MOTORS and MOTORING.

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 131, 2 March 1928, Page 14

MOTORS and MOTORING.

(BY

"SPOTLIGHT.”

EXPENSIVE EASTBOURNE

MOTORISTS SHOULD BEWARE. As is generally known, there is a 15 ni.p.h. speed limit in Eastbourne Borough, and it seems that driving in excess of this speed is a more than usually costly business for motorists caught in the Eastbourne speed traps. A reader states that recently 17 motorists were convicted of speeding in Eastbourne Borough at the result ol week-end trapping operations. According to him the majority were travelling at speeds of about *2O ni.p.h.—the legal limit in Adelaide Road and Riddiford Street, in the city, bv the way. Outinformant states that the unlucky seventeen were each fined £2, plus 16s. summons fee, and £1 Is. lawyer’s costs — a total of £3 Ils. apiece.

| It is stated that as Eastbourne Borough has no salaried law officer on its staff it employs a lawyer for such cases as arise, and is thus entitled to collect its £1 Is. law costs on every by-law prosecution. According to our informant, the borough in the above batch of cases thus netted £l7 17s. in law costs, which would appear to be very substantial remuneration indeed judging by the time by-law cases usually take to put through. This Eastbourne case supplies but one more instance of how exceedingly useful the traffic laws and bylaws ere to local bodies for the purpose of extracting revenue from the public. It may interest the Eastbourne authorities' to know that at least one motorist who was thinking of buying a cottage there has decided that there are pleasanter places to live in than in a borough which apparently regards' motorists as fair game for a squeeze to help its finances along. Motorists generally should bear in mind that according to the facts given any speed over 15 ni.p.h. in Eastbourne is liable to put them out of pocket to the extent of £3 Ils.—an expensive addition to a Sunday afternoon’s outing. Motorists to whom this sum is a consideration can, of course, avoid risk by proceeding no further than Day’s Bay, which is not in Eastbourne Borough, and where refreshments and sea bathing is just as easily obtainable as in the borough.

CLEAN CARS SOMEDAY?

WATER INSTEAD OV LUBRICATING OIL. 'That water may come to be used instead of oil for car lubrication is an idea advanced by Mr. Eredcriek W. Russell in “'Touring Topics” for Jatiu-

According to Mr. Russell, Mr. E- M. Williams, of Elyria, Ohio, already has distinguished himself by running more than 133,000 miles without oil in his engine. Experiments are being conducted in an effort to produce an oilless metal or material. A leading bearing manufacturer lias perfected a ballbearing spring shackle that runs the life of the car on one original oiling. There is a "turbine in a power house on the Susquehanna River with rubber bearings. It is lubricated by water. These (Mr. Russell adds) are plain statements of fact that cause us to" sit up and take notice. Industry is fighting friction, the foe of all mechanism, and there is good reason to believe that it is to be a tight to the finish with industry carrying off the laurels. Strangely enough the automotive engineers are a bit leary of the. idea. Radical as they may be in other lines of research they are plainly dumbfounded at the actual activity in the work of making water the world’s natural lubricant. 'They know that several of the most expensive motor boats have engines equipped with rubber bearings and lubricated with water. “True enough,” they admit, “but—.’ “But what?” asks the motorist. “If water can be used as the friction eliminating element in the power plant of a motor boat what is there to prevent its use for the same purpose in an engine that propels a motor-car?” Any motorist who has examined the inside of a popular shock absorber has seen evidence of the beg'inniug of the oilless car. The inventor of this device devoted many hours of time and spent a small fortune developing the round inserts that keep the brake of the device from being troublesome. Here is a part that must tint be lubri-

rated with oil or grease and yet one that must not work so dry as to grab or groan. Action must be positive yet smooth, and so there has been developed this special material for use as the inserts. These lubricate and ,'et the} are not lubrication.

To Mr. Russell’s wav of thinking, one of the most significant, features of the whole subject is the fact that one of the babbitted stern bearings on a Diesel-powered tug lias already been replaced with a water-lubri-cated rubber bearing. The Diesel engine operates on low grades at fuel that are nearer lubricating oil than gasoline, and yet this is one of the first engines to part company with the oillubricated bearing. The bearing mentioned in connection with this tug showed no signs of wear after ten months’ operation. A point in favour of rubber for bearing purposes is that the coefficient of friction of steel on wet rubber is less than on an oiled babbit surface.

“But will rubber carry the load which is imposed upon the conventional bearing?” the motorist may ask. Experiments demonstrate that it will carrv loads up to 375 pounds per square inch'. And as for high speed efficiency, it is capable of handling the situation up to 5000 revolutions per minute. An automobile engine that turns from 3000 to 1000 “r.p.m.’s” is still considered a high-speed type. When Mr. Williams, of Elyria, Ohio, drove his oil-less engine car into New York Citv recently, many persons began to have a little more respect for water. They witnessed him driving for several miles through traffic that makes many an engine boil over, and they came to learn that for the past foul vears he lias been running his 1919 model on nothing more lubricative than plain water. It was a revelation to many of them.

Aiid vet wliat is so surprising about it? Mr. Williams uses a special alloy in the cylinders as well as in the various reciprocating parts. He claims that the material can be used in existing motor-cars merely by making the necessary installation. No grease or graphite'of any kind is used' in the Williams engine, or the metal which he has concocted, yet it remains reasonably cool with nothing but water to “lubricate” it.

ROAD PATROLS

AUCKLAND A.A. STARTS NEW SERVICE. Motor-cycle patrols in smart uniforms and equipped with sidecars with extensive repair outfits were put on the roads in the neighbourhood of Auckland by the Auckland Automobile Association this week. The service rendered by these patrols is absolutely free to members of the Auckland Automobile Association, and gratuities are forbidden. The motor-cvele equipments include large tool-boxes of portable repair outfits and in the case of breakdowns it will be the duty of the patrol to assist motorists to get to the nearest garage. The patrols will carry whistles, which will be used to signal drivers if insecure luggage is noticed or if it is desired to halt the car for any reason. 'fhe duties of the patrols are:— Assistance in cases of accidents or breakdown. I'irst aid to injured (every patrol will be provided with a first-aid wallet). Information to members regarding conditions of roads and best routes to follow. Warning of motorists tn cases of dangerous driving or inconsiderate conduct. Reporting road conditions likely to lead to accidents, delay or inconvenience of motorists. Reporting on conditions in the event of accidents likely to result in legal proceedings. Burnishing information regarding the benefits of membership and the enrolling of new members. Naturally the service is restricted to members of the association.

ALL-YEAR ROAD TO KAITAIA

NORTHERN SECTION IMPROVED. .Motorists who have occasion, through business or recreative reasons, to travel the Far North will be pleased to learn from the Auckland “Star” that the main highway from Kawakawa to Kaitaia, via Kaeo, has been receiving a considerable amount of attention throughout the summer, and,, ere the rainv season commences, it is hoped to have the road in good order for the winter traffic. To those who in past winters have travelled this route, this fact will .be the source of some satisfaction. The onlv other route, which runs through the' Mangamul.a Gorge, and incidentalIv by far the shortest connection between the railhead and the Far North, is onlv a summer road, being.too precipitous ami greasv in the winter for safetv. Hence the former route is the onlv permanent highway, and even then it is but of recent years that motor communication has been possible. Though motor services have run during the summer months for. some years, it was not until the. winter of 1926 that a continuous service, winter and summer, was established. Considerable improvement is, however, needed in the southern. AucklandWhangarei, section of the northern highway before an all-weather through route is available.

HIGH-PRICED CARS

EXTENT Ob' THE NEW ZEALAND MARKET. The extent to which high-priced cars sell in New Zealand is discussed in “General Motors Life” for February, and it is interesting to note that in 1927 there were 359 cars sold in the Dominion in the class price above £6OO. This represents 2.77 per cent, of the total car sales during the year. It is expected that about 400 vehicles will be sold in this price class during 19-28. During 1927 some 30 per cent, of the cars sold in the over £GOO class were British, American, and Continental cars count for the larger proportion of sales in this class each year, as m other classes.

HINTS AND TIPS TRACING SQUEAKS. Sonic squeaks can be extraordinarily elusive, but an hour or so spent in pi j cess of careful examination and elimination will locate most of them. Does the squeak manifest itself all the time the engine is running whilst the car is stationary ? Obviously, then, the engine, or something closely connected with it, is flic culprit. Is it the fan or its drive? The test for these is simple, for all that need be done is to remove the belt. Otherwise, iet us suspect tappets or valve gear and hunt down the trouble by pressing in various directions witli a piece of wood on each moving member as the engine runs slowly. Does the noise arise while the car is being driven over an absolutely flat and even road, but not while the car is stationary ? Then it is probably something to do with transmission. In this case, is the nature of the noise dependent at all upon engine or car speed, or upon the particular gear engaged ? If not in engine or transmission, probably the noise conies from bodywork or suspension. Stand on the running board and jerk violently up and down. This will probably locate a spring or shackle noise. A body noise also will probably be shown up by this sort of treatment. Seize a part of the body and shake it violently sideways—this nearly always gives a fair idea of the exact location of a body squeak or rattle.

Curious squeaks sometimes occur in worn wheel bearings, and these can generally be located by jacking up the wheel and wobbling it by hand.

Cleaning Plugs. While most drivers have some idea how to clean a plug, not everyone seems to appreciate the importance of making a routine business of this instead of carrying on until forced by misfiring to clean the plugs. It is not generally understood that long before a plug actually gives up business it gives a poor kind of spark, and the general performance of the engine suffers in consequence. Most modern plugs are of the detachable centre tvpe, and the best way to tackle them is to scrape the inside of the barrel and the outside of the central portion bright with the blade of a sharp knife and then to wipe with a bit of soft rag moistened in petrol. The actual points of the electrodes should be scraped up bright. In the case of a badly oiled plug, soaking of the dismantled plug in paraffin—or,, better still, proper carbon remover —is advisable. When replacing, the central portion must be properlv screwed home into the barrel before the plug is replaced and not interfered with afterwards, as turnin the central portion relative to the barrel is bound to upset the proper adjustment of the gap. This, by the way, should be approximately l-50th in.,, as shown by a feeler. An ordinary visiting card makes a rough gauge, 100 wide a gap gives rise to difficult starting.

Adjusting Four-wheel Brakes. While it is undoubtedly possible to make a very fair job of brake, adjustment by jacking up the wheels in pairs, it is desirable and absolutely worth while to get all four wheels, off the ground simultaneously on jacks or blocks before attempting any kind of fine adjustment of four-wheel brakes; and four-wheel brakes, unless adjusted with reasonable accuracy, are apt to become more of a danger than a safeguard. While on this subject, a note of warning is called for on the proper distribution of braking effect between the front and the back wheels. Most braking systems nowadays, as turned out by the manufacturers, work on a basis of approximately equal braking effect by front and back brakes, but a number of braking systems, especially those of early design and those which are not the car manufacturer’s standard, work on a very different ratio. With some systems the ratio is as low as 15 per cent, to 20 per cent, effect on the front wheels, the reason being that the front axles and springs do not possess the requisite strength for resistance to the rather peculiar torsional strains which are introduced by the use of front-wheel brakes, and it follows, therefore, that any attempt to raise the ratio of front-wheel braking much above the designer’s ideas may have very serious consequences indeed. Should there be any doubt in this matter, it is always best to find out from the manufacturers of the car or their agents what is the proper ratio between the two sets of brakes.—“ The Motor?’