MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 148, 13 September 1927, Page 6

MOTORDOM

ROADS AND COUNCILS The first step toward the provision of a new eastern traffic outlet between -h© city and Parnell has been taken with the commencement of the work of joining Gladstone Hoad with the new overhead bridge at the foot of Camp- t hell’s Point. The City Council and the * public Works Department are co-oper- \ ating in the work in a manner which will involve a minimum of expenditure j to the council, whose share is estimated c a t £11.035. j When completed the grade of the j road wi l be 1 in 18.4. < The question of running a roadway < through the site of the Shortland Street i riost office, connecting Shortland Street £ and Fort Street, was one of the matters I brought under the notice of the Gov- * eminent by the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, ' during his visit to Wellington last ( week ' ... Good progress is being made with the 1 preliminary work of raising the roadway at the approaches to the Mercer ] railway station, and the embankment ; along the water’s edge is now only two j chains from the main station building. Another two weeks should see this ■ work sufficiently advanced to minimise 1 the danger of flooding of the main highway at this point. The Mount Koskill Road Board is , still considering the idea of raising £BB,OOO by loan to concrete the Three King’s Road ;ind Mount Albert Road. A decision to amend the traffic bylaws to provide that cars might be parked on the eastern side of Broadway, Newmarket, between the council chambers and the railway station entrance, without restriction as to time, between 7.30 p.m. and 1 a.m., was made by the Borough Council. The scheme for beautifying the Great South Road between Papakura and Auckland, submitted by Mr. G. W. Hutchison, secretary to the Auckland Automobile Association, has been approved by the Papakura Borough Council. The Taura.nga County Council has forwarded a resolution to various county councils calling on the Government to legislate in the direction of vesting control of all main highways in the Main Highways Board, thus leaving county rates available for the maintenance o£ by-roads.^ As a sequel to a remit from Opotiki to the conference of the Bay of Plenty Development League asking that an alternative road between Whakatane and Opotiki be formed via the coast, the Whakata ne Chamber of Commerce has set up a committee to meet the Opotiki Chamber with a view to taking combined action.

STEERING OVERHAULS. VITAL EQUIPMENT. SELDOM GIVEN ATTENTION. 1 hough it is probably the most vital part of a car’s make-up, the steeringgear is usually the one item given the least attention by owner-drivers. At short, regular intervals* the steer-ing-gear should be given a most thorough overhaul, and the necessary ad« justments should be made to remedy play caused by* road-shocks and wear. During these overhauls every joint of the steering equipment should be dismantled, cleaned and refitted with ample lubricant. If the cross-rod joints are of the forked (bush and pin) type, both bushes and pins should be tested and examined for signs of excessive wear; renewals should be tilted if undue “shake” occurs at either end. Next remove both of the-swivel pins of the front axle, clear the greaseways, remove rust, and retit with plenty of grease. Before finally locking the pins in place, see whether grease exudes freely between the bearing surfaces above and below the “knuckle” joints when the gun or grease cups are used; if not, find out why, for it ought to do 80. Maybe one of the greaseways on the pin is not long enough, does not extend up or down to points close to the bearing surfaces just mentioned; it cr n be lengthened with the edge of a file, if necessary. Now attend to the adjustments provided on the steering gear-box. There should he one to take up axial play in the column or worm shaft; there may be another (a thrust pin on the engine side of the casing) to stop end play of the worm wheel shaft, while there may be a third to regulate Ihe mesh of the worm and worm wheel. If with all available adjustments taken up there is still a lot of lost motion at the steering wheel, it will probably be possible to eliminate this by bringing another sector of the worm wheel into engagement with the worm. Engaging a new sector can generally be done as follows: Draw off the drop lever on the worm wheel shaft, and, if the latter has eight castellations, rotate the steering wheel until the worm wheel shaft has turned precisely one-quarter of a revolution; now refit the drop lever on the castellations that come naturally into line. If the worm wheel shaft has only six castellations, it must be rotated through exactly onethird of a revolution before the'lever is refitted. If the shaft has a squared end it must be rotated a quarter, but if it has a taper with a feather key the variation must be completed by cutting a new? keyway in the bore of the lever boss, 90 or 180 degrees distant from the original one. Before leaving the steering, the box should be fully charged with soft grease or heavy oil.