost approximately the same as fhoso of 1914-15. Strictly speaking, perhaps, it should be generally understood .that tho "approximately" includes the vastly more expensive labour and raw material charges, which add more than 50 per cent to constructional cost, but in most cases the ordinary person concludes that when "approximately" is used, tho car that used to sell at will nowcost between .£175 and «C 523; those with a fuller knowledge know that tho ,£BOO car now is own brother to the model that sold for i£475 in 1914. With, conditions more settled, priority claims to raw materials considered, and rattled Labour nerves foothed, the factories will ]oe ahlo • to concentrate on quantity production and prices will fall, but it would save disappointment and charges of bad faith if the announcements of, tho makers were worded so as to avoid all ambiguity. Filling Cuts. Many motorists make mistakes in the way they employ tread filler or putty, the plastic material used for plugging cuts._ This material should be applied at night or when the car is not to be used for some hours. Iho cut should be cleaned out with petrol. Then the cut should hare a coat of rement, which must be allowed to dry. Next the operator, whose hands musl be clean and free from perspiration, should roll a little of the putty between his fingers and then forco it evenly and firmly into the cut. Let the repair stand until morning, and tho results will be satisfactory. Testing Cylinders. Locating a missing cylinder is an art which evjry driver nuist learn. Tho screwdriver method is the best. Bun engine throttled down and short-circuit each plug in turn by rMting end of screwdriver on cylinder and leaning side of blade against head of plug. If engino slows down, thijt is a live cylinder. If it does not affect the running of the Engine, it is a dead cylinder. This test works best on a four-cylinder engine. Here and There. When the fan does not run at the proper speed th»re arc certain deijnite causes behind the trouble. The bolt' itself may be oily, greasy, or it may simply have stretched so that it is too loose. The fan maybe too light on its bearing, which may bo caused from lack of lubrication. The pulley may bo loose on the shaft. By process of elimination it is easy to run down tho cause of trouble, and the remedy is obvious in each case. Tho car should never be washed in direct sunlight. If the operation i 9 not carried out in the garage the vehicle should be in the shade while being washed. The direct rays of the sun striking on water causes heating, which tends to dull the finish. In the same way the hood should never be washed when it is hot, as directly after a run. Trouble is frequently experienced in cutting tho vent for a silencer cut-out. A V-shaped vent prevents free movement of the butterfly valve iiftd on so many cut-outs. Here is a way of cutting a satisfactory vent: Cut the exhaust pipe with a hacksaw through half of the pipe diameter. Then saw a parallel, slit and finally another diagonally across. In this way two points can be bent back and sawed off. A little csbestos pnpking makes a tight cut-out joint. It is the work of half an hour or so to take a set of spanners and go over the nuts that arc to be found on lamp bracket supports, tyre carrier, fenders, hood, and similar parts. This will remove from 50 to GO per cent, of rattles and squcjks. Do not leave tyre chalk out of your tool kit. Some of it should be shaken into the cover every time you change tubes. It helps the _ tube to settle inlo place and reduces friction between tube and cover, thus prolonging the life of tho tube. / Lighting-up time: To-day, 5.29 p.m.; next Friday, 5.18 p.m.