GARAGE GOSSIP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 504, 6 November 1928, Page 6

GARAGE GOSSIP

The Southland Motor Cycle Club is an interprising body indeed. It intends holding a 100-mile Grand Prix on Oreti Beach on November 24.

The New Zealand Motor Trade Association lias appealed to the large oil companies to take some steps to enable resellers of bulk petrol to meet the competition of merchants who are selling case petrol at about Is lOd a gallon.

The Postal Department received £12,000 last year as commission for collecting motor registration and licensing fees. Since the system of annual licensing was introduced, the postal authorities have been paid £31,097 by the Main Highways Board for attending to licensing and the issue of number plates.

Among the causes of. an engine missing is a break in the gasket. This trouble is often unsuspected, and it will save much useless work if. when the engine is working haltingly, the gasket is examined. Sometimes the trouble is revealed by a few drops of water coming from between the cylinder head and the motor block near the water pump. In this event the water is getting into the combustion chamber and the cylinder head should be removed. A new gasket will set matters right.

A single petrol pump installation in Great Britain costs about £IOO. As in New Zealand, it is possible to either buy or lease the equipment. Some oil companies instal the tank and pump outfit for £5 deposit and the garage proprietor pays in instalments based on for each gallon sold. * * * One-way streets means one way or another it’s always under repair. “New car, old top?” “No, old car, new top.” * * * “Ah.” said the motorist, “let me make the roads of a country, and I care not who makes its laws.” * * * “The car is certainly replacing the horse,” said the star boarder as he deftly fished piece of rubber out of the hash.

There are over 22,000 cars in the South Auckland highway district, and if motor vehicles of all classes are included the total exceeds 33,600. In the North Auckland district there are 5,000 cars.

Do not attempt to climb every hill you encounter on high gear until you hate become thoroughly familiar with the operation of your car, and have mastered the various points which mark a good driver. The fact that your neighbour claimed his- car would make a certain hill on high, is not a good reason for your attempting it. There is no practice more detrimental to the engine and driving parts of a car than fox'cing it in high gear. Remember that low and second gears were placed in the car for a purpose.

NEW ENGLISH CAR THE “HADFIELD” ANNOUNCED The name of Hadfield, of Sheffield steel fame, has been given to a 75-mile-an-hour sports model produced by Bean Cars, Ltd., Tipton, England, which is under the control of the firm of which Sir Robert Hadfield is head. The car has been built in response to representations from overseas countries where the lively performance of the 14/45 h.p. touring model led users to believe that it would lend itself to “hotting, up.” Speed is combined with safety equipment, including splinterless glass, Dewandre Servo four-wheel brakes and headlights that give a 200yard beam. Two types of bodywork are fitted—a light fabric saloon and a smart fabric open body, both equipped with pneumatic upholstery. All essential parts are made with Hadfieid’s steel, and the tyres, on wire wheels, are reinforced Dunlop cords. The chassis weighs 16 ewt.: ground clearance is nine inches, with clean design underneath; and the track four feet eight inches. The chassis will be known as the “Hadfield” Bean 14/70 sports model. The 14/45 h.p. model continues to be made.’

When Captain Malcolm Campbell’s car was burned in the Ulster Tourist Trophy race in August, souvenir hunters stripped the chassis of everything worth reclaiming.

ACROSS AFRICA TRIP ON MORRIS SIX-WHEELERS Another page has to be added to the annals of African exploration, a British expedition having accomplished the crossing of the hitherto impassable Kalahari Desert with the aid of two Morris-Commercial six-wheeled vehicles. They are the first white men to cross this vast uncharted region. The area traversed consisted of sandy wastes alternated with vast stretches of primeval bush, mainly of a thorny variety, and during the whole of the journey no water was found. Beyond the daily series of punctures and the tearing of the fan belt by the bush, eloquent in themselves of the nature of the going, no mechanical trouble was encountered. The machines behaved splendidly throughout, and, despite the terrific heat, no boiling occurred, a matter of considerable importance when it is remembered the whole supply of water has to be carried. main objects of the expedition were to explore the possibilities of opening up a trade route across the desert in order to bring the habitable land situated on its north-west edge into closer touch with the railway and business centres of Bechuanaland. WOMEN MAKE SPEED RECORD ACROSS AUSTRALIA DASH Two plucky Melbourne girls, Miss Jean Robertson and Miss Howell, Have succeeded in breaking the record previously held by Mr._ Norman (Wizard) Smith for the run, Perth to Adelaide, according to a message received from Melbourne by the Shell Company of New Zealand. The* 1,750 miles across all manner of roads were covered in the amazing time of 2 days and 10 hours. At Adelaide they had five hours in hand, and after only one hour’s rest they set out attain on their recordbreaking way to Melbourne and Sydney. Unfortunately the chanes of breaking the Perth-Melbourne and PerthSydney records were spoiled by the abnormal condition of the roads, which had suffered badly in recent storms, the car being eventually bogged at Strathdownie. Miss. Robertson stated that the services of the Shell Company in arranging for fuel and oil supplies had been of great assistance in cutting down delays to a minimum. At one point the tank was refilled, fresh oil put in, and the car away again in four minutes.