ROADSIDE AND GARAGE.
Page 37
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A Page for Drivers, Mechanics and Foremen.
The sender of the following communication has bees awarded the extra payment of 6s. this week.
A Simple Valve-lifter.
(2242) " J.0." (Wenclover) writes :— 1' The accompanying sketches show a simple type of valve lifter, which, besides being cheap, is, so far as my experience goes, the only one which effectively holds the valve down without any trouble while the cotter pin is being removed. The sketches are almost selfexplanatory.
" The tool consists of three paets. The upper portion is of square steel bar, in.
section. It is bent an shown in the sketch, so that one end will bear on the top of the valve, while the other is flattened so that it will enter any link of an ordinary cycle chain. A piece of the latter, about 12 ins long, in the second portion of the tool, while the fork, which
is naturally made to suit the type of valve in use, is forged from a piece of in. round steel bar. At one end it is forked; near to the fork it is flattened so that it will pass between the links of the chain, while through the flattened part a hole is drilled to accommodate the ordinary joint bolt of the chain,"
Removing Pressed-on Spring Seats.
(2243) "Mechanic " (London) writes : — We recently had occasion to remove the spring seats from a banjo-type rear axle. The seats were of the type which is hydraulically pressed on to the axle and positively prevented from rotating by means of a key. We had no press Large enough to accommodate the end of the axle, and had to devise means to carry out the operation. As this is a sort of thing which might happen in any garage, it occurred to me that a description and the accompanying sketch would be of interest to the readers of your 'Roadside and Garage ',page. "A chain was hooked rotind two projections on the spring seat and looped round one of the roof girders.A screw jack and a substantial packing piece were mounted between the girder and the end of the axle, then, by operating the screw jack in the usual way, we were able gradually to draw the spring seat off the axle. It was necessary at the commencement to give the spring seat a few hammer blows, but subsequent to that everything was satisfactory."
A Curious Experience.
(2244) " F.B." (Bury) writes :—" I had a curious experience the other day, and although the incident from which it resulted was not one which is likely to be of frequent 'occurrence, a reference to it in your ' Roadside and Garage' page may not be without interest, inasmuch as it may save some reader or other, if not from a similar experience, at least from a puzzling half-hour such as I had myself.
" I happened to be travelling against tune to meet a train, when, as one would naturally expect in such circumstances, one of the back tyres punctured. I jumped down, and with all speed set to work to fit the Stepney.. I jacked the axle up and `slacked back oil the four wing nuts on the spare to the extremities of their bolts. I slipped the clips on to the rim of the wheel and commenced to tighten up as quickly as possible. I screwed up two nuts which were next to one another first, and then tackled the other two, jumped on the seat and set off. The vibration, how' aver, of the ear was so bad that I could not sit on the seat. In my haste .I tried to keep going for a time in the hope that things would mend themselves. As might be expected, however, they did nothing of the kind, and I got down to try to discover the source of my trouble.
"There was at least no other. puncture, which was a relief. I thi3ught, therefore, that the. vibration must come ,from the engine, and examined this, but could not. find anything the matter there. "Since the van had been all right prior to fitting the Stepney, I came to the conclusion that the trouble must lie in that quarter, and on a careful examination I found thatatwo of the screws projected about 2 ins, beyond the nets, while the other two barely showed. The result was that the Stepney was slightly, eccentric with regard to the main wheel. The effect of this on a machine travelling at 20 miles or more per hour will be as difficult to imagine on the part of your readers as it, would be for me to attempt to describe it. The moral is, at least, obvious."
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, June 25th, light your lamps at 9.49 in Landon, 10.16 in Newcastle, 10.1 in Birmingham, 10.29 in Edinburgh, 10.12 in Liverpool, 9.59 in Bristol, and 10.55 in Diffilm.