MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 414, 24 July 1928, Page 7

MOTORDOM

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HEADLIGHT

138 FIATS COMPETE ITALIAN ROAD RACE Italian motorists recently conducted P mos t successful gathering- at San ** em o. Although these events are com* in England and Australia, this ' v *as the first, time that such an event took place in Italy. Of the 190 cars taking part 138 were iat cars, products of the renowned actory at Turin. Every one on the 138 'as successful in completing the enre journey without any mechanical u-Q'ible of any kind. _ , . Particularly, fine spectacle was Provided by the long line of eight new , -cylinder Fiat cars. The numerous cr°>vds which had collected in many t -he towns on the run were quick o appreciate their beautiful appearance. Company successfully car- _ the gold cup for the greatest umber of cars entered by one comPa £y— l3B out of 190. ~ tmotorist who had travelled the distance was the owner of a r 009 * second and third most disfw mot °rists were also owners of 18,1 cars, models 520.

TO MAKE GEARS OBSOLETE! NEW INVENTION REVEALED ! A well-known English motor expert, writing last month, revealed the existence of an invention which may revolutionise present motor construction. He writes: “A few days ago I ran into Mr. George Constantinesco, and went with him to his office where I spent an interesting time while he explained his various inventions. Constantinesco is known to all war-time aircraft pilots as the inventor of the C.C. gear which enabled machine-guns to lire through the propeller while it was rotating at speeds up to 2,000 revolutions a minute. He next came to the fore with a novel hydraulic wave transmission which is much used for working rock drills, concrete breakers and other similar devices.

'‘His master stroke, however, was the ‘torque converter,’ which takes the place of the clutch and gearbox of a car. Some three years ago he showed me a car which was only fitted with three controls—the steering wheel, brake and accelerator. It had no clutch or gear lever, as the torque converter automatically varied the gear ratio to suit the condition of the road. The reason why this sensational car was never marketed was made clear to me by its inventor. A syndicate paid him a handsome figure for a two-year option on the patent. “It is not unlikely, however, that we shall see it take concrete form within a few months, and if its inventor tackles production problems on the Ford or Morris methods we shall see something rather startling, since the foolproofness of the device will give it a wide appeal, and the car is essentially one that lends itself to cheap production.”

HABIT OF NEGLECT | ILL-TREATING BATTERIES Unfortunately, the reliability of the modern electric lighting set often tends to make the owner heedless of the state of his battery, The battery will endure an extraordinary amount of neglect, and even abuse, but such treatment inevitably effects the lighting system in course of time. The owner who takes a real interest in his car will be well repaid by the satisfaction of having a reliable battery if a little occasional attention is paid to this extremely important unit of the equipment. The actions in an accumulator are a set of complicated chemical changes, and various simple practical rules for treatment of cells can be laid down. To keep it in good condition a cell should be well charged and kept working steadily. Standing discharged, overcharging and not keeping the level of the liquid above the plates are the main causes which result in sulphating, and give rise to consequent trouble. When a cell is fully charged the voltage should be 2.2 volts a cell, and the liquid should gas and bubble freely while the cell is on charge. The correct amount of liquid must be maintained in the cells, and the level of the liquid should not be allowed to drop below the tops of the plates. Distilled water must be added to make up the amount of liquid in the cell unless some acid has been accidentally lost. The density of the liquid can be found by the use ' of an hydrometer—an inexpensive instrument which will be of great use to the car owner.

Because the density of the liquid falls as the cell discharges, the hydrometer supplies a good guide as to the condition of the cell. When the discharge has gone as far as it is safe to allow it to go the hydrometer should read 1.18 volts, and when fully charged the reading should be 1.25. Never take the plates out of a cell to look at them, as nothing can be accomplished by merely inspecting them. Tho correct treatment is by charging and regulating the density and amount of the liquid. If your battery is not in regular use charge it up every fortnight or so, and at the same time examine the density of the acid before and after charging. Do not allow the battery to discharge below 1.8 volts a cell. If sulphating should take place on the plates—a contingency, however, which should not happen if proper care is taken —a slow charge will often overcome this trouble. To organise an exhibition of motor posters and advertisements, Mr. Lucius Conolly, manager of the Automobile and General News Service, has gone to Sydney from Melbourne. He intends to arrange for the exhibition to be held early in July. It is to be on the same lines as a public display he managed in Melbourne, which 5,009 persons attended. There, the public were asked to vote on the relative merits of posters and advertisements as works of art, and as sales messages, and the originators of the winning posters were awarded trophies.

(AUCKLAND AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION). The annual meeting of the Hamilton agency of the A.A.A. will be held this evening. A meeting of Helensville motorists will be held on Tuesday, July 31, with the object of forming an agency of the A.A.A. Mr. J. Mackie, chairman of the Helensville Town Board, will preside, and the tourning manager of the association will deliver an address. The A.A.A. signposting truck is attending to the posting of roads in the vicinity of the Waitakeres. Signs are being placed on the Henderson-Fern-dale-Waitakere Ridge route, and the road through Henderson, Nihotupu and Piha is also on the programme. The popular summer circuitors* drive through Nihotupu, McElwain’s Road and over the Waitakere Riclge to Henderson has received attention, and fLirther signs have been erected on the main road to Helensville.

Increasing use is being made of the technical information Service of the A.A.A. The association’s engineer attends at the bureau for an hour daily, and the demand for his services is such that the period may have to be extended shortly.

When the streets are slippery and in dangerous condition, careful consideration always should be given to steering, with avoidance of quick movements in steering as the outstanding point. Make changes in the car’s direction as carefully as when applying the brakes, and if the car starts to skid, always steer in the direction of the skid, meanwhile releasing the brakes.

LE MANS RACE TOURING CAR CLASSIC The 24 hours’ race for the RudgeWhitfortli Cup, which took place at Le Mans, France, on June 16 and 17 \s probably the most severe race for touring - cars which has ever been devised. The cars competing are required to be in touring trim, fully equipped with mudguards, hoods, windscreens, lamps, spare tyres, etc., and have to cover the greatest possible mileage in the two rounds of the clock. At the start of the race the hoods have to be erected and kept up for 20 laps of the 11-mile course, while at any time starting the engine is only allowed by using the self-starter. In all the important details of the specification, cars have to be standard models. The race was instituted in 1923 under these conditions, which still apply. Twelve British and twenty - one French and American cars were entered this year. The Bentley (British) again proved victorious—piloted by Captain Woolf Barnato, with his driving partner, Ruebens, who covered 1,688 miles, and averaged 691 m.p.h., thus breaking the French record. This is the fourth occasion that the Bentley is the fuorth occasion that the Bentley car has won this important event in the last six years.

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria has launched a Road Courtesy League. It is not confined to motorists, but is open to road users of either sex, whether pedestrians, cyclists, or motorists. The movement is an attempt to link together those who “play the game” on the road.

HOW FAR FOR £1 UNIQUE MOTOR-CYCLE TEST j With the object of ascertaining an answer to this question one of the B.S.A. 4.93 h.p. O.H.V. models was selected by Auto Cycle Union officials and subjected to an economy test at the conclusion of a six-days’ Stock Machine Trial. Although it had been subjected to a 700 miles test, the only adjustment found necessary was to the chains while a new sparking plug was also fitted. For the purpose of the'test the machine was drained of petrol and oil and with the carburettor setting exactly as used in the stock trial, was handed over to the rider, together with £ 1 for petrol and oil. Although mostly over main roads the course taken included nmch hilly country with weather conI ditions which were anything but ideal, being cold and windy. At the conclusion of the test the machine covered 1,670 miles, using 18?> gallons of petrol and 1£ pints of oil. This averages 90 miles a gallon of petrol and 10,700 miles a gallon of oil, approximately seven miles of motorcycling for one penny. Although the machine had covered 2,500 miles( including the Stock Trial), it maintained its high efficiency throughout without decarbonisation and without adjustment to any part of the machine except the chains. The valve clearance was unaltered from the time the machine was orginally assembled at the

The fact that this test was successfully caried out on a machine that had been subjected to a severe gruelling during the first 700 miles of its “life” is convincing proof that in adition to being remarkably economical in petrol and oil consumption, B.S.A. machines are equally economical so far as wear and tear is concerned, giving consistent and reliable service without the necessity for constant attention.

CARE OF BALLOON TYRES AVOID UNDER-INFLATION Now that balloon tyres are coming into such wide use, the necessity of constant air pressure is important, says a tyre expert in the “Goodyear News.” When high-pressure tyres were universally used, the escape of several pounds of air made but little difference. Now it is a known fact that when the pressure in a balloon tyre drops more than three pounds, it begins to have a serious effect on the wear and general performance of the tyre. There is, on an average, a leakage of 10 per cent, of the air in a tube a week. If a motorist attempts to use his tubes too long, he is bound to get slow leaks, tube pinches and flat tyres with increasing frequency. Meantime, he is ruining good casings. The cost of a new tube is saved by preventing uneven tread wear alone or fabric breaks in the carcase of the casing due to under-inflation. Wise car-owners refuse to take chances on old tubes. They have found out that one of the best ways to ensure long, trouble-free mileage is to first buy good casings and then equip them with new, live rubber tubes that will hold air constantly, and giving the casing the right kind of support.

Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria has recently acquired an enclosed limousine mounted on a 20 h.p. RollsRoyce chassis. The car is painted a falcon blue set off in black, while the interior is luxuriously upholstered in soft brown furniture hide. The two extra seats in the car face forward and have been cleverly made to disappear entirely when not in use.