BUILDING MOTOR-CARS

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12609, 20 November 1926, Page 18

BUILDING MOTOR-CARS

MANY INDUSTRIES CONCERNED

NOT PRODUCE OP SINGLE FACTORY.

Those who carefully studied the cars and motor-lorries at the motor show must have been impressed with the fact that a motor-vehicle is not the product of a single factory. The dislilay of ball-bearings in the accessory division represented an allied industry equal to that of making pneumatic tyres; the accuracy needed in producing ball-bearings is so high that uncovered fingers must not touch them in the course of manufacture. Those who handle the balls must wear gloves for the reason that moisture on the hands would cause, in time, oxidisation, resulting in a minute irregularity which would develp into a flat spot and cause the ball to jam or injure the ball race. Ball-bearings have needed much scientific research work; the quality and heat treatment of the steel have been the subject of intense investigation and experiment to obtain tho efficiency. Their production is a highly-specialised industry, without which the present efficiency of motor-vehicles could not have been attained. The fabric which now replaces leather in the clutch has enabled great advances to be made in design, resulting in greater ease of driving and less frequent attention. Producers of electrical goods and inventors I have perfected the self-starting and lighting set. WORK OF SPECIALISTS No motor manufacturer produces his

own electric equipment, which are made by firms who specialise in tho manufacture of these goods, and other •‘‘ctones supply magnetos to many different manufacturers of cars. The need for scientific knowledge in the production of magnetos is so great that no motor manufacturer could equip himself to produce only his own needs. Gear wheels now used are the outcome of years of research work l'itteen years ago the making of these wheels was a continual source of * rouble to the motor manufacturer. Ihe steels available were often uusuited, and years were spent in discovering the faults. The design of the gear wheel tooth was of almost equal importance, and a spiral bevel was developed to meet the needs of the motor industry. Motor manufacturers now draw their supplies frdm a modern, highly specialised branch of the motor industry. Broken axles caused trouble in the early days, but eventually specialists overcame the faults, and another industry arose. FIFTY-TWO OPERATIONS AT ONCE Behind motor manufacturing and the special allied industries are the toolmakers. In no other branch of manuiacturo has such skill and inventive genius been displayed, and the tools produced are to a great extent the cause of the steadily-decreasing price of cars, motor-cycles, and tractors. The toolmaker who designed and built a machine to perform o2 operations on an engine casting at the same time did much to cheapen the cost of making a Jnotor-car. Before New Zealand can produce a motor, towards which all these allied industries must contribute supplies, and unless these great skilled industries are first established in New Zealand, a New Zealand-made motorcar will consist most I v of imported parts.