MOTORING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 41, 24 December 1920, Page 13

MOTORING NOTES.

LOOK TO YOUR BRAKES. How about those brakes of yours, Mr Motorist? Have you paid any attention to them lately? Do you know how long it takes you to stop when you are going 20 miles an hour? Do you know whether or not you have good brake lining? Your life may depend on thes& matters, and it is high time that you took an interest in them. A REMEDY FOR A LOST FILLER CAP. A missing petrol filler cap is not an infrequent occurranee, and the difficulty in findin.g another. one of the same size and thread is generally considerable. Quite an efficient temporary cap can be made from an old syrup tin lid and a piece of lead. A hole is bored in the centre of the lid and a piece of wire approximaiely six inches long is attached. A piece of lead is secured to the end of the wire, which has the e'ffect- of holding down the lid over the filler hole when placed. in position. SUNLIGHT AND THE TYRES. Automobile tyres are wi-apped in paper by the manufact-urer because tyre makers know that sunlight and air sap the strength of rubber. It should be protected until it actually goes on the rim for road service. Statistics prove that a tyre good for an average of 6000 miles when it leaves the factory will lose approximated 2000 miles of life by being carried unprotected, as a spare for one year. Neatly covered tyres look so much better hanging on the back of the machine than do bare tyres. The covers are waterproof and can be washed without injury as often as the car is washed. They come in colours to match the body fmish. PNEUMATIC TYRE SUBSTITUTE. An efficient substit-ute for pneumatic tjyrea on motor vehicles is aaid to have been perfected by a Norwegian. It 'involves the use of steel spvings tangentially applied to the wheels, with an outer rim of solid rubber, steel, wood or other material. The inventor ciaims that spring wheels manufactured to his designs may be used on motor trucks and street cars as well as on lighter vehicles. The shortage of rubber in Germany and neighbourir.g neutral countries made it necessary to develop spring wheels as a temporary expedient during the past war, but there is no record of these designs being successful enough to displa-ce pneumatic tyres when these were available. A PROPELLER MOTOR CAR. Running about the streets of Paris is a small motor-car that has caused quite a sensation because of the novelty of its mechanism. It is run by an aeroplane propeller at the front instead of by driving wfceels on the ground. Tbe great advantage claimed for this method of propulsion over the ordinary method is that it does away with so many delicate and complex parts, for the engine works directly on the axle of the propeller, so there are none of the differentials, speed changing gears, clutches, etc. Again, the suppreseion of all these parts considerably lightens the load to be propelled, and the whole car can be built very much more lightly. The entire mechanism consists of one eight-horse-power motor with two cylinder in a V and cooling apparatus. The propeller has four blades, it is four feet six inches in diameter, and is surrounded hv a circular protecting band. The motor acts directly upon the axle without gears or chains. Notwithstanding the smaii power of the motor — only eight horsepower — and thanks to the form and lightness of the car and the absence of all power wasted in mechanical transmissions, it goes easily fifty miles an hour and runs between 60 and 65 miles on a galion of petrol. The car complete weighs 500 pounds and ite wheel base is a little more than 11 feet.