MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 180, 25 April 1919, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By Clutch.)

"Assembled" Cars,

A motoring correspondent ot file London "Times" mentioned in a., reueiit isfiuo of Hint journal that n British firming old-established engineering concern which lnis ij eo „ occupied with extensive inrcmft production—not long ago announced its intention of building an "assembled" car. It' anticipations, are realised, 18.0(H) completed cars will eventually be turned out yearly under this lilnn. This year Hie maker contemplates nu output of 501 M) completed cars; orders for component parl.s to this extent have Already beon placed. There is olio important: divergence in .this llritish enterprise, the correspondent adds, irom the general American practice, which is to Luild "composite" oars from standard laj'ts supplied to any and every buyer. ''The same make of engine may appear, for example, in a dozen or more quite trustworthy "assembled" American cars. The British maker lias made an improvement hero, for although somo halfdozen conccrns will be interested in the completed car, eacli component has been specially, designed to precise requirements, and is being manufactured with only tins particular car in view. One firm has designed and is building the engines; another hns tho work of designing and making the axles, gear-boxes, and transmission generally; a third is concerning itself with the frames* and springs; the wheels are being dupplied by a fourth, and another is building the electric lightinng sot and engine-starter. Tho sponsor of tho whole enterprise, whoso name the env takes, is building the coachwork and assembling the vehicles in the big erecting ihops that fame into being for aircraft construction during tho war. Buyers of this composite car will have the advantage, of tho combined brains, experience, and manufacturing resources of a number of firms, each already a specialist in its own line, anil each with a long and successful record behind it. Only actual experience however, can decide whether the "assembled" car can equal in performance the more individual product. It'is estimated that tho finished car, which is to to bo sold complete with a live-seated touring type of bod} - , will cost .£l5O, which is said to be mual to a pre-war figure of £125. If tha estimate be well founded 5 — there is every reason to give it credence—the slight increaso of .£25 per car compares very favourably with the approximate 60 per cent, increase nil pre-war prices which many other., makers are claiming as inevitable. If tho experiment proves a success, it must have the effect of encouraging other combinations along similar lines." War-Enforced Simplicity.

The greatest feature of tho automobile year 1919, according to an American authority, is the absolute lack of "newfangled" inventions for nwwr-oars—the retention of all that is good in the cat's of Inst year, and the elimination _ of those things that wore found bad, without the introduction of a lot of untried mcchanical features. "Many a good car lias been discarded," lie adds, "bevies some ensineer uf tbo company an untried mechanical device of some kind, and this thing failed to work. _ It is the war, of course, that for the time has lemcssed the irresponsible, discoverers ol mechanical fallacies. This season tno buyer will be able to select his now car with reasonable assurance that it will iJM'forin. In former years there were so many alluring new features, mechanical, electrical, and carburetion innovations, so plausible they were apt to fool the raechfuiieaUv-incliiwd liwman, that ■it the end of show week iiuvers found themselves more undecided and confused than when (hey first entered 'he big exhibition hall. Next soason will reinstate the old order of things by the introduction of a new order of tilings, ad infinitum, I lint afraid.' Already .the factories arc besieged with ideas by inventors/and discoverers who insist wo ought to. scrap every 'snown principle in motor-car design and adopt others on the grounds that 'they proved ip in war service,' A Cure for Squeaky Springs. Oue of the most annoying tilings about a car .is a squeaky spring. Plain oils ■and greases squeeze out and permit friction between the bare niotal at the leaves. Tlw proper lubricant, according ,to au exchange, is one. that will form a tough, enduring film between the leaves, preventing a, metal-to-iuotal contact. "Jack ui) tho car so that all the weight Is oIY the springs, anil spread _the leaves auart with a screwdriver or instrument provided for that purpose. Then smear a creamy mixture of kerosene and motor graphite between the leaves. Springs thus treated will ride much easier, and will bo entirely free from squeaks." Here and There. When the engine runs jerkily Hie obvious cause is,carburettor trouble. To locate the trouble primo file carburettor a'ld watch for dripping. If there is no dripping the trouble lies between the tank aiid tho float valve. If there is free dripping tho trouble, may be looked for between the float valve and the engine cylinder. A few strips of tightly woven cloth, perhaps two feet long- by n loot wide, make very acceptable emergency blowout patclnk By winding 'lengths of these cloths around the tube at places where'there is a break ill Ihe .casing a further blowout .will be prevented, as tho cloth is strong enough to hold the tube within bounds. The ordinary way of removing -~old bushings from spindle arms, etc., is by hack-saw or punch. 'Here is a simpler rueihod of doing the trick! Place the Pi'i't to be operated on in a v'ce, and give a hand tap of the size >that will thread a hole in the bushing a few turns in. If a rod or bolt is now pushing, in f"om the other end the tap may be driven out without difficulty and tho old l>usl\ing will come with it. Onco a week or so it is advisablo to ouen the drain cock at the' bottom of the vacuum fuel feed tank. It will generally be found that a few drops of rust and water will flow out before any petrol. Somcties it is necessary to push a wire up the drain cock to start a (low of iiiiv sort. The inference is that unless this foreign niiitter is removed at regular intervals carburet:on troubles mav ensue. , I.ightiii;,'-up time:—To-day, '5.8 p.m. Next Fridaf, 4.09 p.m.