Motor Notes

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19990, 15 July 1939, Page 11

Motor Notes

Front Hub Lubrication IN m.'.ny car.-: a greasing nipple is pro* vid eel in each 'front hub so that the hub bearings can be lubricated with the oil gun. Not ail owners are aware of this, as the nipple is usually concealed behind the wheel hub plate, whose removal will soon disclose its presence if there. I’he usual time for lubrication is at me end of every 5000 miles. Where a greasing nipple is not fitted, if will be necessary to remove each tront wlieel and repack me space between the bearing races with grease. Useful Accessory a very useful accessory marketed in r England which would be appreciated here is a special tow rope wnich can be folded into a package not more than Tin long when it is out of use. Tltis tow rope is made or. fiat rustless steel which accounts .for the small space into which it can be rolled, and is 12i't oiri long when fully extended. It is, of course, equipped with the necessary buckles tor xasteniiio it to cars. 1 hough cars rarely break down, there are still numerous occasions in a motorist's Ike when a strong tow i ope would be extremely useful, and ‘.ms new device seems to Jill the bill admirably. Larking Problem AN interesting experiment is being ‘ * conducted in Detroit. U.S.A.. in f.a attempt to alleviate trie parking problem, and, incidentally, to increase tramway revenue. The Street Railways Department leased for a 90* days' trial a parking ]o*t just outside the city area -proper, and in this .motorists from the outer suburbs may leave their ears and travel a short distance by bus to a point near their place of business, the 'Otis route running through the important business centres. At this parking lot a charge is made, and in return-a ticket in three divisions is handed over. One division covers the parking of the car, and the other two provide for the bus journeys. Fined For Not Dipping A LTHOUGH English traffic law does * 1 not specify that motorists must dip their headlights in. the face of oncoming traffic, a motorist has been fined in England because he failed to do so. The summons was the first of its kind, and was issued under the 1930 Road Traffic Act. The charge was “driving a car without reasonable consideration for other users of the road.” It was stated that on a dark and rainy night, defendant failed to dip his lights, though other drivers “gave him the usual invitation to do so by dipping and flashing their lights at him." A fine of £2 was imposed. Speedy Midget Cars TWELVE years ago it took a 3]-ton. * 1000 h.p. carlo attain n world land speed record of 2U3 m.p.h. _ Now. another British car. weighing about .lGcwt.. and having an eng'Me capacity of only one-fortieth of the earlier record-breaker, has equalled the figure. The achievement promises to be even more important to the British motor industry than Captaki Eyston’s 357.5 m.p.h. last year. Huge and enormously expensive ears such as Captain Eyston's have a far less obvious relationship to everyday motoring -than ha.-; Major Gardner’s little Dimfop-show MG., with which he first astonished the world with a mean speed of 1P,7.0 m.p.h. on the Dessau autobahn, near Berlin. Now, according to cable news, he has raised the figure to 293.7 m.p.h. for the kilometre and 203 m.p.h. for the mile. Grave doubts were expressed, when the late Sir Henry Segrave sot out i*:i 1927 to achieve a land speed of- 200 m.p.h., whether tyres could ire built to withstand the task of carrying the huge 24-cylinder twin-engined Sunbeam car under the enormous stresses .T-valved. In evolving tyres for these and subsequent higher speeds, manufacturers have made discoveries from which benefit gradually sifts down to the everyday motorist. So it is with other equipment and components of these speed cars; and so it is that the British motor trade retains its prestige and vitality.