MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 19783, 6 February 1928, Page 12

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[BY RADIATOR.]

To-day 9.5 Tuesday ... 9..;} Wednesday 9.2 Thursday 9.n Friday 8.59 Saturday 8.58 Sunday 8.56 ' FIXTURE. February 14.-—O.M.G. monthly meeting. MUSSOLINI ROADS. “ EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD.” Italy’s new motor roads are the eighth wonder of the world. They are sacred to motoring. They have no cross-roads, no hills, and no pedestrians. There are no houses along them,'except the very few in which the keepers live (says Hannen SwafTcr, in the ‘Daily Express’). I motored from Como to Milan the other day—twenty-two and a-half miles —in just over 19min. There is no speed limit. After paying about 6s 8d for the privilege, you can drive as fast as you like along a road of which the motorist is the monarch of all ho does not stop to survey. Racing cars are charged three times as much. If you open your exhaust you are liable to a fine of just over £5, If you go into the centre of the road it may cost you a £lO fine. Some years ago Italian roads were said to be almost the worst in Europe. These new roads are the best. They already stretch from Lake Mag* giore to Milan, with branches to Varese and Como In a week or two the road will be open from Milan to Bergamo. Then they will start the road to Venice. This means that a motorist will be able to travel from Lake Maggiore to Venice, almost right across Italy, or about 200 miles, in three hours, going, if he likes, at seventy-five miles an hour. Other roads will soon run from Romo to Ostia and from Naples to Salerno. Mussolini may have many enemies. Although I differ from him seriously in politics, I hasten to say that the autostrada is one of the first proofs of his inspiring genius. Ho urged on the engineer to build motor roads joining up Italy’s most prosperous centres and its most famous resorts. Their building found work for unemployed. They would be of great strategic value in war time. They are an urge to business in the days of peace. The servants of the motor roads were given an equal footing with the ordinary sworn police, which means that they can carry revolvers and pistols, as well as rifles; the savings banks were biven power to make loans to the builders; and the Government’s reward for finding an annual subsidy which, capitalised, means a third of the cost, is that in fifty years the Italian nation will own the roads from end to end. Yes, you pay your thirty lives and then the road is yours. At night it looks hideous, for, when you travel at n lightning speed, your lamps light up only telegraph wires and the motoring advertisements which lino the route. In the day time a green ploasaunce stretches out its leisurely flatness on either side. You are king of the plains of Lombardy. Whitened stones, placed where, in the ordinary road, the kerb would be, ■warn you where safety lies. With those ns a guide, even in fog, you can drive as fast as you like, spurred on by the car in front, hastened forward by the car behind. STOCK CAR RACING. Stock car racing is an excellent institution if manufacturers can be made to see eye to eye on a definition of “stock.” The American Automobile Association recently announced the withdrawal of its supervision from stock car racing until there is more uniform accord as to what constitutes a stock car, and some finality to arguments which arise when the interpretation is challenged. Some manufacturers who enter “stock” models turn out to the races with cars which have been “hotted up” to a performance quite beyond that attainable by any car drawn conscientiously from a stock of normal road-ready models. RUBBER AND VIBRATION. In recent years many new uses have been found for rubber in automobile production, and there are good reasons for believing that the applications of this material will be developed still further. In the days of low speed engines and rough roads most of the shocks experienced by motorists resulted from road obstacles, and even thou the most effective shock absorber was a rubber product—the pneumatic tyro. With the increase in engine speeds and the improvement in roads there has been a shifting of the relative importance of sources of vibration, and to-day various unpleasant forms of roughness and noise have their origin in the engine. In the tour-cylinder type we have the unbalanced secondary force, and in engines with more than four cylinders we often have torsional vibration at certain critical speeds. The occupants of the car know of the existence of these vibrations only through their transmission to the chassis, and thence to the body, and if such transmission can be prevented the actual engine vibration becomes much less objectionable. It is for this reason that rubber cushions are now widely used for engine supports, rubber, or rubberised fabric spring connections are coming into use, rubber centres are inserted in clutches to prevent the transmission of irregularities in crankshaft torque, and rubber cushions are placed in the propeller shaft connection to prevent the irregularities in the torque impressed on that part. Even the steering gear is now in some cases provided with a flexible member of rubber or rubberised fabric to protect the hands and arms of the driver against road shock. FIRE RRECAUTIONS. Every woman driver has a private fear that her car may suddenly burst into flames through some mysterious cause or other. While the possibility of such a disaster may be remote, it is nevertheless advisable tor motorists to take every precaution in their power to guard against five. It may seem unnecessary to emphasise the fact that the petrol tank, or even the carburettor, should never on any account be approached with a naked light, but at the risk of stressing the obvious it is well worth while to mention the matter. A cigarette between the lips, too, may be as dangerous as a lighted match, ■ When the car is being greased and otherwise attended to, a special point should be made of inspecting all petrol joints to ensure that there is no leakage of fuel. It takes only a moment or two to have the floor boards up and to examine the whole length of petrol pipe from the tank to the autovac to see if there is no fault, and that every joint is tight and dry. Ihc carburettor should also be examined carefully for persistent leakage. Even if a small quantity of motor spirit accumulates below the carburettor it

Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places of interest are invited for this column.

may easily be set alight through a “ back fire.” It is a common practice to “ tickle the carburettor float to help to start from cold, but if that is done care should' be taken that it does not overflow too much and leave a pool of petrol in the vicinity. The engine should only be set in motion when the waste petrol has been wiped away or has become absorbed by the air. — « A PUNCTURED TYRE WHEN IN HASTE. Unless therfc is some obvious cause of puncture, such as a nail or a gash, and if the tyro has merely subsided slowly and gracefully, try the effect of pumping some air into it before sotting about to change it. The puncture may be so small that the tyro will, if pumped up hard, carry you to the nearest garage; or perhaps nothing more is amiss with it than a faulty valve. By moistening your finger and holding it over the top of the valve, you can find the air is escaping at that point. If tightening the valve or working it up and down until the moving part seats evenly is unavailing, it will bo necessary to insert a new valve centre. These small but useful spares should always be carried. They cost only about 2s for a tin of four or six, and are invaluable. The nipple cap which screws on to the top of the valve assembly is generally recessed and cut so that by reversing it it serves as a valve key • for the removal of the old centre and the insertion of a new one. If no spare valve centres are to hand, screw the nipple cap tightly home, seeing first of all that it has a sound washer on its head. If the little washer is missing one can force in a small piece of leather or old rubber to act as a seal when the cap is tightened on the nipple. TO STOP STICKING BREAKER. The frequent cause of temporary magneto trouble is due to the sticking of the breakers. The trouble more frequently occurs with new cars, because for accuracy of working the clearance in the breaker bearing is very fine, and any expansion is likely to cause sticking. If it is desired to ease the bearing a little metal could bo nibbed off. Before easing it is best to try lubrication with the aid of a lead pencil. This will frequently, if not always, remove the trouble. It is not wise to use oil, as this may cause frequent sticking through the wet lubricant collecting dust, or the oil may reach the breaker points, causing dirty contact and misfiring or hard starting. NEW GARS AND OLD COMPARED. Everyone knows that automobiles have been remarkably improved during the last five years, but an excellent way to check up on the extent of this progress, is to drive a car of 1922 vintage. The test is made much better if the car happens to be of the same make owned back in that early period. A motorists who has owned five cars of the same make in five years previously had an opportunity to drive ono of the models with which _he started. Here are a few of the things he found;— , . „ The motor, although basically the same, has been smoothed out and refined in a manner that would have seemed beyond all expectation in 1922. Although the car, even in the earlier period, was characterised by especial fleetness, the current model is infinitely superior in this respect. The old engine was noisy. The new version is so quiet it can scarcely be heard. In the matter of power transmission the car has equally improved. The old car had a cotig clutch. After a row months it cither took hold with a spinewracking grab or failed to take hold at all. The current model starts oft with perfect smoothness. There is no comparison between the driving ease of the two cars. One appreciates steering simplicity as it is built into cars to-day only if he has had a chance to compare it with what passed as the same quality but a tew years ago. , , , , Driving the old car, ono had to make allowance of virtually three times the stopping distance, in spite ot the tact that the brakes were in good condition. It really was not the condition of the brakes; the principle merely has been so greatly improved. THE HOME GARAGE. HINTS FOR THE OWNER-DRIVER. Active units that remain in an ungreased state break easily. A slipping clutch is a terrific waster of fuel. ... It is said that a leak appears oltenex in the valves than in any other place. When putting away a part tor future use place a tag on it with description. Rancid butter is an effective agent for removing spots from the finish, as arc vaseline and kerosene. The rear axle nuts should ho tightened occasionally to prevent the wearing away of the key. _ By using the proper size wrench on a nut the possibility of stripping the threads is lessened. When side curtains are put away they should be dry, and should have paper placed between them to prevent the celluloid becoming scratched. _ _ If the horn will not blow and is in goo"d condition there is a “short” or break in the wiring somewhere from horn to ammeter. When the fan belt on a car is too tight it will cause undue wear of hearings or bushings. No preventive of carbon monoxide poisoning is useful except open air. Motorists should never work in a closed garage with the engine running. Common laundry soap will stop a leak, in case of emergency, if the gasoline tank or gasoline lino should develop a hole or crack. Do not stop your car short without giving warning. The motorist behind you is not a mind reader. The generator charging rate should be adjusted when electrical accessories, such as a windshield wiper or spotlights, are added to the equipment of the car. An engine idling in a closed garage of 10ft by 10ft will change the air to the point of fatality in three minutes. When touching up the car with a little paint the greatest enemy you have is dust. A good plan is to hang np a few wet rags about the garage. These will absorb quite a lot of dust which floats in the air.

To clean headlamp reflectors use dry powdered rouge. Apply the powder with a circular motion. If the reflector is tarnished in any way, moisten the rouge with alcohol. Great care must be taken not to scratch the reflector, and for this reason the chamois should not he used for any other purpose. It sometimes happens that the pinion of the starting motor fails to disengage when the switch is released._ The trouble becomes evident as a* whirring sound, due to the motor being rapidly rotated by the engine. When that is heard the-engine should be stopped at once. If the pinion is found still engaged with the flywheel gear, it, should .be gently tapped out of mesh, its shaft oiled liberally, and the pinion moved to and fro until it is quite free. If

burred teeth on the flywheel are seen they aro probably the cause, and the only remedy then is to remove the burrs. Shimming the doors of a car cracks the paintwork and produces rattle. By a little attention the necessity for slamming will be obviated and the coachwork generally will be found to last much longer. Once a fortnight, or every 800 or 1,000 miles, a littlo oil should be put on to the latches, and squirted into the locks and on to the hinges. The door will then “snap to” with the slightest push or pull. It is as well also to drop a little oil into the lock, as on medium and low-priced cars the lock springs become rusty and lost their tension. A strip of polished metal screwed along the bottom of the doorway will prevent wear of the bodywork. BRAKES. EFFICIENCY TESTS. The British National Safety First Association lias prepared statistics showing the distances in which a motor vehicle under proper control and with its brakes in good order, should be able to como to a complete stop while driving at fixed speeds. According to information the association has supplied to the Royal Automobile Club of Australia, those distances are as follows:

These figures show approximate distances, and are for level ground, under average road conditions. On a falling gradient, or on slippery _ or greasy roads naturally a greater distance will be required to stop. The distance also increases very rapidly in proportion to the speed. Thus, from a study of these figures at the moderate speeds quoted, it will bo seen that it varies with the square of the speed, so that at twenty miles an hour the same car will require four times the distance to come to a standstill that it would at ten. miles, while at forty miles an hour the distance is increased by sixteen times. It has frequently been asserted that a vast majority of accidents at road junctions and intersections was directly traceable to excessive speed, and these facts regarding the distances required to stop the car from known speeds will perhaps render it possible for car drivers inclined to take unnecessary risks and depend upon the powers of their brakes to get them out of difficulties, to realise why they meet with disaster.

MOTOR CYCLING

FIXTURES

February 18.—Hill climb. February 28.—Club run.

ROUND-THE-WORLD CYCLISTS

Another round the world motor-cycle tour is drawing to a close, Mr S. T. Clanfickl, representing the RudgeWhitworth interests, passed through Auckland recently on his way to Canada en route to England. At Bombay his companion was recalled, and he has since travelled alone. With his 34 h.p. Rudge-Whitworth and sidecar he has had some gruelling work and actually crossed Australia from Port Darwin to Melbourne alone —a feat that had not been accomplished before. When in Turkey he was arrested by the authorities, and held for ten days. When released he had to proceed through the country by a most difficult route, so that he would not come into touch with Turkish coastal fortifications. The journey of 1,800 miles across India was accomplished in the record time of six days by road. He experienced bad monsoon conditions, followed by wash-outs and flooded rivers. Many rivers could only be forded by taking the machine to pieces and having it conveyed across on the backs of natives. The journey across the Arabian desert was full or thrills. The outfit was frequently shot at by Arabs, and his life was frequently in danger. The tour has convinced Mr Glanfield of the necessity of catering for colonial conditions, and while he is satisfied that a. vehicle suited to English roads would perform quite satisfactorily some improvement is still necessary in certain makes to adapt their productions for country work.

Speed, Average dis. Average dis M.P.H. Ord. brakes. 4-rvhcel bks 10 9ft 6ft 15 20ft d4ft 20 35ft 25ft