TIPS FOR MOTORISTS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 292, 13 June 1929, Page 7

TIPS FOR MOTORISTS.

The space in front of and behind .he car in the average garage is rather limited. To prevent running the ear into the garage too far one owner suspended a card from the ceiling so that it would just touch the windshield when the car was in the right position. Another method of preventing the car from going too far is to provide a removable wooden bumper on the floor. A new fan belt should be examined and readjusted after driving a few hundred miles.

Sections of old garden hose, through which ropes of convenient lengths are threaded, make suitable substitutes for tyre chains, having the advantages of minimising the chafing of tyres. When replenishing petrol supplies the safest place for the cap of the petrol tank is in one’s pocket. If replacement of the cap is forgotten it is then sure to go along with the car. Should your car be old, and the carburetter persists in flooding, you will probably find that the weights controlling the float movement are worn. It is an easy matter to remove the split pins upon which the weights pivot, and, turning the weights upside down, bring the unworn surfaces to bear upon the float ; this will lower the level and prevent flooding. A very easy way of making good a file or screwdriver which has become loose in its wooden handle is to bind the tang with thin insulation tape. The tape, besides acting as a : packing, also tends actually to stick I the wood and metal together, so re--1 suiting in the handle being very firm.

An alternative method is to smear the tang with seccotine and to squeeze some of this adhesive into the socket also ; the tang can then, be bound with a strip of paper and replaced. After a few hours it will be found to be firmly fixed. This method is perhaps slightly more t satisfactory than the former but has. ’ the disadvantage that the repair is not properly complete until the seccotine has had a chance to dry, whereas with the former method the tool is ready for immediate use. Despite great care being taken there is always the risk when sponging down a car which has a paint and varnish finish of scratching the surface. For this reason it is a good plan to sponge in vertical strokes, as minute vertical scratches will not be anything like so noticeable as horizontal ones owing to the fact that they do not tend to catch and reflect the light so much. It is a matter of safety to remember that, since the newer cars turn in a shorter radius, care should be taken not to turn the wheel too sharply when swinging round a corner.