MOTORING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 40, 17 December 1920, Page 13

MOTORING NOTES.

WHY THERE WILL BE NO IMMEDIATE REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OF MOTOR CARS. To assume or permit the assurnplion to hecome current that automobile prices are duo for an early slump, are about ready to go on the slide, or are sclieduled for an immediate decline, betrays both ignorance and carelessness. Worse, yet, it is symptomatic to an utter indifference to consequences. Any price reduction with existing cost of labour and raw materials would represent the sacrifice of manufacture and goods at prices below tliose for which they were made to sell. That however, unavoidably represents loss, either to the producer or distributor. Price reduction, in the striclest sense of the word, therefore is an economic accident bordering on disaster. When oue considers that aut-omofcile prices generallv have been increased only about 14 per cent. since 1914 while in these six years food, clothing, fuel, necessities aird luxuries of every description have mounted from 100 per cent. to more than 200 per cent., then one can see that at present there is no margin of profit to enable any reduction in price to take place. It is unreasonable to presume that car manufacturers can reduce their prices, since no reduction can be effected.

Touching on the importance of road transport, the opinions expressed by Sir Raymond Dennis (managing director of a large firm of rnotor lorry builders in England), no w 011 a visit to Australia, are interesting. As a transportation expert, Sir Raymond is impressed with the grea-t mechanical transport in the developmei.it of a country. Great spaces cannot be filled up and turned to the best account until linked tcgether, and finally made easilv and rapidly accessible. to the centres of distribution. With better roads, motor service nright be established where railway communication is lacking. There is no need to let a place languish beyond the terminus of the railway ; link it up with a good road and motor service. His firm (Messrs Dennis Bros., Ltd., of Guidford, England) supplied to the rnilitary authorities 7000 motor lorries of the VTar Office subsidy model, and the vast experience gained proved helpful in designing the -4ton and 2-ton models now being marketed. In almost all of the Australian States the authorities are inclined to make much of the traffic problem, and frame and. put into operation all sorts of restrictive regulations without co-ordfnating their cfforts. If some pieople had their way, they would limit the pace of the motor vehicle to that of tho horse ; indeed far too many of the re.gulations drafted are based on conditions suitable for horse drawn vehicles ; they cannot realise that the superior speed oi the automobile is its chief attribute, and if it were restricted to the rate of travel of tho animal it would be not be worth having, nor would we be progressing. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that were it not for tho motor the city streets would by now be in a bad state of congestion, for if every motor Were suddenly replaned by horsed vehicle giving the same capacity and efficiency, there would be at least twice as many vehicles in the thoroughfares as now. If traffic is a problem in our large cities, how should we shape were we to attempt to regulate that of London, New York, Chicago and other busy centres? MECHANICAL LOSSES. No doubt economical motorists are keeniy interested in the methods which de^ crease consumption, but in no way decrease speed and climbing capabilities of the car. The only improvement which suggests itself to the every-day motorist seems to he carburation — such as changing the size of jets, altering level, fitting patent extraair deviccs, etc. These methods have proved most satisfactory in many cases, but there is another method by whica consumption can be reduced, and this is the reduction of friction. A good deal of piston friction is caused by an excess of oil. This can be eiiminated by drilliiig a number of holes radially, immediately under the bottom piston ring. The ring, of course, acts as a scraper releasing all excess luhricant. This operation is probably beyond the capabilit'ies of the average owner-driver, as a small amount of metal has to be removed from the piston immediately below the bottom ring, forming a groove. It is always a moot point as to which is the better system, that of over-lubricat-ing the motor cycle engine or risking a possible shortage by giving only the regulation amount. The safe rule is to err slightly on the excess side, as the worst that can happen is that the pistons and cylinder heads will require rather more frequent cleaning and the crank case swil-

ling out at more regular intervals. Some bushes were lying around 011 the mechanic's hench in a well-known garage. They had been taken from a motor cycle engine the day before, and they were worn oval in shape. The owner of the motor cycle was "prepared to swear an affidavit" that the engine had had "pleiity" of oil, but the fact remained that these particular bushes had worn out of t-ruth, whilst those in a sister engine which had done three times the mileage remained as good as when new. Just a slight running dry does the trick in theae cases, and we nave no doubt at all, neither had the garage people, that at some time ors another the very positive owner had denuded his engine temporarily of oil. Where the lubrication of an engine is consistently excessive the bearings become clogged and heavy deposits form on the heated suffaces of the pistons and cylinder heads. The engine becomes sluggish and may in time knock rather badly. Then it is time to take the cylinders down, clean away the accumulated scale, and wash the Dearings out with paraffin. After this the knocK will, as a rule, have disappeared and the engine will have resumed its wonted life. Then the owner goes on again and overlubricates, .and the same process must be gone through of cleaning and swilling, but he prefers it to taking any ri.sk with his bearings. If the plugs get "oiled up" frequently it is certain indieation that the oiling is too frequent and there should follow a cutting down of the supply. Nothing is gained by over-lubrication, and it is uneconomical for the reason that :t uses up oil more rapidly than is necessary or desirable.