THE NEW RADIATOR

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 30, 5 February 1932, Page 9

THE NEW RADIATOR

"I'm tickled to death with this now radiator," said Mr. Norman Smith this morning, when speaking of the radiator built for the Stewart Enterprise by Mr. W. Monteith, of Auckland, reports the "Auckland Star" yesterday. It was' on the car when it broke the ten-mile land speed record. Mr. Monteith has offered to build another radiator,for Mr. Smith, for use in the attempt on the one-mile record; and Mr. Smith thinks he will accept. The proposed new cooling system has 10 per cent, less cooling surface than the former. Mr. Smith thinks Be will retain the first Monteith radiator for the five-mile attempt. "But, in any case," he added, "it is the work of only ten minutes to change them, just the loosening of some bolts and the adjustment of one or two other trifles, and the thing is done. It is simplicity itself.", SYSTEM SUITABLE. He explained why the new system was suitable. For one thing, it overcame the difficulty of engine cooling, and, secondly, its air resistance was practically nil. "The air passing over the top of the bonnet' travels at great speed, the speed of the,car, in fact, "he said. '' The air passing1 through the dia-mond-shaped, honeycombing does not pass so rapidly, but in the space between the front of the car and the rear end of the now bonnet there is a vacuum formed, and the fast-moving air, meeting the slower, sucks it out of the radiator, thus causing it to pass through more quickly: than would otherwise bo possible. Thus the engine is cooled. Don Harkness said the air would not cool it, but it does. That is the same principle as Sir Malcolm Campbell adopted, and h& experimented for months. WinsCommander L. J. Wackett also' pointed out to me the fact that the engine would be cooled." EFFECT ON STREAM-LINES. . The stream-lining of the car would not lie affected to any appreciable extent, Mr. Smith said. "The raindrop :s the most perfectly stream-lined thing in the world, 'blunt at the front and tapering towards the rear. This is the same principle as the town end ring used in the stream-lining of certain types, of aircraft. A hole has to be 'bored' in the air for the car or the plane to pass through, and then the air, pressing hard on the stream lines, squeezes the body forward. Now the new bonnet on the-car does not make the front area any greater, so that there is no added front to retard it. Don Harkness's two radiators, placed one partly in front of each wheel, would have increased the frontal area by over four square feet. The new radiator on the ear can pass through the same hole as had been bored for the body." Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Monteith admitted that the radiator would cause a little resistance, but said it would not bs enough to malic any appreciable difference to the speed. Between the bonnet and the chassis there was a space of two inches. The rushing wind would strike the stream-lining and pass up behind the bonnet, which was a foot from the front of the car, and become merged with the rest of the passing air. fa REASONS FOR NEW SYSTEMS. The new radiator, Mr. Monteith said, was not being built because there was any defect in the othor one he had made. Mr., Smith remarked that the other system had kopt, the engine a fraction too cool for perfect efficiency. Coolness in an engine was essential, but it must not bo too .cool. After the 10----milo run, Mr. Monteith said, the water was cool enough for him to put his finger into it. • Owing to the new variable clutchless gear apparatus of the car Mr. Smith said ho found that the car accelerated much more quickly than he had thought, and he would therefore not have to take as long a run as he had planned before entering the one mile course. In the shorter run the wator in the radiator would not have had the time- to heat up sufficiently. It was for that reason that Mr. Monteith had offered to build the new radiator, which, though identical with the first, was not as large/ Tho smaller cooling surface would allow the water to Teach a slightly higher temperature. The second cooling system has a three-eighths inch mesh, and' at two-inch intervals there are bars across from side to side, so that if the car should strike a bird no feathers could get through and choke the honeycombing. STATE OF BEACH. Though Mr. Smith has had to wait for the beach for a considerable time, he still thinks that it is the finest place in the world for an attempt on the record. ."If the beach was like it was when I was here with tho Anzae, two years ago, I could have done 300 miles an hour, provided, of course, I had the car that could do it. The sand was dry high up the beach and smooth as plateglass.". The latest reports he had received from his business manager Mr 5. H. Mostyn, stated that at present tho beach was bumpy at the four, five, seven, nine, and ten-mile pegs, and with a north-easter blowing conditions dld ■&ot lo°k favourable for this week. As I have said before, however " added Mr. Smith, "my party and I are ready to go north at a minute's notice.' If he receives word that a steady westerly is Wowing before tomorrow, he will leave Auckland immediately, together with representatives of the Auckland Automobile .Racing Club, Limited, and the timing experts. So far, though, ho still look? forward tentatively to the high tides at the end of the month.