SHORT CIRCUITS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 152, 19 February 1932, Page 7

SHORT CIRCUITS

Change Down Early. Do not hang on to top gear too long; when ascending a long hill a far better climb will be made if you change down from top to third or second quite early before the car has lost way. By so doing you will he able to maintain the engine revs., which, if once lost, will involve a slow and tedious ascent. The same applies in traffic; do not hang on to top if the engine is not flexible, and ensure also a better get-away when the opportunity presents itself. Changjng Wheels. When unscrewing the nuts holding the wheel in position, the initial tightness can he overcome more easily if the hrace he applied and the nuts loosened before jaclcing up. This makes it considerably easier, especially when dealing with the front wheels. Do not remove them completely, however, until the wheel is jacked up. The final tightening when the wheel has been changed is best carried out after lowering the car, when the contact with the road will hold the wheel stationary. Care of Black Hoods. Nothing detracts- from the appearance of a car so much as a really shabby black leather-cloth hood. Such hoods should never he cleaned with petrol, but washed with soap and water if greasy, and then polished with black shoe polish well rubbed in with a brush, and finished with a cloth. This treatment is particularly to be. recommended if a considerable amount of driving is done with the hood furled, as it tends to make the black coating less liable to crack. To restore black hoods which are not often furled, a good dressing is a specially prepared lacquer made for reconditioning fabric bodies. This must be sprayed on. Ordinary lacquer is rather too brittle for this purpose; Holes and tears in a hood should be patched from the inside. Coach builders usually sew on the patch, but an easier method, which gives a neater result, is to use a specially prepared material. This is similar to tube-patching rubber, but with a backing of cloth to match the inside of the hood material. Every ordinary hood material may he stuck on with rubber solution, but does not adh'ere nearly as satisfactorily.