Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 19
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for any thing else published.
Drivers of commercial-motor vehicles and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or snaps, are invited to send short coatributions on any subject which is likely to prove of iitteresi to our readers. Work. shop tips and smart repairs ; long and success./ ul runs; interesting photographs : all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to its—no nuttier 11.:w short, or now written, or 1w t' us riled. We will " knock il into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before publication. The absence of a sketch dies not disqualify for a prize. When writing use one side of the paper milt and mention your emPloyer's name as et guarantee of bona fides. Neil/ter your own nor your employer's nome will be disclosed. Payment will be matt immediately after publication. Address your letters to the Editor. THE CONIMERCIAL Mo.roa, 7-15, kosebery Avenue, London. E.C.
The " Splashrim."—A Driver's Suggestion.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 108. prize this week.
[9 91 " G. S. " (Leamington) writes : —" I send you herewith, for publication in your a and M.' columns should you think fit, some rough sketches of a device that has suggested itself to me recently for the pre
veil ion of mud-splashiligs which are thrown out sideways by the tires of motor vehicles [We have had these sketches redrawn.—En.]. At the time that I thought of the suggestion which I now make to you, I was actually driving the rear one of two motorbuses which were proceeding fairly close together along a muddy road. I was very interested to notice the large amount of mud that was thrown out and the direction which it took. It there and then occurred to me that a ring pressed out oflight steel plate, to fke form shown in my second sketch, and attached to the wheel, would, in a very cheap and simple manner, stop practically all this side splash and would throw it into the mudguard. Further, if the mudguard itself were slightly modified, as also shown by a sketch, the air current caused by the car's movement should tend to drive all liquid drippings off the extreme end of the mudguard back on to the road. I am rather inclined to think, too, that this idea may be useful in the prevention of dust-raising.'•
For Loose Ball Races.
P171 " TOBY " (Cardiff) writes:"1 have noticed in a recent copy of the CM.' a letter from a
correspondent .` (Bucks) [page 453. letter No. 905.—Er], which describes rat-her an ingenious method of tightening loose ball bearings. In many cases, however, we have to deal with a ha rdened shaft or other part on which the ball hearing is fixed, and it would then be scarcely practical to knurl the surface as suggested by your correspondent-. T propose to describe how I remedy defects of such a nature. I
thoroughly clean and tin the shaft, and then I obtain a small quantity of Babbit's metal, and, after melting it, I run it into sticks like tinman's solder. In this form it will readily unite with the tinned surface when it is heated by an ordinary soldering iron—a large one is best. Either a thin film may be put on to the shaft, or sufficient may be laid on to allow a skim to be taken off it in the lathe. If a ball bearing lins been fitted tightly in this manner, it will never work loose. The same method is also useful for lining the housings. of ball bearings, in order to prevent them hammering when they are in position."
Instead of a Valve Cotter.
[918] " E.A." (Keighley) writes :—" I was recently driving a singie-cylinder, 9 h.p. De Dion van from the City to Norwood. I had some urgent parcels on board, and I was very annoyed when I got to Kennington to find that my engine had suddenly stopped, with a loud sucking noise. I took out the automatic inlet valve, and found that the collar that holds the spring in position had broken in half, and that the cotter pin had got down the exhaust. Not having a • -pare one with me, I thought of and used the following means in order to get home. I got a steel nut which was a fairly good fit on the stem of the valve, and I filed a slot across it in such a way that it was deeper in the middle than at the edges. I then broke a split washer in half by standing it upright on the
pavement and by hitting it hard with a hammer. I next put the spring in position, and pushed the nut on to the stem, afterwards passing the bit of the washer through the slot in the valve stem and letting the nut come up against it. [We have illustrated our correspondent's method by means of a sketch.—Et).]