MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 166, 9 April 1920, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By "Clutch.")

Reducing Weight. Great efforts are being made to reduca weight. Aluminium, due to its uncertain first-cost and sometimes uncertain ■supply, has not been used in automobile construction nearly so much as it might have been. It seems, however,'. ns . though , this metal- should -answer'■ tho light-weight problem. Aliminimii alloy has a tensile strength greater than that of-steel of -the .same weight. It is mora easily machined, less liable to break, arid gives a smoother, cleaner, more uniform job throughout the entire manufacturing operation. Considerable weight already has been eliminated from cars using aliminium alloy. Some of the most important parts thus made are body, entire motors, caps, cylinder block, cowl board, carburetor,'body, crimk-case, clutch cone, differential carrier, fan, fenders,' fly-wheel.' housing, generato" brackets,- hub cap's; hood, intake, manifold, oil-pump body, pistons, -radia-tor-shell,, rear axle-housing, 'steering-, wheel; spider, spark, and throttle levers, transmission case, timing' gear case covers; etc., ■ etc, - An Anti-Splash Device; ! A recently devised guard to protect the clothing of pedestrians in bad weather is 'supported on tho wheel of a car by means of arms that allow it.'to. move, either sideways or foio, and aft. The arms, themselves. n.ro".carried..to ft. easing' whiii'i' forms the outer member of a ballbearing, ,so .that".the; guard does . 'rot_ rotato-'with-'the wheel, but retains..its, pendent position. ■ On 'encountering any obstruction,on the"road theguard, swings baekwrirds, 'allowing the stone to i pas* underneath, or outwards, the stone passing between the guard and'the tyro Keep Radiators Full. ' . Radiators should -be • kent full, and t.hey. should be-periodically cleaned. Hotsoda. water, allowed. to lie in them for a few hours and then well cleared awav> will, jemovo a tremendous amount of deposit which would otherwise detract from their efficiency.- • The draw-off plugs are generally, .far. top. small. If the drawolf wi,i at the bottom were of the same eliectiv? urea;as the filling nap at the top,, the cloansing. of .the radiator \vith. a ■ hose pipe could be-much more effectively mid efficiently accomplished. >et ao a' rule.- makers-are content to uso v small dribbling tap at the bottom.- for releasingtthe,water. TJbis becomes an annoyance. •■. . • ■■■:• American Finishing WelTiods,

A different mode of motor-ear body finish js.iulopteil.l)}" tho Mherican makers aB compared .'with the European, nnd, Ann-, traksiaii , methods. American makers have gone in largely for sheet metal bodywork and. stove enamelled finish. Sn'eli! a. mefhovl of decoration has the greatest ; ftdv.'intap : when combined with the' Yankee system of rapid . n:ass manufacture! iariie only a few hours are neces-'-eary to get the finish demanded nnd sudplied. On the other hniid the English, Continental, nnd Australasian bodymakers still adhere to the coach painting and varnishing methods which hare mads British carriage work admired all over the world, even before the. advent.-of the automobile vehicle. Naturally there is a great' difference. .in the cost, but what may. seem more important at the present juncture is the time difference between the.two methods. The fine finish got by lei) or twelve mats of paint rubbed down and hardened between each coat, and the' long.. intervals necessary for the real hardening; also flic great amount of handwork-, of the 'most skilled variety, and the care and time necessary _in the varnishing nnd the hardening of the varnish, mean delay in outnut and necessitate a l)i? staff in the finishing department. . The resulting product, however, is such that no enamelled finish can come nehr-itas regards excellence of appear-'' ance.-awl, durability. There is something >

decidedly Klistiiictive about: a well-painted up-to-date car bodv-whic'!: no stove enamelling can equal. -It lasts-better, too. Enamelled metal bodies-get ehijiwd and rust at-.tho joints-and edges.They arethejn.dono for as-reravds. appearance, and: what; is -worse, they- eannot.-ibe -renovated by ahy 'b'ut, patchv and distinctly makeshift. .methods. When <an American car body lias got to the stage .when it commences to show cracks.-chips and rust, the only way to deal with it is to subject it" to a real' scrapnisTdoivn aiid cleaning free from rust and then to have it wholly re-enamelled or painted. ' Many owners of American ca's prefer the English coach finish sty'e—and ad n nt it when their car needs, painting, Th's if dona properly will tnko some weeks, and cost a fair sum. but the result is a really serviceable Job, lasting much longer and retaining' its smartness much longer'than any American enamelling methods Tyre Wear. ' Tyre wear'is the greatest expense the motorist, has to meet. But'. tyre wear can-be. kept within reasonable limits by exercising cave and discretion. The quick letting in .of the clutch and the sudden'application, of the brakes are conducive to rapid wear'.of tyres nnd put an unfair strain upon them. Turning corners, fnfct without withdrawing the clutch-also puts enorrrious strain on the tyres)'-'and., should be avoided, Bad alignment "of the wheels is' a source of tyre wear that may be going on . constantly, The front - wheels are apt to "spread,"' duo' to wear on the connecting rod t»f the steering arms—tho rod which runs across.the..par and connects the two'steering arms. The joints wear and .'Allow the, , wheels to move back slightly, with bad results on the tread of the tyre. The defcct should be remedied at once. Ditt the greatest cause of undue wear in tyres according to one expert is.'.under-hillation. In a high percentage ..of the private motor vehicles 011 the roads the tyres are insufficiently inflated, 1 with great advantage to tho tyre manufacturers as regards the sale of 'replacements though their reputation sometimes suffers through this neglect on'the part'.of. the user. In fairness to ,the ; tvre makers, it -ilitist be. Raid they, do everything in.their power to induce users to fully inflate their tyres, but the,advice ii not- always taken. Jottings., . •. .

Mr. S. F;; Edge', the well-known English motoring authority, states -that lifter inretsfignting, the matter of present English car'prices, !•«.is satisfied that firms aro justified, in' asking the prices charged. More thiin that, he is of the opinion that any motor manufacturer who has not'advanced his price at-least 100 per cent, on pre-war figures will- not be able to pay,, pre-war dividends. The reason broadly is that workers are drawing twice their former pay, whilst war tcrinls ami,:cost.of. .manufacturing, have more thnii doubled in many instances. According, .to calculations which have recently been, made hi America to uetormine braking effect, 'the.. following figures have been evolved as the minimum distances in wliWi a car can lie milled'up at "various.speeds:—At, 10 miles; per hour, 9.2ft-.; at 15 miles per hour,' 20.8 ft.at 20' miles per hour, 37ft.; at' 25 miles' per ."hour, 58ft.; at 30 miles '■per hour,-83.3ft.; at 35 miles per hour, '"113 ft.: at' 10 miles per hour, HSft,; at iiO miles per hour, 231 ft. ; Despite the fact that' a'.pnze of .£IOOO was ottered bv the linglisb Automobile .Association'for the best system of utilis- . ing coal- gas as a liicl for motor-cars, no invention or system 'was forthcoming wortliv of being awarded the prize. As ■coal jas l only costs about 'half the price of petrol ''.is" a propellant, it'is disapl: pointing that nothing practical waS ! brought to light'.' "The greatest' difficulty appears to be' the storage and compres ; sion of the'gas, but maybe something Uvill yet be forthcoming to onable this : economical fuel to be applied to aiit'onioihilo use in a practical manner. ■■ - .J'uris is to havo its "Brooklands, for aVbij automoNile racing track is' to be crectod i:car Villoparisis-some nine miles from the French capital. The speed-' v.-sy is to be a 5-kilomctre circu'it, whilst Iho width will l>a O-SJ feet The track is to lw utilised for motor-car and motc-r----e.'clo racinf,, nnd car testing. 'The motor bits has not caught on m "tvew /(<nt.in<l, but there's a different story to tell a« is-gards its popularity in Lon- : don. -. hist' year (552,000,000 passengers itoro tvriwl o" ,l,nlllr ,msCi ,n •■ nn: ' o ! l ' (l -" o»Vv IMS,301),000 by the tran- ' trav sermons.. lu the Rtiuo. eily in the. Liffhting-ap timq:—Todaj, J.SJ fJBk. Neart 5.W pJ*.