MOTOR NOTES

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 4, 19 June 1930, Page 11

MOTOR NOTES

DAZZLE DANGER

The fitting of apparatus on motor

cars and motor cycles for dipping or swivelling headlights-may be made compulsory (says a London paper. It is •probabJLe that a Government inquiry will be held to decide on the best method of doing away with the dazzle danger. The Royal Commission on Transport recommended that all cars should be fitted with headlamps that can be dipped or swivelled to the left side of the road. If the order were made compulsory it would affect 720 > 000 motor cyclists and 900,----000 motor car owners. - The question of fitting dippers or dimmers does not greatly concern the modern car, since one or the other device is already fitted. Motor cycles, too, have been well looked after in this respecjt. Almost without exception the 1930.models are fitted with a device for dimming or. dipping the head lamp. The control takes the form of a trigger arrangement, and is fitted on the handlebars . i CARE OF THE RADIATOR •. ■ • ■ Winter, with its .attendant frosts, again is with us and a timely reminder to be careful with the radiator would not be amiss. The advised practice of emptying the radiator at night is observed by very few ,it being tedious and a nuisance. It is easy to slack on this system and be caught unawares by an extra hard frost. Among the best materials to use is glycerine. This can be added in proportions to the and no harmful effect to the cooling system will result.' Another advantage is that its evaporatio rate is lower than the water with which it is mixed and, as a consequence once it is introduced to the radiator it remains until it is drained out. Replenishment of water alone is necessary. The next points to decide are how much will be required to suit each par- , ticular car, and what is the lowest temperature'likely to be met on which to base this proportion. Regarding the latter question, 20; degrees of frost" (12 degrees Fahrenheit) is quite a safe point to - which to. reduce the freezing point of the mixture, as even when it does freeze,' it does not became solid and expand viciously, as does water, but merely forms a sort of gelatinous mass, which has no dangerous co-efficient of expansion and which, soon liquifies again on running the engine. This has been; proved by practical tests. As regards the amount of glycerine necessary, this is in a fixed proportion to. the capacity/of the water system, and the latter must, therefore, first be determined, by completely filling the radiator .and then draining and measuring- the contents. ~ | These amounts have been worked out on the lines of Raolt's Law. Should local conditions be milder or more se- i vere, the amounts given can be adjusted by simple proportion. For example, tne "tables state that a cooling capacity of four gallons should contain six pints of glycerine to lower the freezing point 20 degrees. Fahrenheit. T2 10 degrees of frost is found to be a low enough figure, only three pints would be necessary for

a depression of 30 degrees. Fahrenheit, and so on. . POINTS TO WATCH Do not pour cold water into an overheated engine.: If the radiator is steiOfiing when you take off the cap do not immediately pour cold water into the radiator or the .cylinder jacket or head is likely to crack and a aery expensive piete of repair* Avork will become necessary. Let the engine stand 15 or 20 minutes -and cool off- At the time, you may think, this is a waste of good tiiriebut if th^> cylinder, jacket is cracked; you ' \ri£.. think differently. If there _is a supply of real liot water available this can bo put in at once without danger. - Oil will ruin an inner tube in a weok. Never throw the extra inner tubes .in promiscuously with the spare tools near the oil cari. ;