HIGH-ROAD & BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21188, 10 August 1940, Page 19 (Supplement)

HIGH-ROAD & BY-ROAD

A COLUMN FOR MOTORIST

BRAKE EFFICIENCY “This is the time of year when the weather and road conditions have a bad effect on braking efficiency through water reaching the brake linings,” says a recent road safety message of the Automobile Association, Canterbury, Inc. “Of course the motorist who has to use the back country roads, or subsidiary roads not far from main roads, must be ready to expect to J negotiate watercourses or wateri filled road indentations, and experi- | ence teaches valuable lessons. ' Drivers on recognised main highj ways are often faced with quite a lot of water on the roads. Watercourses, creeks, water-filled road indentations, should not be taken for granted. It is wrong to drive at speed through water-splashes. It will pay in safety and economy to slow down, even stop, engage a lower gear and travel steadily through water of much depth. “There have been many accidents caused through motorists, after having driven through water, finding that the brakes were not effective when called on for service. If you are driving in very wet weather and have negotiated much surface water, dry out your brake linings by the application of the brake pedal two or three times. This is also advisable after the car has been thoroughly washed or hosed in the home garage, and particularly after the car has been left in a public garage for washing. “Many drivers, particularly in the winter time, make a habit of placing a chock behind a wheel i<n the. garage instead of applying the hand brake, this action leaving the brake linings and mechanism free from strain. Be careful in ensuring that your brakes are always there when you want them.” USE OF STEAM POWER CONVERSION OF MOTOR-CARS j The Autocar (England) says that j the war and petrol rationing in Great Britain have focussed fresh attention on the possibilities of steam as a propellant for motor vehicles. While it is doubtful whether there is a commercial market in Britain for a complete steam car, designed as such, there is, states that journal, considerable interest in the idea of a machine which could be dropped into existing chassis to replace, during the war, the engine, clutch and gear box. \ Blue prints and castings are now . being marketed in England at a j cost of £2 5s and £4 10s respecI tively, with a view to appealing to j skilled amateur mechanics, who, by the aid of a small lathe apd welding equipment, could construct and equip their car with a small steam power unit in lieu of its petrol engine. The whole unit, which consists of engine, boiler, condenser and controls, is of a size to fit into any of the small British-made cars which easily outnumber the larger cars in use in the Old Country.

The steam power unit, with its twin-cyclinder engine, is claimed to develop 30 b.h.p. at 15001 b a square inch and affords a cruising speed of 45 to 50 miles an hour. The outfit is designed to replace the petrol engine and to fit under the bonnet of a car. The radiator is used as a condenser. The boiler is of the Doble coiled single tube type and has 20 square feet of heating surface. Its overall dimensions are 14 inches high by 14 inches in diameter. It and the engine tuck in behind the radiator. Automatic control limits the pressure to 15001 b., and the temperature to 850 deg. F. A five-gallon supply of water is sufficient for a 100-mile run.

Originally, the unit was designed for paraffin or Diesel oil firing, but it has now been adapted for running on coke. With this firing, it is claimed that the fuel cost of running a small car is only about oneeighteenth of a penny a mile. Oil consumption is also low—about onequarter of a pint a 100 miles. The steam unit is coupled by a universal direct to the front end of the propellor shaft. Its revolutions a minute are exactly the same as those of a petrol-engined car running permanently on top gear. The idea of converting a petrol engine car to a “steamer” to meet war-time conditions in countries where petrol is at a premium is intriguing. What the cost of such a conversion would be if the work were carried out as a commercial proposition in an engineering shop is not disclosed. However, it is rather a fascinating idea, and possibly, if the w.ar is of long duration, such conversions conceivably might be handled commercially in this country to overcome petrol shortage.