Your Morris— Its Care and Maintenance

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 166, 4 October 1927, Page 7

Your Morris — Its Care and Maintenance

/\ special feature to assist the owner-driver to JiX oota;n the maximum results in performance hy the proper care and treatment of his car.

Give your Morris a few minutes of 1 your time each week and you will be : amply repaid by years of trouble-free running. There are three main things ! you must look to: (1) Lubrication, i.e., oiling and greasing of engine and : chassis. (2) Electrical equipment. (3) 1 Tyres. 1 Because of the extreme simplicity and 1 accessibility of the Morris these items \ do not present any great task, thereby ] allowing the owner-user to give his or < her car every attention in an efficient ' manner. 1 In the following we shall give you a ' br.ef outline as to what to do, dealing < in order with the items as enumerated ' above. , In the case of a new car the crank < case and clutch should be drained after < the first 500 miles and refilled with j fresh o: 1. After this it will be neces- I sary to drain and refill only after every ] 1200-1500 miles; although it is advis- I able to inspect the oil level in the j crankcase about every 250 miles. 1 Gear box and differential should be 1 drained and refilled on the completion i of the first 1000. miles, then examined i ftime to time and replenished < when necessary, draining and refilling < about every 3000 or 4000 miles. Every l month remove all wheel hub-caps and fill with fresh grease. We now come i to springs, brake rods, steering gear, t e * c * On all these there are fitted a c number of Enots fittings (41 in all), j These should be gone over at least once 1 a week with the “Enots” gun., which is ( included in the Morris tool equipment, i The exact location of these fittings is : explained in detail in the Morris car i manual, bjt particular attention should I he paid to those beneath the floor ] boards, these being apt to be overlooked. ( Now' for the electrical equipment. This " presents no difficulty, because of its 1 simplicity, The Morris car owner is J urged to occasionally inspect the mag- : neto. Such inspection need only take ’ a few minutes. The components to be J examined are: The distributor rotating l arm and contact breaker points. The 1 distributor can be removed by pushing aside the steel holding-on spring, then i the rotating arm can be easily with- t drawn. Both should be wiped perfectly 1 clean and dry, then replaced. Next the contact-breaker should be examined. It J is essential that this should be spot- < lessly clean, especially the breaker 1 points. Providing the points are kept clean they will not need adjusting ex- i cep ting at. very long intervals. Want c ©:f attention here would cause misfiring. >

f Keep the magneto elean and dry and e you will not experience any troubles. e The sparking plugs should occasionally be removed and the gap between the points tested and adjusted if neces- •» sary to the correct width of 18-20 thoud sandths of an inch. S&oted or oiled-up ) plugs will cause erratic running, loss of power and increased petrol consuinp- . tion. With regard to the starting system, s the starter and dynamotor are coins’ bined in one unit and driven by a silent r chain and require little or no attention, t excepting an occasional inspection of the brush gear and commutator. These should be kept clean from oil, dust, etc. c * Playing a very important part in the electrical equipment is the battery, d which calls for regular and careful attention. The lugs and cable terminals k °f the battery should be periodically r examined to ensure that the nuts holdh ing the cables in position are quite - tight. Should the battery be removed y for any reason it is advisable that the - terminals be cleaned and vaselined bee fore replacing. Most essential of all is to see that the acid level in the cells is e kept above the top of the plates. This J can be done by the addition of distilled d water; before replacing the battery d cover see that the tap is quite clean and g dry. If the battery runs down have it y recharged as soon as possible, d _ lyres should also receive their periode ical attention. Once a week is sufficient \ to see that they are kept at the a correct pressure, for correct pres- • sure is the secret of long life with a e balloon tyre, with which all Morris s cars are equipped. A balloon tyre -• gauge is necessary, and see that press sure in four tyres is right, for too low r a pressure affects the performance of :1 the car inasmuch that steering is made r heavy, the engine sluggish and petrol L consumption increases. It also increases s your chances of the bugbear, punctures, s P/? 11 ? forget to keep your radiator s filled with water, your fanbelt adjusted ~ i - ie tank well supplied with petrol, e Washing, correctly done with a chamois e leather and cold water, does not hurl 5 the coachwork, but improves it and e keeps the car looking smart, g When oiling the king pins, it is most l important to jack up the front wheels - to take the weight off the king pin bey fore attempting to force the oil through. E . Coxvle y models three studs and 1 J\ hold the road wheels in position. ' !i n ? x f° rd models five studs are used, r If these nuts are not kept tight the t wheel works loose on the stud, and - unless quickly noticed will irreparably t damage the wheel, necessitating the wheel oeing replaced.