MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 47, 19 November 1920, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

■• ♦ (By "Clutch.") The Tread of the Tyre, Tho trend of n tyre, as everyone knowo, is (lie purt wlxich 'bears upon (lie road. It Giistniiis the brunt of the battle and its capacity for endurance is of greater importance to car owners than type; design, or appearance. This capacity fur endurance depends upon the quality and •quantity of rubber used in the tread, the accuracy of compounding, and the manner' of vulcanisation. The triad tliiit ■i will wear longest and give' the least trouble is characterised by "life" or resilience, while it is at the same time exceedingly tough. Just as pure gold must bo alloyed with a baser metal in order that it may wear longer, so pure rubber must be mixed with other substances to render it tough enough to withstand road service; In the'making of this tread compound the quality and quantity of rubber nnd its proportion to the other ingredients is important. Plenty of pure rubber, accurate compounding, unusual thickness, and generous traction surface, scientific non-skid design and long wearing qualities that are assured 'by proper curing processes are the tliinga • that determine the life of the tread on a tyre. Storing Tyres, Olio of the best ways to store casings aiid tubes is to first clean the casings and fill all holes with tyre putty or vulcanise tho forger cuts. Then sprinkle plenty of mica or talc inside them and put the tubes in them, inflating just enough 60 that all the wrinkles nrc taken out! Each casing should then be wrapped iii heavy paper and air piled up on lop of each cither, throwing a canvas or burlap over the 'whole. They will then bo in a position to keep indefinitely. Tyres so prepared should be kept in a basement or clean corner of a heated garage. Make certain-(hat the tyres are not'put,'away, damp. It is not necessary to keep the tubes in the shoes; if so desired thoy can be folded and wrapped in paper, or .placed in a cloth bag. Tubes can also- i: bo stored'by inflating them partially and'piling them up in the same

manner as ■ the casing, putting a cover over them. In storing tubes in the ear they should be kept in a 'bag made preferably of rubber cloth, kept partly full of talc;' Th»> bug should he kept closed by means' of a-string which draws the mouth together. In this way they can conveniently be packed' in a small space rear seat. ; - Driving Comforts. ■■■•• ■ Seats could well be made adjustable as regards height from the floor of th» car length from tho back, inclination of the seat and back, and relative posi•tions of ."steering'" wheels;, pedals, and brake, and gear shift levers. The stoer.ing column could very well bo made adjustable as regards inclination, so as to bring,the wheel at a convenient position for drivers of different heights, and there is really no insuperable reason why the whoel itself should not be adjustable up and down the column within reasonab o limits also. It would 1» quite feasible to make thr, nedals controlling tho brake and the clutch adjustable to or from the seat, as has been done in quite a number of American cars. The position: of lie hand brake: and gear shift -levers i rather a different and * *™ *?«"' matter; but it is P» sBIM JL n when these levers.are centrally placed, to give them an inclinable adjustment.

A New Self-starter. ■ A,description .of a German which is'in reality a device for filling tKrtaV cylinder *tth a strong mixro ho as to permit of a Btartviw on the switch-foi: n» with the Bosch self* n|rt> r* coil-has appeared in a recent issue ofa. German automobile paper. A m>P nlcmcmary Jet is; attached to the car ■ &r. 'and. gas is drawn bv means of n ■ hnml-mimn and forced UiTOUgn <> *^«^?£ cylinders »«» ta , d • * T re S t»°"° nrm containing a non-ietum ing motor at very little. expense. Dazzling Headlights. (n iininnlv trith- the law. In a P crlun '- orvfb?t of way, motorists observe the regulation by preventing the uppermost rays o the headlight be ng projected ™Te than V. above road level.. But in S Melbourne, results of a nnmber of interesting experiments 1 are given. Uitii the projector used a fan-shaped beam of • gl,t P was thrown so.that the roadway was' brilliantly iltuminaM «ptoW»*J dislonco, w th a breadth of 58yds.. .ma not higher than 4ft. abovo. road level. Althcoh such a result might appear Set? Buelt *m not the case, as he Korist could seo only por boni.of the legs of persons or liorses and parts of .wheels. The fact Is that the human eje is accustomed to «e compete objb, and to see them in relation to mtronniing objects,.that is, in perspective.pedestrians then were caused to walk straight ahead from, the projector, mid it wis noted that at 65yds. visibility, that is, instant appreciation, ceased, and. aithoiiKh the observer behind he, project r could see these people at that distance with difficulty, the pedestrians, with their back to the light, could see a further distance of 150 yds, ««d «cof«» objects distinctly. Tfna proved that the reflected light from tho brilliant y illuminuted road surf-ace was actuallj pioduoing n glare sufficient to interfere with tho resolving power pf the eye of the observer. Provided the pedestrians kept their eyes abovo the hoight of illumination,' there was no interference witn their vision ' ~ , What has to bo ascertained is that intensity of light which can be projected into tho eyes of a person without interference with that person's vision on the one hand and on the other which permits an observer'placed behind tho projector to see that person plainly clearly _ up to, say', 80yds. from tho projector. Hut ex periment revealed that the vision of ml persons is not alike; what was elaro to one was not so to another. Some had astigmatism, and others were normal. It was decided' to introduce means to dnfuso the projected light becauso it was recently established that for nccurato definition at a distance far better results could be-'obtained by a much reduced intensity of lighting, provided it be dilfused, than by direct lighting of great intensity, the relative .intensity being us ono is to four; and tho nature of road lighting achieved by this innovation was a vast improvement on that produced by direct lighting, although the unit intensity of lighting; was reduced to one-quar-ter. It is considered that the Ideal headlight must (1) bo incapablo of producing a beam intensity greater than Hint whioh the eye can view without inter, forouco to vision; CJ) project n uniformly distributed diffused beam of light which illuminates the total breadth of the overage roadway and tho whole of the objects met with; (3) be made astigmatic

as far ns its optica uro concerned, beenusu this is llio only means known whereby light cnu lie projected cfiivirutly ns a strip or bur in cross section. The dimming devices at present permitted are considered unsatisfactory, because in the event of a travelling cur striking ;i bump 'bo light is thrown upwards, momentarily dazzling persona looking it'itj and'unsatisfactory from a motorist's point, of view because there';» inadequate lighripir of objects on I he roadway. Dimmers also are at times wrongly applied) because if llio source, of ligh't is placed exactly at the focal point, the ellcct is to reduce tho volume of light by one-half.-The Cooling System. After a lengthy period of uso the water in the cooling system of a' car gets very rusty., A iouiiil.nl' ordinary washing «u<la dissolved :n warm water, and the mixturb.ii ... intu the radiator, will soon free'lii. water channels of most of v.lie rust: llun the car for n short distance, then let the rusty water rim-away from the emptying 'plug at the bottom of llio radiator. It is a. good idett to let fresh water run into the radiator by means of n hose, 'thus freeing tho water- nvstciii of nil rust residue that' the soda" frees.' Do not uso too strong a, solution of coda.

»r leave it in the engine for too lengthy ■; a period, otherwise you ruuy destroy tho i inner • rubber wall of the hose connections, and thus choke tho flow of water, bringing on heating troubles. Motor Trucks. There are fashions in motor trucks as frell as in ladies' gowns, and this has caused a writer to' remark on the tendency towards'change in motor-truck deaign. "Many truck manufacturers," he says, "are abandoning tho lighter capacities. In 1919 there was but one mnnu- , facturer of a vehicle of less than 1000 pounds capacity. There have been as many as ten. There- were four times as many half-tenners in 191 C as are offered thjs year.- Some of tho makers who cn- . teredthe business a year or so ago, intending to concentrate on a single model of half-ton capacity, are now building truck 9up to three tons capacity. Tho storv of the 1500-pounder, that bulwark of the department store trnde. is tho 6nme. What few three-quarter-ton models there arc left aro being sold in larger quantities than ever, but the business has • simply simmered down to B>few." Jottings. Report) of a comiDg slump in tho . ■■' price of in America'and England will not bo unwelcome news to many motorists in Australasia who have Been waiting since 1914 to secure a new car. During the war, cars were very Bcnrce owing to shipping difficulties, and practically only American vehicles worn available.' Since the nnuistico was signed, the price of motors has v been such that many motorists are. making the best of their' old "buses," whilst potential motorists • are holding off for a fall in, prices. If prices aro. really to drop, then tho reduction will have to start at the raw materials, and wages will Have to come down. A glance at th,o appended average advance of tfresent-day cost over pre-war figures shows ' what the manufacturer is "up-against." Engin- ' eers' wages have increased- IliO'.per com;., bodymakers' wages 200;. painters' wages 230. unskilled "'labourers' wnges 300. nnpventices' wages. 240 f J,imber 220, aluminium 145, leather and trimming materials, 250.'iron castings 220, steel castings 145, stampings and pressings 200,. tyres 70. Despite tho heavy advances scheduled . above, tho average increase ih.,lhp cost of cars produced bv • English "■ makers •works out at a .'shade less than DO ner cent.. / .'■ ':', -. ','■.. . Production of benzine in America,has increased during the past six months by, J3 per cent., but the consumption has advanced by 32 per cent. A continuation of tho same rate of consumption will soon reduce the. American stocks nf benzine to less than a month s pro-, auction. , An American car owner claims to have found some advantage, notably in obtaining a.reduction in fuel consumption, by the Simula expedient of connecting a length of small,bore copper tubing to tho can of the radiator and leading it into tho induction pipe. He thereby gets a small quantity nf water rnpour intermixed .with the explosive tharge passing into the cylinders. Lighting up' time;-To-day, 6.54 p.m. Next Friday, 7.2 p.m.