GARAGE GOSSIP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 528, 4 December 1928, Page 6

GARAGE GOSSIP

Keep all loose articles off the floor of tli© driver’s compartment. They may get under the clutch or brake pedal and cause an accident. The city of Wiesbaden, Germany, with a population of over 100,000, has decided to abandon its street railway lines and use motor-buses instead after April 1, 1929. Many brakes have been unnecesarily relined to eliminate a squeak that needed adjustment only. The band must be free or clear of the drum when not in use, and when applied it must bear at all points equally. * * * Learn from your dealer or service man the location of the fuse box and how to trace a burned-out fuse and replace it. You should also be familiar with the circuit breaker and any special switch in light or ignition circuits * * ♦ “Why the second garage, old man—going in for two cars?” “Oh, no!—but the wife’s so tilled up the first with odds and ends from the house that I can’t get the car into it now.** * * * Automobiles with cigar and cigarette lighters cannot be imported into Ecuador (South America). The Government has granted a match monopoly to a Swedish firm, and every time a lighter is used it means the consumption of at least one less match. * * * There is one car for every 64 persons in the world. This estimate is based on the facts that the world population is 19,000,000,000 and that the number of cars in use is 229,700,000. * * • In a technical news bulletin issued by the United States Bureau of Standards motorists are warned against using certain solutions, some containing Epsom salts, which are said to charge batteries instantly or in a short period. * * * To remove a rusty screw from metal parts, put a little light oil on the screw, and apply a hot soldering iron to the screwliead; allow it to cool and apply more oil if that application has evaporated. If it still refuses to loosen, heat again and apply more oil. * * * Mufflers become clogged with soot and carbon, causing a back pressure which brings loss of power and causes overheating. Remove the muffler every season to clean out the accumulated deposits. If it is the welded type it i« cheaper to instal a new one.

Owing to a tremendous increase in the number of public motor-cars plying for hire in the streets of Hong-Kong, the Hong-Kong police authorities are considering a scheme for the compulsory insurance of public motor vehicles against third-party risks. France has 130,000 pre-war or warperiod cars still running and still being taxed. There are at present 60,000 private cars »in use that have reached their tenth year of existence, and 70,000 commercial vehicles, hire cars, taxicabs, and the like, in a similar state of maturity. * * * Hydrometer or gravity test of battery will not give the exact voltage if the test is made at the time water has been added. In hot climates a voltmeter should be used as the temperature raises the hydrometer reading one point for every three degrees. * * * When using a home battery charger it is well to mark positive clip with red paint or file an X on flat surface. When disconnecting, always throw off switch before removing terminals, as a spark may ignite the gases and scatter acid. “What are you doing, daddy?” “Tickling the carburettor, dear.” “Does it like being tickled?” “Yes, dear. It puts more spirit into it.” * * * Probably the most annoying noise in most cars would be completely and permanently eliminated if drivers were to clamp down thoroughly on the nut which is generally found in the left front seat.